JOSEPH ROARK: HIS LIFE AND TIMES – 2001
by John J. Roark
$30.00 Hardcover
This is a historical biography – 1813 to 1876 – (available for $30) providing the ancestry of Joseph Roark in early Virginia, his early life in Claiborne County, TN, his pioneering settlement in the Ocoee District of Hamilton County, and his struggles during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
From Rear Cover
Experience a Family’s Struggles in the Civil War Era
Joseph Roark . . . lived throughout the Civil War and survived the most divisive period in the nation’s history. Tragically, he lived during the war in East Tennessee, where neighborhoods and communities were equally divided. He saw his hard-earned fortunes wane and the daily objective become one of simply finding enough to eat. He came through that divisive and savage period of conflict with self-respect and respect from his neighbors. He saw his sons mature beyond their years in the brutality of combat yet return after the war to take up the plow and become respected citizens of the community. With his family, he survived the hard years of Reconstruction, and without bitterness, rebuilt his fences, restored his crop lands, completely rebuilt his mill, re-established his herds, regrew his orchards, and left for his children a significant estate.
From Chapter 11 – The Last Years