I was in Rosehill Cemetery this past Saturday working on a Find a Grave photo request looking for the grave of a woman with the infamous name of Frankenstein. It was a beautiful Fall day in Chicago and Rosehill is filled with trees that are changing color and shedding their leaves. I never was able to locate the grave of Miss Frankenstein but I did come across a grave that was marked in an unusual way. Stuck into the ground next to the grave of Edward Rose, 1838-1921 was a marker that said "Confederate Veteran CSA".
If you travel through the southern part of the United States you will see a lot of monuments to the Confederacy and to those who gave their lives for its cause, but it is very unusual to come across any mention of the Confederacy in Chicago. In fact, in all my grave hunting in Chicago I have only come across one other mention on a tombstone of the CSA and that is Simon Fleishman's monument in Mt. Maariv (now Zion Gardens) Jewish Cemetery:
Back to Edward Rose. He was born February 22, 1838 in Blieskastel, Germany, the son of William Ralph Rose and Babette nee Constadt. Edward was the grandson of Rabbi Leopold Isaak Rose of Gruenstadt, Germany. Edward came to the United States on October 25, 1853 aboard the SS City of Manchester, from Liverpool, England. He did not become a naturalized citizen until May 2, 1901, and there is no evidence that he participated in the 1860 Census. In 1861 he was living in Troup County, Georgia, and because his sympathies lay with the Confederacy, on April 26, 1861 he enlisted as a Private in Company B, 4th Infantry Regiment, Georgia. Edward Rose's participation in the war was short-lived because he received a disability discharge on October 5, 1862.
The 4th Infantry Regiment, Georgia, of the Confederate States of America was mustered in at Augusta, then proceeded to a rendezvous at Richmond, Va., and to elect officers. On the 13th of June 1862 this regiment was on picket duty on the Williamsburg Turnpike about six miles from Richmond, and was attacked by a scouting party of the Federal Army. A brisk skirmish ensued on the left of this regiment in which the Federals lost seven killed, thirteen wounded and one captured. The Confederate loss was none. On the 25th of June while on picket duty, the 4th Infantry Regiment was attacked by the Federals early in the morning. Considerable skirmishing ensued, which kept up all day and in the evening became general along the line, when the 4th charged the Federals, driving them back with great slaughter. The losses in the 4th Regiment were seven killed, five missing, and forty wounded. On the 27th of June 1862, the regiment left camp, advanced and marched in pursuit of the Federals and on the 30th was present, but did not engage in the action at Frazier's Farm, Virginia.
From the time Edward Rose enlisted in April of 1861 until he was discharged in 1862, in addition to the actions listed above, the 4th Infantry Regiment was involved in the following battles:
Seven Pines (skirmish) - June 15, 1862
Seven Days Battles - June 25 - July 1, 1862
Beaver Dam Creek - June 26, 1862
Gaines' Mill - June 27, 1862
Malvern Hill - July 1, 1862
South Mountain - September 14, 1862
Antietam - September 17, 1862
In all likelihood, Edward Rose was injured at the Battle of Antietam. When I was in school they led us through all the battles of the Civil War, but here is a little refresher on the Battle of Antietam (called the bloodiest battle of the Civil War):
Although the war ended for Edward Rose in October of 1862, it did not "officially" end until 1865. After Rose's discharge, he returned to New York and on May 6, 1866 he married Kunigunde Kirshberger.
The 1870 census shows the Rose family living in New York City: 32 year old Edward, 26 year old Kunigunde, 4 year old Isobella, 2 year old Amanda and one year old Lidia, however this was soon to change.
The Great Chicago Fire (October 8-10, 1871) had barely been extinguished, when Edward packed up his little family and moved to Chicago. The 1880 Census shows the Rose family living at 3241 Wabash Avenue. In addition to Edward, Kunegunde, and daughters Isobella, Amanda and Lidia, there is now 8 year old Willie, 4 year old Alice and 3 year old Matilda. The Rose family must have been doing well, because they also had three live-in servants. Edward listed his occupation as "Bookkeeper".
As I mentioned above, Edward did not become a naturalized citizen until May 2, 1901, but that did not prevent him from acting like one. In 1880 he attached his name to a petition asking the Republican Party not to nominate Ulysses S. Grant for the presidency. You can take the Rebel out of the South, but...
In 1889, Mr and Mrs. Edward Rose were mentioned as attending the opening of the new clubhouse for the Standard Club. In 1890 Edward Rose is listed as one of the officers of the upcoming 1892-1893 Worlds' Fair in Chicago, and on August 7, 1890 Edward Rose is mentioned as the newest member of the Chicago Board of Education.
A scandal rocked the Rose family as reported in a Special to the Chicago Daily Tribune of September 15, 1890:
JEW AND GENTILE WED
William Rose Elopes From Chicago with Miss Nora Clowde.
An Angry Father Avoided.
The Young Couple Succeeded in Evading Their Pursuers.
Married by a German Minister.
Interview Between the Runaways and the Groom's Parents.
The Boy's Father a Millionaire.
