John Wesley Rose

His preferred formal name was J. Wesley Rose but informally it was just Wesley. Being named for the famous preacher, John Wesley, is an obvious clue that the family supported the Methodist movement in the early 19th century. The history of the family business he helped run dates to the American Revolution and the namesake tools are still being made to this day.

It started with William Rose (1754-1810), a captain during the war. His family resided in Blockley Township in Philadelphia County, part of today’s West Philadelphia. He was trained as a cutler, one who makes knives and other cutting instruments. The skillset may have been handed down from another William Rose, a cutler in Dublin in the 1580s.

Officially the business launched in 1798 but Captain Rose actually began work in earnest in 1781. He provided the Continental Army with 200 bayonets to fight the British. The business prospered and was named William Rose & Sons in 1807 because his boys, William, Benjamin, John, and Joseph all became cutlers. 

They produced swords and gun barrels for the War of 1812, then pivoted to manufacture implements like trowels, knives, and sickles. The eldest was William (1783-1854) who carried on with the business until his death. This is a business directory advertisement from 1844.

At this point the business name referred to the second William and his oldest son, the third William Rose (1810-1883). The original location was where the 30th Street train station is today, but it was moved west to 36th and Filbert Streets after the Civil War.

The third William Rose was among five children born to William and his first wife, who died in 1817. His second wife gave birth to ten children before her death in 1834, and his third wife delivered another four. Three boys from the second wife grew up working in the business, namely Joseph (1823-1881), Rudolph (1825-1886) and Wesley (1828-1886). Along with their half-brother William, each was listed in the 1850 census as a cutler and each of them were single and living in their father’s house. As mentioned here, they would each develop their skills in specific areas.

Wesley married Sarah Jane Curry in 1855, just a year after his father died. In June of 1863 the governor issued a call for volunteer militias to organize to help the Union Army keep Confederate troops out of Pennsylvania. Wesley signed up as a sergeant in Company G of the 40th Pennsylvania Militia on July 2 but it was all too late. Union troops were engaged in the Battle of Gettysburg that very day, forcing the enemy to retreat. The militias were disbanded shortly afterwards since there was no further threat.

The brothers took their business well beyond what their father managed to do, but they would never be able to compete with his success in producing a large family. Wesley and Rudolph remained childless while Joseph’s wife gave him a daughter and William’s wife had one boy and one girl.

Perhaps that was a blessing since it allowed them to be more active in serving others, both in church work and in several fraternal organizations. Wesley was active in the Republican Club and also served for many years as collector of delinquent taxes in West Philadelphia. In 1874 he joined the Board of Managers of the Mount Moriah Cemetery Association. It may have been through his influence that the Asbury M.E. Church decided to remove the graves from their burial ground and transfer them to Mount Moriah.

Each of the four brothers died within a five-year period from 1881-1886, beginning with Joseph, who was interred here in Section 138. The other two were buried at Woodlands Cemetery. After losing his battle with liver cancer, Wesley’s funeral, like those of his brothers, was held at Asbury M.E. Church. Mount Moriah’s board paid tribute to him with this notice published on the day of his burial.

The business remained in the family after that, run by a woman but not one of the widows. Sarah Rose was the wife of William’s son, John, a physician with a practice in Chester County. Under her leadership the plant was moved a few miles west to Sharon Hill in Delaware County, then sold to another family in 1894.

It retained the same name until being incorporated as W. Rose Inc. in 1943. It was still a privately held company when it was purchased by Kraft Tool Company in 2001. Their website says they remain dedicated to maintaining the legendary quality of the W. Rose™ products being manufactured in Sharon Hill.

Source material from http://trowelcollector.blogspot.com/2016/06/william-rose-and-early-history-of-w-rose.html. Logos are trademarks of Kraft Tool Co.