Louis H. Rose

LOUIS H. ROSE is one of the most prominent and influential citizens of Rosedale, Kansas, where he is deeply interested in a number of financial enterprises of broad scope and importance, including banking and real-estate operations. He is a public-spirited business man, whose every effort has been exerted to make the city one of the foremost commercial centers of the state.

A native of the fine old Badger state of the Union, Mr. Rose was born in Waukesha, in the county of the same name, Wisconsin, on the 7th of February, 1860, and he is a son of Thomas and Sibyl (Jeffries) Rose, the latter of whom was summoned to the life eternal in 1901, at the venerable age of seventy-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Rose became the parents of seven children, all of whom are living, in 1911, and of whom the subject of this review was the fifth in order of birth. The father was born in the city of Rochester, New York, where was solemnized his marriage to Sibyl Jeffries and whence they removed to the state of Wisconsin about the year 1850. Location was made in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, where he became interested in horticulture and where the family home was maintained until 1870, in which year removal was made to Springfield, Missouri. In 1871 Thomas Rose settled in Cherokee county, Kansas, where he turned his attentions to farming and horticulture, his estate having been eligibly located one and a half miles distant from Scammon. In 1898 Mr. Rose disposed of his farm and came to Rosedale, where he lived virtually retired from active participation in business affairs. He resided with his daughter, Mrs. Laura Middlekauff, and it is interesting to note that while he attained to the patriarchal age of ninety years, he was hale and hearty, his physical and mental qualities being practically unimpaired by the weight of years. In 1910 he was called to join the companion of his life. He was formerly a close friend of the renowned Eugene Ware. In politics he was a stanch Prohibitionist; and his religious faith was in harmony with the tenets of the Baptist church. Roseland, Cherokee county, Kansas, was named in honor of Thomas Rose.

Louis H. Rose received his early education in the public schools of Waukesha, Wisconsin, and he was a lad of but ten years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Cherokee county, Kansas, where he attended school during the winter terms, helping his father in the work and management of the home farm during the summer seasons. For a time he was a student in the schools at Columbus, Kansas, following which he taught school for two years in Cherokee county, going then to the Kansas University at Lawrence. From Lawrence he came to Wyandotte county in 1885, and taught for two years in the district which comprises the northern part of Rosedale, and that part of Kansas City, Kansas, lying south of the Kaw. Mr. Rose engaged in the real-estate and loan business, in which line of enterprise he has built up an extensive and profitable business. He was one of the organizers of each of the two banks in Rosedale and is a stockholder in both, namely, - the Commercial State Bank and the Rosedale State Bank. He was also instrumental in the organization of the Kansas Building and Loan Association, which has an authorized capital of two million dollars and the official corps of which is as follows: James P. Burney, president; F. M. Kimball, vice-president; L. H. Rose, secretary; C. N. Prouty, treasurer; and George R. Allen, attorney. The Kansas Building and Loan Association is operated under the supervision of the state bank commissioner.

In politics Mr. Rose is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican, party, and while he has ever manifested a deep and sincere interest in all matters affecting the general welfare of this city he has never shown aught of ambition for any public office other than that of postmaster. He was first appointed postmaster of Rosedale in 1896, by President McKinley, and he was his own successor in this office, having retained the incumbency for a period of thirteen years. It was through the efforts of Mr. Rose that this office was made a sub-station to the Kansas City, Kansas, postoffice in 1902. He resigned from the service two years ago to devote his entire time to his own business. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with Interstate Lodge, No. 477, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Wyandotte Lodge, No. 440, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and the local lodge of the Modern Woodmen of America. He is also connected with the Mercantile Club and with the Rosedale Commercial Club. He was recently chosen president of the Wyandotte County Traffic Way Commission, an organization composed of three representatives of one each of the following civic bodies: the cities of Kansas City, Kansas, and Rosedale; the Board of County Commissioners; the Armourdale Drainage Board; the Mercantile Club; the Rosedale Commercial Club; the Grandview Improvement Association; the Central Avenue Improvement Association; and the Argentine Business Men's Club. The object of the Commission is to build a united and greater Kansas City in Wyandotte county.

On the 28th of November, 1889, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Rose to Miss Abbie E. Bell, who was born in Aubry, Johnson county, Kansas, now known as Stillwell, and who is a daughter of Dr. Simeon B. and Elinor (Taylor) Bell. Concerning Dr. Bell a sketch is dedicated to his career on other pages of this work so that further details in this connection are not deemed essential here. Mr. and Mrs. Rose became the parents of two children, - Harold, who died in 1900, at the age of nine years; and Robert Bell, whose birth occurred in 1893.

Mr. Rose is everywhere admired and respected for his fair and honorable business methods, and as a citizen his is an unblemished character.