Born and educated in Baden, Germany, as a horticulturist, William Carl Roeck came to America in 1854 at age eighteen and traveled extensively before enlisting in the Confederate Army. He served four years in the Second Tennessee Infantry and was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga. After the war he settled in Dadeville, Alabama, and in 1874 married Catherine Elizabeth Sanford. They had two children, Katie, born in 1875 and later the wife of A.L. Temples, and Frederick William, born in 1877 and dead at age fourteen. Much of Roeck’s postwar life centered on local politics. He was elected Tallapoosa County Commissioner in 1884, was soon appointed circuit clerk by Gov. Edward A. O’Neal, later received two separate appointments as probate clerk, and again served as circuit clerk. He was also Master of Dadeville Lodge, No. 71, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, High Priest of Dadeville Chapter, No. 56, Royal Arch Masons, and a member of the Knights of Honor. Counted among the inductees of Notable Men of Alabama, he died on October 26, 1920.