Uriah Milton Rose has been the subject of one of the two statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the U.S. Capitol from Arkansas since 1917. Uriah was born in Bradfordsville, Kentucky on March 5, 1834. He disliked his name, and didn’t use “Uriah” if he could avoid it.
Both of U.M. Rose’s parents died by the time he was fifteen-years-old. He was a bright young man who had been tutored at home and was learning Latin at the age of five. U.M. Rose once said that he could not remember a time when he was unable to read.
When Rose’s father died, a year after his mother had passed, the Rose children were removed from the 400 acre farm that was their home because their father’s debts were far greater than the worth of the estate.
U.M. Rose found a job on another farm as a field hand, where he could also board. He continued studying on his own when he found time.
When Rose was 17 he got a break. A lawyer, Rutherford Harrison Roundtree, while visiting the farm, hired U.M. Rose as a deputy county clerk, and gave him “a home in his house” in Lebanon, Kentucky.
Young Rose learned a lot about legal forms while working as deputy county clerk, and heard many local lawyers in court. He soon decided to enroll in Transylvania University, in Lexington, Kentucky to further his study of the law.
He impressed Justice Robertson when he presented himself for admission so much, that Justice Robertson told him he could live at his grand home, for the same rent as he was paying in his lesser accommodation.
There, Rose met many prominent men like Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. He graduated in six months with a degree in law and immediately obtained a license to practice from the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
On October 25, 1853, Rose married Margaret T. Gibbs. The couple would have ten children and a long happy marriage. Rose formed a partnership with his brother-in-law in Batesville, Arkansas.
In 1860 he was appointed chancellor in Pulaski County, a position he held until Union forces captured the state capital. Although he opposed secession, he remained loyal to Arkansas throughout the Civil War.
After the Civil War U.M. Rose established a law firm in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was an influential member of the Arkansas Bar Association, He served as president of the Arkansas Bar Association from 1899 to 1900; he was a charter member of the American Bar Association and its president from 1901 to 1902.
While passing through Little Rock, Arkansas, President Theodore Roosevelt attended a luncheon for Judge Rose. Once again U.M. Rose left a more than favorable impression. President Theodore Roosevelt appointed U.M. Rose a delegate to the Second Peace Conference at The Hague in 1907.
U.M. Rose died at his home in Little Rock, Arkansas, on August 12, 1913.
Diana Erbio is a freelance writer and author of “Coming to America: A Girl Struggles to Find her Way in a New World”. Read more in her series Statues: The People They Salute visit The Table of Contents and the Facebook Page. (I’ll be adding to the Substack Table of Contents as I transfer the Blog Posts. Please subscribe to this Substack 😊🇺🇸🤓)
So many incredible people that made America great!