Chauncey Rose (December 24, 1794 – August 13, 1877) was an American businessman during the 19th century. He became known as the railroad king for his enthusiastic support of railroad development in the United States during the 19th century.
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Early life
Chauncey Rose was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, to Scottish immigrants on December 24, 1794. Chauncey was one of eight children, all of whom died childless. Two of his brothers, George and John, went on to successful business careers in Charleston, South Carolina, and New York City, respectively.
Rose was educated in the common schools of his Connecticut district, and at the age of 23 headed west to the states of Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama to find a suitable place to enter into business. He decided upon western Indiana and settled in Rosedale, then known as Dotyville, in Parke County in 1819, where he first turned his attention to milling, building his first mill in Coxville just outside Rosedale. As his revenue grew, Rose expanded into other investment realms in nearby Terre Haute in Vigo County, which was developing into the commerce center of the region.
Rose was instrumental in getting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under Major Cornelius A. Ogden, supervisors of the construction the Cumberland Road, to relocate their headquarters from Indianapolis to Terre Haute. When Terre Haute was awarded a district branch of the Second State Bank of Indiana in 1834, Rose furnished a facility in which the bank could operate while awaiting construction of the bank branch. This provided Major Ogden with a secure place to issue payroll. Rose then constructed a fine hotel east of the village, called The Prairie House, so that Ogden and other West Point graduates associated the Corps of Engineers would have a superb residence. This hotel later became the first Terre Haute House, so renamed by Rose in 1855.
In 1865 Chauncey Rose decided to have an artesian well drilled in the court of Terre Haute House. They struck oil at 1629 ft. It was the first oil well in Indiana. Due to odor the well was plugged. Other drilling was unsuccessful until they drilled nearby. He sold Terre Haute House in 1866.
Business success
Following a six-year stretch overseeing milling operations in Parke County, Rose moved back to Terre Haute to expand his businesses and became quite successful. His profits were in turn reinvested in real estate, and he amassed an even larger fortune, some of which he subsequently invested in railroads. His real estate was in Vigo and Sullivan Counties mostly coal lands and city lots in the Chauncy Rose addition in Terre Haute.
In 1847, Rose was the principal founder of the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad. He was elected President of the company at the shareholders meeting held in Greencastle, IN on May 10, 1848. It was renamed the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad in 1865. He also aided others, including William D. Griswold and Josephus Collett, to establish other railroads.
Railroad King
Rose has been called the railroad king. He was an enthusiastic supporter of railroads. The tariff of 1842 had a significant impact on railroad building. The duty of $17/ton of hammered bar iron and $25/ton of rolled bar iron raised costs by 50 to 80%. The Walker tariff of 1846 reduced the duty to 30% and set off a railroad building boom in the 1850s.
Rose went to the railroad convention at Indianapolis on May 12, 1847. It was attended by representatives from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. The convention recommended a railroad connecting St. Louis and Cincinnati. The Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad had been chartered by the Indiana state legislature on January 26, 1847. It was to construct a railroad across Indiana from Terre Haute to Richmond through Indianapolis roughly following the route of the National Road. At the time the only railroad in Indiana was the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad completed September, 1847.
Rose's brother John helped raise funds for the railroad but most funds came from Boston from a man named Wells. Shareholders of the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad met in Greencastle, Indiana, on May 10, 1848. Chauncey Rose was elected president. He was authorized to hire an engineer to survey the route from Terre Haute to Greencastle. Construction began Spring 1851 from both Terre Haute and Indianapolis. Rails were brought up the Wabash River by steamboat to Terre Haute.
Rose bought four locomotives from Hinkley Locomotive Works, Boston Machine Works, for use in construction. They traveled by the New York Central precursor from Albany to Buffalo. To Toledo by water and by the Wabash & Erie Canal to Terre Haute. The engines for Indianapolis went from Defiance, Ohio, to Cincinnati probably by the Miami and Erie Canal, then to Madison, and up the incline to Indianapolis by railroad. The line was completed in March, 1852. Three locomotives were acquired from Taunton Locomotive Manufacturing Company and passenger coaches from Columbus, OH. The trip from Terre Haute to Indianapolis was about four hours and charged $0.05/mi or $3.65 one way. Rose retired as President after a few years and moved to the Vincennes road and Rockville road.
In 1851, the Terre Haute & Richmond was terminated in Indianapolis. The section from Indianapolis to Richmond was built as the Indiana Central Railroad. It was completed to the state line in October, 1853. The Terre Haute & Richmond changed its name to Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad.
Philanthropy
Upon the death of his brother John, Chauncey learned that he was the sole heir to an estate worth $1,600,000. Concerned that the laws of New York would prevent the proper fulfillment of his brother’s wishes, Chauncey instituted legal proceedings and, after six years of court battles, won the right to disperse his brother’s estate. Chauncey distributed his brother’s money, totaling $1,500,000 to various charities, mostly in the New York area.
Rose was equally generous with his money in Terre Haute, where his philanthropic activities were reported in an 1875 New York Times article to have exceeded $2,000,000 in currency of that day. Among his numerous benefactors were the Providence Hospital, the Free Dispensary and the Rose Orphan Asylum, to whom he endowed enough money to ensure it would remain permanent. He donated to Wabash College in Crawfordsville, IN. He donated $73,000 to secure the location of the State Normal School, now Indiana State University in Terre Haute.
Rose also contributed enough money to build and endow the Rose Polytechnic Institute (now the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology). The cornerstone for the college was laid on September 11, 1875, but it did not begin operations until March 5, 1883, long after Rose's death. It remains to this day one of the few colleges solely dedicated to science and engineering. Rose organized it as the Terre Haute School of Industrial Sciences with an initial endowment of $500,000, so that “this institution has a productive capital, exclusive of buildings”.
Significantly, Rose intended none of the institutions funded or founded by him, save the incorporated name of Rosedale to bear his name. Other name ties resulting from posthumous commemorative changes by his grateful recipients.
Death
Rose died in Terre Haute, Indiana on August 13, 1877. His will is published.