![Uriah M](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Uriah_M._Rose%2C_delegate_to_the_Hague_Peace_Conference.jpg)
Uriah Milton Rose (March 5, 1834 – August 12, 1913) was an American lawyer
[ and Confederate sympathizer.][ "Approachable, affable, and kind,"] graceful and courteous,[ he was called "the most scholarly lawyer in America" and "one of the leading legal lights of the nation", "a towering figure in the...life of Little Rock".][ He was a founder of the ]American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
, of which he was twice president, 1891–92 and 1901-02.
Another Arkansas judge, J. T. Coston, described him thus:
Arkansas is the home of the late U. M. Rose, a scholar and statesman. Judge Rose was one of the great lawyers not only of Arkansas but of the United States. Cultured, refined and modest as a woman, with a titanic intellect, he was a general favorite wherever he was known. Judge Dillon, after being thrown with him on numerous occasions at long intervals, pronounced Judge Rose the most cultured man he had ever known. He loved his profession, and I heard him state only a year or two before he died, while attending the Arkansas Bar Association, that during his more than half a century experience in the practice of law he had never had a serious misunderstanding with a brother lawyer.
President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
called him "the brainiest man I have ever met".
Childhood and personal life
Rose was born in Bradfordsville, Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, on a farm of 300 or 400 acres, on March 5, 1834, son of Joseph and Nancy Rose. His father was a physician and a Campbellite Campbellite is a mildly pejorative term referring to adherents of certain religious groups that have historic roots in the Restoration Movement, among whose most prominent 19th-century leaders were Thomas and Alexander Campbell. Members of these g ...
. He was his parents' third son and had two half-siblings from his father's first marriage to a Miss Armstrong from Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.[ As there was no school in Bradfordsville, he was taught by a tutor; he was studying ]Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
at age five and later remarked that he could not remember when he could not read. He studied French and German with Europeans who happened to be in Bradfordsville.[ His mother died in 1848 and his father in 1849. Since his father's estate was worth less than his debts, "the children were thrown out". Rose then worked in the village store, where he also resided.][ When this did not leave him time to study, he resigned and worked on a farm, as a field hand, for board and $5 a month.][
When Rose was 17, lawyer Rutherford Harrison Roundtree, who met him when visiting the farm, hired him as a deputy county clerk, and gave him "a home in his house" in ]Lebanon, Kentucky
Lebanon is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat of Marion County, Kentucky, Marion County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 5,539 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Lebanon is located in ...
.[ There, he "learned a great deal about legal forms" and attended court, hearing the locally-famous attorneys Ben Hardin and Joshua F. Bell.][ To advance his legal education he enrolled at ]Transylvania University
Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...
in Lexington, Kentucky. "When Judge Rose, no more than a youth, presented himself for admission to the school, he impressed Justice Robertson so much with his earnestness and apparent willingness to learn, that Justice Robertson took him to live at his own splendid mansion. It was while at Justice Robertson's home that Judge Rose met Henry Clay, Webster, and many other of the prominent men of the time."[ He graduated in six months.][
On October 25, 1853, Rose married Margaret T. Gibbs,] daughter of William Gibbs, who was a grandson of George Washington's aide and bodyguard Caleb Gibbs.[
Rose "disliked his first name intensely and never used his first name when he could avoid it".]
Career
In Batesville
After graduating in 1853, in search of warmer weather, Rose, his new wife, and his brother-in-law William T. Gibbs moved to Batesville, Arkansas
Batesville is the county seat and largest city of Independence County, Arkansas, United States, 80 miles (183 km) northeast of Little Rock, the state capital. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city was 10,268. The city serve ...
, in 1853. He set up a law practice there in partnership with Gibbs. The Roses had three children. "The couple bought a house on the north side of Main Street, between Third and Fourth Streets, and U. M. Rose rented a small building next door to use as an office."[ ("He lived on the lot now ]935
Year 935 ( CMXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – Arnulf I ("the Bad") of Bavaria invades Italy, crossing through the Upper ...
occupied by a filling station just across the street from where the Crouch furniture store is now l caed. His law office was located in his yard.") Rose subsequently moved his practice to Washington, Arkansas
Washington is a city in Ozan Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 180 at the 2010 census, up from 148 in 2000. It is part of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to Historic Washington S ...
