lawyer politician representative
Born on a farm in Englemann Township, Saint Clair County, Illinois, Karch attended the public schools. He graduated from Northern Illinois Normal University (now the Illinois State University), at Normal, Illinois, in 1894. Karch graduated from the law department of Wesleyan College (now Illinois Wesleyan University), Bloomington, Illinois, in 1898.
He taught school from 1895 to 1900. He was admitted to the bar in 1898 and commenced practice in Belleville, Illinois. He served as secretary to Congressman Fred J. Kern from 1901 to 1903.
He served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1904 to 1906 and again from 1910 to 1914.
He moved to East Saint Louis in 1914 where he continued the practice of law. He served as United States Attorney for the eastern judicial district of Illinois 1914-1918.
Karch was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second Congress and served from March 4, 1931, until his death. He had been nominated for reelection to the Seventy-third Congress.
He died in Saint Louis, Missouri, on November 6, 1932.
He was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, Belleville, Illinois.
