John
N. Rose
(1862-1926)
John
N. Rose was born on April 7, 1862 in Somerset County, PA, the son of Andrew
J. and Susanna (Minerd) Rose Sr. At a young age, he moved with his parents
to nearby Normalville, Fayette County, PA.
John was a stone mason. The April 1898 Connellsville Courier reported that during repair of the United Brethren Church at Normalville, John was doing masonry work, and a "large portion of the right wall had to be taken down." Also active in the Poplar Run Church Sunday School, John was elected "Chorister" in the spring of 1900. That year, at age 38, he resided with his mother and bachelor brothers William and Andrew Jr.
On Jan. 21, 1901, at Greensburg, Westmoreland County, PA, John married Carrie Eicher, daughter of A.D. Eicher. The Courier said that their "numerous friends extend hearty congratulations for a long and happy wedded life."
In the fall of 1902 the Roses moved to the county seat of Uniontown. By March of the next year, they had returned to the mountains of Normalville, purchasing a farm next to his mother's, and across the road from his uncle Martin Miner. They later purchased a farm at Crossland Station near Connellsville, Fayette County.
The
road passing through Normalville, framed against the picturesque backdrop of the
"Little Alps of America," is seen at left. Note the shocks of
bundled wheat standing upright in the field.
John and Carrie had two children -- Frances Minor and Harold E. Rose.
The marriage was rocky at first, and in 1911 John filed for divorce. However, the couple must have patched things up, because they remained married for the rest of their lives.
John suffered from heart trouble, and at age
64, in September 1926 his health began to fail significantly. Just a few weeks
later, on Oct. 5, 1926, he died at home. He was buried at Normalville Cemetery.
Carrie's fate is unknown.
Daughter Frances married a cousin, Charles Dewey 'Red' Minor, son of John R. and Mary (Moody) Miner.
Son Harold married Mabel E. Lee and Pauline Bezilla Stafford. He was a foreman for many years at the Edgar Thomson Works of the United States Steel Corporation.
Copyright © 2001, 2006 Mark A. Miner