Roll, John E.

Born: 1814-06-09 Morris County, New Jersey

Died: 1901-03-30 Springfield, Illinois

Flourished: 1830-1901 Springfield, Illinois

In 1830, Roll moved to Springfield, Illinois, with his parents and siblings. In 1839, he married Harriet Vandyke, and together they raised three children. Roll was a plasterer and brick mason, and for a large part of his adult life, he was employed as a contractor and builder. Around 1860, he retired and invested his money in mercantile interests. Roll became acquainted with Abraham Lincoln from their early days in Sangamon County, and like Lincoln, he was also a politically active Whig. Religiously, Roll was a Presbyterian.

Petition of Robert Irwin and Others to Thomas Ewing; John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 627-28; Springfield Sunday Journal (IL), 31 March 1901, 6:3.