Biography - Pleasant W. Rose

PLEASANT W. ROSE, M. D. One of the prominent physicians of Southern Illinois, whose skill and ability have gained him a wide and enviable reputation, and as a consequence a large and liberal clientele, is Pleasant W. Rose, M. D., of Cypress, Illinois, where he is the proprietor of a drug establishment. Dr. Rose was born on a farm in Grantsburg township, Johnson county, August 25, 1877, and is a son of Pleasant W., Sr., and Mary Elizabeth (Farris) Rose, farming people of this county.

The Rose ancestry can be traced back to Revolutionary times, several of the name having fought as soldiers in the Colonial army. The grandfather of Dr. Rose, also named Pleasant, was born in Hardin county, Illinois, in 1812, and lost his father in early childhood. His mother took her little family to an unimproved farm in Pope county, Illinois, where the boy grew up to the hard life of the pioneer farmer, and at the age of twenty-two years was married to Mary Ann Ellis, of North Carolina, a member of a poor but honorable pioneer family. Possessed of untiring energy and a strong determination to succeed, he worked hard throughout his life and eventually was rewarded by becoming the possessor of an excellent farm in Grantsburg township, where his death occurred in 1873, his widow surviving him a little over a year and dying December 4, 1874. They had five children, as follows: Mary, the widow of D. C. Chapman; J. E.; Sydney A., the wife of J. W. Damron; Maria; and Pleasant W., the father of Dr. Rose.

Pleasant W. Rose was born and reared on the farm on which he now resides in Grantsburg township, and was married there October 29, 1868, to Mary Elizabeth Farris, a native of Tennessee, eight children being born to this union, as follows: Arista A., who married W. C. Graves,- formerly a merchant of Vienna, Illinois, but now the owner of a valuable ranch in the State of Colorado; Ida, who is deceased; Mary, the wife of Dr. H. W. Walker, a well-known physician of Grantsburg; Lillie, the wife of Isaac L. Morgan, deputy state fish warden and real estate and insurance agent at Vienna; William; Dr. Pleasant W.; Sidney; and James W., who is deceased. Pleasant W. Rose, Sr., who now lives on a finely-cultivated farm of two hundred and seventeen acres, is enjoying the fruits of his many years of industrious labor. He is known as a practical, sensible man of affairs, a public-spirited citizen and leader of the Republican party in his community, and a man who is devoted to his home and family. He has the entire confidence of the citizens of his community, who recognize in him the type of citizen who has the best interests of his locality at heart.

Dr. Pleasant W. Rose received his early education in the common schools of Grantsburg township, later attended the Vienna High School, and in 1896 entered Barnes Medical College, at St. Louis, Missouri, from which he was graduated April 12, 1899, with the degree of M. D. He began the practice of medicine at Grantsburg, but in 1900 went to Simpson, where he remained for five years, then going to Granite City, where he remained two years. He came to Cypress in 1907, and here has built up an extensive practice, traveling through the rural sections in a radius bounded by four miles north, three miles west, seven miles south and three miles east of Cypress, finding his high-power automobile very convenient in taking him to the home of his patients. In his profession he has steadily arisen until he now occupies a foremost place in its ranks, and as a business man he has been equally successful. On coming to Cypress he erected a fine corner business block, where he has established a drug business, handling all goods to be found in a first-class establishment of its kind, valued at more than six thousand dollars. The Doctor belongs to New Columbia Lodge, No. 336, A. F. & A. M., and holds membership in the Johnson County Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the Association of Railway Surgeons, and was formerly local surgeon for the Illinois Central Railroad at Simpson.

On May 16, 1901, Dr. Rose was married to Nancy E. (Ellis) Mount, widow of John L. Mount, of Pope county, and a daughter of John and Mary Ellis. She has two sons by her former marriage: J. Leo, who is twenty years old; and William Ellis, who is fifteen years of age.

Extracted 14 Jan 2018 by Norma Hass from 1912 A History of Southern Illinois, volume 2, pages 776-777.

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