BIO: Robert B. ROSE, Beaver County, PA
    
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    BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES.  This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches 
    of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania.  Buffalo, N.Y., 
    Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 162-163.
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    ROBERT B. ROSE. It is always of great interest to trace various industries
  from their beginning to the status existing at the present day. This is true
  of transportation on the rivers, for, before railroads came into existence,
  this was the principal means of carrying produce from the fields of operation
  to the points of disposition. In the first instance, rudely constructed boats
  served the purpose of the pioneer settlers of Western Pennsylvania, as it was
  the only way in which they could send the lumber cleared from their lands to a
  market. Next in use were the flat and keel boats, which, laden with produce,
  were floated down the river. Up to this time all transportation had been
  attended with great difficulties, but soon the invention of Robert Fulton,
  which excited the wonder of the entire civilized world, was put to a
  practical test on the Ohio River. Steam barges were built and also steam
  packets, which pushed boats up stream, that formerly being done by hand, with
  long poles. When the steamboat plied up and down the river, it was thought
  that facilities for traffic were complete, but this, in turn, has been
  partially superseded by the iron horse, owing to its great expedition.
  Nevertheless the steamboats are still extensively used for the transportation
  of freight, for they have attained a high rate of speed and are enabled to
  transport material at a much less cost than railroads. Among the prominent
  residents of Western Pennsylvania is an interesting and influential class of
  people, composed of men who have spent years of their lives as boatmen on the
  river. Robert B. Rose, one of the most enterprising business men of Rochester,
  Beaver county, Pa., is one of these. He is the proprietor of the Rochester
  wharfboat, and also deals largely in eggs, poultry, grain, etc.
    
    Mr. Rose was born in Adams county, Ohio, and is a son of Smith Rose, who
  was at one time a merchant, but later became a steamboat agent at Rome, Ohio,
  continuing thus until his death. The subject of our sketch passed his early
  life in his native state, and at an early age was employed at work on the
  river, which he has always followed. He first found employment at Rome, Ohio,
    
    BEAVER COUNTY  163
    
  when he purchased his first wharfboat; disposing of that, he moved to
  Vanceburg, Ky., where he purchased another. He gained a wide knowledge of the
  boat business, and, being of an industrious nature, continued to better his
  condition. He removed to Rochester, Beaver county, Pa., and there bought the
  property and wharfboat of George Lukens. This was the first boat operated at
  Rochester, being originally owned and run by John McDowell, who disposed of
  it to Mr. Lukens and his son. When Mr. Rose purchased the business of George
  Lukens, the boat had become too old to use and he sold it; he then bought
  another which he continued to use until 1891, when he built one of the finest
  wharfboats on the Ohio River. It is 158 feet long, 32 feet wide, and has a
  capacity of about 500 tons. On the second floor is a suite of seven fine
  rooms, and on the first floor is a large office and waiting room and the
  storage space. The borough of Rochester has never made any effort to improve
  the landing there, and much could be done to further the enterprise of river
  shipments, which would result in much benefit to the borough itself. Our
  subject has his boat so arranged that it moves with the rise and fall of the
  river, which varies over thirty feet, - the landing being on Water street at
  the foot of James street. Mr. Rose is prepared to give shipping rates to all
  points south and west, and to many points east. A large proportion of the
  products of the manufacturers of Rochester and other Beaver valley towns is
  shipped from his wharf, and it is a frequent sight to see a long string of
  teams and dray wagons, waiting to unload their goods. One of the most
  delightful trips in the central portion of the United States is on the
  steamers of the Ohio River, going down that river to the Mississippi, thence
  to New Orleans, and back. Mr. Rose is a man of pleasing personality, and his
  friends are almost without number.
    
    He was united in wedlock with Elizabeth H. Blair, a daughter of William D.
  Blair, of Stout, Ohio, as the postoffice is called, though the river
  designation of the place is Rome. This union resulted in the birth of two
  children: Luella W.; and Eva Marie, who died at the age of two years.