.
In 1860, he was appointed chancellor ( chancery judge and chief county officer) of Pulaski County; "county judges in Arkansas have served for decades as one of the strongest political forces in the state." "The ulaski Countychancellor's office was the only such office in the state and thus had statewide jurisdiction."[ He held this position until Union forces captured the state capital on September 1, 1863. Although initially opposed to secession, on the practical ground that the South could not win a war against the North,][ he backed the Confederacy throughout the ]Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
. (Both he and his brother-in-law each owned a slave, though his ran away.[) He took an oath to support the Confederacy, without which he could not have continued as a state judge;][ when briefly captured by Union forces that occupied Batesville, he refused to swear allegiance to the Federal government.][ The Confederacy named him state historian.][ He moved with the pro-Confederate Arkansas government to ]Washington, Arkansas
Washington is a city in Ozan Township, Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 180 at the 2010 census, up from 148 in 2000. It is part of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area. The city is home to Historic Washington S ...
in 1863, following the fall of Little Rock.[ Rose, "along with all men who had the welfare of the state at heart",][ "worked hard" to convince Arkansas voters not to ratify the Reconstruction Constitution.][ (As a Confederate loyalist, he had lost the right to vote.) He was chairman of the Resolutions Committee of the state Democratic party, determined "to preserve 'WHITE MAN'S government in a WHITE MAN'S COUNTRY'".][ (His wife was later active in the ]Daughters of the Confederacy
The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American neo-Confederate hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, ...
.)
In Little Rock
The end of the Confederacy meant the end of his position as judge. Moving to Little Rock
( The "Little Rock")
, government_type = Council-manager
, leader_title = Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_party = D
, leader_title2 = Council
, leader_name2 ...
in 1865, where he and his wife had four additional children,[ he set up a law partnership, much later to become the ]Rose Law Firm
Rose Law Firm is an American law firm headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.
It dates its origins to November 1, 1820, sixteen years before Arkansas statehood, when Robert Crittenden, born 1797, and Chester Ashley, born 1791, entered into an ...
, with George C. Watkins (1815–1872), former chief justice of Arkansas. This lasted until Watkins' retirement, five years later. He then brought in John Green, who died suddenly in May 1875.[ His son George B. Rose then became associated with him, under the firm name of U. M. & G. B. Rose. In 1893 Wilson Hemingway, associate justice of the ]Arkansas Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Arkansas is the highest court in the state judiciary of Arkansas. It has ultimate and largely discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all state court cases that involve a point of state law, and original jurisdiction o ...
since 1889, resigned from the court to join them. In 1905, the firm merged with Cantrell and Loughborough, and the partners adopted the named Rose, Hemingway, Cantrell, and Loughborough, which remained the name of the firm long after Rose’s death. The firm did not become the Rose Law Firm until 1980;[ no Rose has been associated with the firm since George's death in 1942.
He was offered a position as U.S. Senator but declined, saying "I have no love of political life. I have seen much of it at a distance. I regard it for the most part as a sham and a delusion, and often it is a shame and a disgrace."][
A man of learning in the law, science, and literature, Rose knew both ]German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
and French; poems translated by him from the French of Sully Prudhomme
René François Armand "Sully" Prudhomme (; 16 March 1839 – 6 September 1907) was a French poet and essayist. He was the first winner of the 1901 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901.
Born in Paris, Prudhomme originall ...
and the German of Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
and Schiller were published posthumously. When faced with a colonial document, he "exhibited a degree of almost perfect familiarity with Spanish". He was "deeply versed in the classics",[ and was also a noted and "enthralling" public speaker. In 1872 was the first of several trips to Europe, in which he visited Italy, Austria, Scandinavia, Russia, and Turkey; he also visited Mexico.][
His library, which his widow donated to the Little Rock Public Library, contained over 8,000 volumes, including almost 2,000 books in French and German; there are two published catalogues of it. He was the organizer of the Arkansas Bar Association, whose first meeting was in his office,][ and its president from 1899 to 1900; he was a charter member of the ]American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
and its president from 1891 to 1892 and again 1901 to 1902. President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
appointed him U.S. ambassador to the Second Peace Conference at The Hague in 1907.[ In preparation for that responsibility he spent time in Washington, D.C., where he was "a daily caller at he]White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
".