Milwaukee, Wis., Sept. 14.-[Special.]-An elopement which will create a sensation in Jewish circles in Chicago terminated in a marriage here Friday afternoon, the particulars of which leaked out tonight, although every effort was made to keep the affair a secret. It is the marriage of a Jew and a Gentile. The groom is William R. Rose, the only son of a prominent Jewish family of Chicago, his father being Edward Rose, of the firm of Strauss, Goodman, Yondorf & Co., wholesale clothiers at No. 105 Monroe street, while the bride, a Christian, is Miss Nora L. Clowde, the daughter of a humble boarding-house keeper at No. 771 West Van Buren street, Chicago. An effort will probably be made to have the marriage annulled, as neither of the young people is of age, as recognized by the matrimonial laws of Wisconsin, Rose being but 18 years and his wife 20.
The young couple, who were lovers for some time, left Chicago Friday morning for this city. Their trail was discovered in some way by Mr. Rose Sr., who arrived here on the next Chicago train, accompanied by a Pinkerton detective. But young Rose suspected that he might be followed and registered with Miss Clowde at the Republican House under assumed names, as brother and sister, from Louisville. Their stay at the hotel was short, but almost long enough to spoil their plans, for hardly had they left the hotel to have the nuptial not tied when the father of the young man recognized in the fictitious names on the register the handwriting of his son.
While the father and the detective were endeavoring to trace the young couple from the hotel, the Rev. J. J. Siewert, a German Lutheran minister was pronouncing the words which made William R. Rose and Nora L. Clowde man and wife. The marriage ceremony took place in the parlor of the minister's parsonage at No. 2510 Center street. Failing to find any further clew to his erring son, Mr. Rose and the detective returned to the Republican House Friday evening expecting that the young couple would return there.
Successfully Evading Pursuit.
But in this they were disappointed,for instead of returning to the Republican House young Rose took his wife to the Kirby House, the same hostelry where young Aubrey and his wife spent their honeymoon. Here again Rose, in order to avoid detection, registered under an assumed name, but this time as man and wife. After hours of waiting at the Republican House Mr. Rose Sr. and the detective concluded that the young couple might have returned to Chicago on an evening train, and at midnight they retired for the night, leaving orders with the hotel clerk to be called promptly should the young couple come in. Thus only a few blocks apart the father and son spent the night, each believing the other to be in Chicago. As Saturday morning developed no new clew at the Republican House Mr. Rose Sr.returned to Chicago expecting to find his son there, but the Pinkerton man was left here to await advices from Chicago.
Saturday afternoon word came by wire from Chicago that the runaway couple had not returned, and the Pinkerton man resumed his search with local detectives.
Last night the young couple were located at the Plankinton House,where they were registered as E. Roth and wife. Late in the evening they had changed from the Kirby House and by request were assigned the bridal chamber at the Plankinton. They were left undisturbed for the night. A message sent to Chicago brought the elder Mr. Rose back from Chicago this afternoon.
The Couple Arrested.
The irate father had the young couple summoned before him at the Central Police Station, and the meeting between the father and son is aid to have been anything but pleasant. The father told his son that he had made the biggest mistake of his life,and then followed a long talk between the father, son, wife, Pinkerton man, and Chief Janssen. Just what transpired the police refused to divulge, in fact they are reticent about the entire proceeding. It is said, though, that an attempt was made to compromise between Mr. Rose Sr. and his new daughter-in-law. But it was apparently without result, for the son and his wife returned to the hotel accompanied by the Pinkerton man, while the father remained at the station,where he met his business partner from Chicago, who arrived tonight to give consolation to the nearly brokenhearted father.
The parting at the station between the father and son is said to have been with the understanding that all should return to Chicago on the 3 o'clock train in the morning. That there might be no further maneuvering on the part of the son among the Milwaukee hotels the Pinkerton man was detailed at the hotel to watch him. Young Rose is a tall, dark-complexioned young fellow and might easily be mistaken for at least 21 years instead of 18 that he is. His wife is a pronounced blonde,plump in figure and with a pretty face. She has lived but a short time in Chicago, her former home being in Ada, O. Being deserted by her husband her mother removed to Chicago and opened a boarding-house at No. 771 West Van Buren street, where she was assisted by her daughter.
The Rev. J. J. Siewert, who performed the marriage ceremony, said that the young couple drove up to his house in a carriage about 5 o'clock Friday afternoon and asked to be married. They represented themselves to be of age, and said they had met here while visiting in this city. Rose gave his residence as Evanston, while Miss Clowde represented her home as Ada, O. He had not noticed, he said, that there was the contrast of Jew and Gentile in the young people, and as he believed they were telling the truth, he did not question them closer. William Helm, a neighbor, and the minister's wife witnessed the ceremony.
It gets worse:
THE FATHER WILL NOT RELENT
Young Rose and His Bride Must Buffet with the World Alone.
