Rose, Hiram

Born: 1807-01-06 Maine

Died: 1879-02-01 Oquawka, Illinois

Flourished: Aledo, Illinois

Hiram Rose, a merchant, farmer, and state senator, came from a poor family and was educated at home. He learned the trade of blacksmithing before engaging in mercantile pursuits at age twenty-four. In 1841 Rose joined the Maine militia as a colonel and rose to major general by 1844. In 1843 and 1844, he served in the Maine Senate, and in 1845, he received appointment as postmaster of Newport, Maine. Rose moved to Illinois in 1850. He settled in Oquawka the next year, engaging in the lumber business and becoming a hotel proprietor. He also owned and worked on a farm. In 1856 Rose was elected to the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat for Henderson County.

Hiram Rose married Pattana (Parthena) Rose when he was twenty-two years old. Pattana (Parthena) Rose died in 1854 of cholera. In May 1855, Hiram married Hannah Main. The couple had no children, but adopted five children together. Hiram was a Baptist and Mason.

U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Newport, Penobscot County, ME, 13; History of Mercer and Henderson Counties (Chicago: H. H. Hill, 1882), 907, 934, 941, 953, 981-83, 1410; Louis L. Emerson, ed., Blue Book of the State of Illinois, 1923-1924 (Springfield: Illinois State Journal, 1923), 681; Daily Illinois State Journal (Springfield), 5 January 1857, 2:2; Gravestone, Oquawka Cemetery, Oquawka, IL.