Representative Charles Adam Karch

Charles Adam Karch (March 17, 1875 – November 6, 1932) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois and a longtime public servant in state and federal office. He was born on a farm in Englemann Township, St. Clair County, Illinois, on March 17, 1875, the son of German immigrants. Raised in a rural community in southern Illinois, he attended the local public schools, reflecting the limited but growing educational opportunities available in the region at the end of the nineteenth century.

Karch pursued formal teacher training and graduated from Northern Illinois Normal University, at Normal, Illinois, in 1894. The institution, later renamed Illinois State University, was then primarily dedicated to preparing teachers for the public school system. After completing his studies there, he taught school from 1895 to 1900, gaining experience in education that would inform his later public service. During this period, he combined his teaching career with further professional preparation in the law.

While still engaged in education, Karch enrolled in the law department of Wesleyan College in Bloomington, Illinois, now known as Illinois Wesleyan University. He graduated from the law department in 1898 and, in the same year, was admitted to the bar. He commenced the practice of law in Belleville, Illinois, the county seat of St. Clair County, where he began to establish himself professionally and politically in a community with a significant German American population and an active Democratic Party organization.

Karch’s entry into national political life came through his service as secretary to Congressman Fred J. Kern from 1901 to 1903, a role that provided him with direct exposure to the workings of the United States Congress and federal legislation. Building on this experience, he was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, serving his first term from 1904 to 1906. After a brief interval out of the legislature, he returned to the Illinois House and served again from 1910 to 1914. In these years he combined legislative duties with his legal practice, participating in state-level policymaking during a period of progressive-era reforms.

In 1914 Karch moved from Belleville to East St. Louis, Illinois, where he continued the practice of law in a rapidly growing industrial city along the Mississippi River. That same year he was appointed United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Illinois, a position he held from 1914 to 1918. As U.S. Attorney, he represented the federal government in civil and criminal matters within the district, serving through the World War I era, when federal enforcement responsibilities expanded in areas such as wartime regulations and economic controls.

Karch’s long involvement in Democratic politics and public service culminated in his election to the United States House of Representatives. He was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second Congress and took office on March 4, 1931, representing Illinois during the early years of the Great Depression. During his tenure in Congress, he participated in the legislative response to the severe economic crisis facing the nation. He was nominated for reelection to the Seventy-third Congress, indicating continued support from his constituents and his party.

Charles Adam Karch served in Congress until his death in office. He died in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 6, 1932, while still a member of the Seventy-second Congress and a candidate for the succeeding term. He was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in Belleville, Illinois, returning in death to the community where he had first established his legal and political career. His name is included among the members of the United States Congress who died in office between 1900 and 1949, and his career is recorded in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.