It looks as though the regulation lecture and final forgiveness that usually follow on the parents' part when young people have got married without saying "by your leave" to the old folks were not to be meted to young William R. Rose and his bride. Mrs. Rose Sr., like most mothers on the stage and in real life, too, for that matter, will probably be in a molting mood in a few days and be glad to get her erring son back into the family fold, even with the annex of a Gentile daughter-in-law; but Father Rose appears to have set his face against his son.
“The boy will have to look out for himself now," said Mr. Rose yesterday, "He blazed his path, and that trail he must follow. My son thought that he was old enough to select a wife without consultation with his parents, and if he were of sufficient age to do that he must know what the responsibilities are of marriage and how to shoulder them.
“He was employed by a firm of which I am a member and I won’t say positively that he cannot return to work, but the chances are that he must go elsewhere. I went to Milwaukee to try to prevent the boy from acting like a fool, but I failed to succeed. I shall do nothing towards trying to annul the marriage, but shall simply let the young people alone. They have returned from Milwaukee, I believe, but of their whereabouts I know nothing."
The mother of the bride, Mrs. Minnie Cloud lives in an upper flat at No. 772 West Van Buren street, and is a dressmaker. She expressed herself yesterday as much surprised at her daughter's marriage, but did not appear to feel particularly worried about it.
Mrs. Cloud said that her daughter was employed at a Building and Loan Association office at No. 194 La Salle street, and had been boarding on Wabash avenue at no great distance from the Rose homestead.
"Now that they have married,” she continued, “I hope they will be happy.”
A call was made at the residence of Mr. Rose last night for the purpose of obtaining a clew to the whereabouts of the young couple but no amount of dallying with the door-bell could induce the inmates of the house to respond.
MILWAUKEE, Wis., Sept. 15.-[Special.]
William Rose, the young Chicagoan who eloped to Milwaukee and was married, returned to Chicago this morning with his bride, his father, and the Pinkerton detective who located the young couple in this city. Mrs. Rose was rather displeased at her young husband for giving up their marriage certificate to his father, as she thought it rightfully belonged to her. She thought she saw in this movement on the part of the senior Mr. Rose in an attempt to force her to a compromise so as to allow her husband to return to his parental home without her. Young Rose, in relating his experience at the hotel, told of how he had called on nine different ministers before getting one to perform the marriage ceremony.
Chicago Daily Tribune - September 16, 1890
Despite his family problems, Edward Rose's business was thriving. Here is an announcement from the Chicago Daily Tribune of December 31, 1890:
Again, as a taxpayer, although not yet a voter, on November 10, 1894, Edward Rose added his name to a list of local merchants who thought that the United States Senator from Illinois should live in Chicago.
On a happier note, on September 3, 1897, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Rose announced the engagement of their daughter Miss Mattie Rose to Mr. Charles B. Stafford of this City. It was not noted whether Mattie's brother William would be attending the wedding...
In 1899 Edward Rose joined many other prominent Jews of Chicago in persuading Dr. Emil G. Hirsch to remain as rabbi of The Chicago Sinai Congregation for life. Rabbi Hirsch had already been at Sinai for nineteen years.
The Chicago Daily Tribune of February 19, 1908 announced sad news for the Rose family:
MRS. KUNIGUNDE KIRCHBERGER ROSE, wife of Edward Rose, 4710 Grand boulevard, died at Pass Christian, Mississippi, yesterday of pneumonia. She was 64 years old and left five children - Mrs. C. D'Ancona, Mrs. C.B. Stafford, Mrs. H.L. Swarts, Miss Alice Rose and W.R. Rose, all of Chicago. Funeral services will be held in Furth's chapel, Thirty-fifth street and Grand boulevard, tomorrow at 9:30 and will be followed by the interment at Rosehill.
After the death of Mrs. Rose, the Chicago Daily Tribune on August 26, 1908 announced that "Edward Rose, 4710 Grand Boulevard, and his daughter Miss Alice Rose are in Europe and plan making an extended visit to various places of interest before their return."
In the years following the death of his wife, Edward seems to have given up most of his outside activities. The 1910 census shows him living alone at the Chicago Beach Hotel, 51st Street at Lake Michigan.
Postcard courtesy http://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com
By the 1920 Census, 81 year old Edward Rose was living at the North Shore Hotel in Evanston.
Postcard courtesy http://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com
Edward Rose, immigrant, soldier, merchant, good citizen, husband and father - may he rest in peace.
And what of William Rose, who ran away and married Nora Clowde? We'll let William's obituary from December 31, 1913 tell the story:
ROSE - William R. Rose, Dec. 29, 1913, beloved husband of Nora L. Rose, father of Irene, Lydia, and Edward. Funeral private, Wednesday, December 31, at 10 a.m. from late residence, 5014 Blackstone-av. Burial Rosehill.
Sometimes love does conquer all.
I found your blog from the listing at the website of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I did. I like the way you have combined family history searches with your cemetery photography. I am particularly taken with this post.
I have mine separate, although in my genealogy blog, I naturally have photos of cemeteries and stones.
I'm putting your blog in my Google reader.
Dee
http://dee-burris.dreamwidth.org
http://graven-images.dreamwidth.org