Rose died at his home at 620 West 3rd St., Little Rock, Arkansas, on August 12, 1913, as a consequence of a fall. "The funeral was attended perhaps by the largest number ever gathered on a similar occasion." People attended from "every section of the state".[ State offices were closed by the governor so employees could attend the funeral.
He and his wife had 9 children who survived to adulthood, in order of birth: John M. Rose (1855-1915), an attorney who practiced next door to his father but not in partnership with him,][ William G. Rose of Butler and ]Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fifth-largest city in Missouri and the county seat of Jackson County. Independence is a satellite city of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the largest suburb on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In 2020, ...
(1857–1941), his partner George B. Rose (1860–1942), Janata Rose "Fanny" Dickinson of Little Rock (1863–1932), Lawrence (1866, died in infancy), Ellen Rose Gibbon or Gibbons of Los Angeles (1867–1915), Emma Rose Coleman (1870–1907), Charles C. Rose of Little Rock (1872–1954), Prof. Lewis Henry Rose of the University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
and of Chicago (1874–1921), and Mrs. (Jessie Rose) Hay Watson Smith of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Little Rock (1877-1953).[
His son George was "known and honored not only as a most successful lawyer, but as a ]litterateur
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or as ...
, art critic and scholar." His grandson U.M. Rose was president of the New Mexico Bar Association
The State Bar of New Mexico (SBNM) is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of New Mexico.
History
The State Bar of New Mexico first met on January 19, 1886 in Santa Fe, New Mexico as a voluntary professional organizati ...
.
Legacy
Rose was the only delegate from Arkansas among the 75 lawyers who formed the American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...
in 1872. He was president from 1891 to 1892 and again from 1901 to 1902.
In 1882, at his suggestion, 68 lawyers from across the state formed the Arkansas State Bar Association. "Rose was elected chairman of the association's first executive committee and, between 1898 and 1899, served as president."[
In 1916, a new U.M. Rose School was opened at 13th and State Streets in Little Rock. It became a central building of Little Rock Junior College when that institution was founded in 1927; when the Junior College became the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and moved to a larger campus, the former campus was used by ]Philander Smith College
Philander Smith College is a private historically black college in Little Rock, Arkansas. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is a founding member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). Philander Smith College is accredited by ...
, where the building is currently (2019) the James M. Cox Administration Building.
In 1917, the state of Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
donated a marble statue of Rose to the U.S. Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill at ...
's National Statuary Hall Collection
The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old ...
. In 2019 the decision was made to replace his statue, and that of James Paul Clarke
James Paul Clarke (August 18, 1854 – October 1, 1916) was a United States Senator and the 18th Governor of Arkansas as well as a white supremacist.
Biography
Clarke was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi. His father died when Clarke was seven y ...
, with statues of Johnny Cash and Daisy Lee Gatson Bates
Daisy Bates (November 11, 1914 – November 4, 1999) was an American civil rights activist, publisher, journalist, and lecturer who played a leading role in the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957.
Early life
Daisy Bates was born on Novembe ...
. Arkansas state Sen. David Wallace, the lead sponsor of the bill to replace Rose, cited Rose's perceived lack of name recognition in the present day, saying his "time has faded".
In 1944, a United States Liberty ship
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...
named the '' SS Uriah M. Rose'' was launched. She was scrapped in 1972.
Published writings
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, U. M.
1834 births
1913 deaths
19th-century American judges
Arkansas lawyers
Arkansas state court judges
Delegates to the Hague Peace Conferences
Judges of the Confederate States of America
Lawyers from Little Rock, Arkansas
People of Arkansas in the American Civil War
People of the Brooks–Baxter War
People from Marion County, Kentucky
Transylvania University alumni