Scott Hershey Rose. Researched and written by Camille Arbogast
Scott Hershey Rose was born in Durham, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, on August 9, 1898, to Elizabeth “Lizzie” and Daniel Rose. Daniel and Elizabeth were both Canadian; Daniel was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, and Elizabeth in Nova Scotia. Daniel appears to have lived in Boston as early as 1891. The Roses returned to Boston with Scott in September 1899.
In 1900, the family was living at 11 Concord Square in Boston’s South End. Daniel was an insurance agent. It appears Lizzie kept a boarding house, as there were 14 lodgers living in the home with the family. By 1910, the Roses had moved to 218 7th Street in South Boston. They relocated to Dorchester by 1918, residing at 24 Kerwin Street. That year, Daniel became an American citizen. Scott received citizenship at that time as well.
In September 1918, Scott, age 18, registered for the First World War draft. On his registration, he reported that he was a draughtsman with the Murray and Tregurtha Company of 340 West First Street, South Boston, which manufactured marine propulsion engines. The next month, on October 10, Scott was inducted into the Army and entered the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The SATC was a new program that combined college studies with military training. Over 500 colleges and universities participated in the government-funded program. Physically-fit male students over 18 were voluntarily inducted and taught a special SATC curriculum which included military drills and classes on military topics, along with classes in mathematics, sciences, and languages. The SATC disbanded after the war’s end and Scott was honorably discharged on December 11, 1918. He remained at MIT, appearing in the 1922 MIT yearbook, Technique, as a member of the class of 1923. It is unclear if he graduated.
Elizabeth died in February 1924. Her funeral at the First Presbyterian Church on Columbus Avenue attracted more than 500 mourners. During the 1920s and 1930s, Daniel held political positions, serving as a Boston Election Commissioner and the Superintendent of Markets, overseeing Faneuil Hall Market.
In December 1925, Scott was appointed an assistant probation officer in the Dorchester District Court, filling a vacancy created when the previous assistant probation officer died. His selection was not without controversy. Though news coverage gave no reason why, his appointment was “opposed by a committee of citizens, headed by Representative Joseph McGrath, Richard J. Garvey, Councilor George F. Gilbody, and Councilor Thomas McMahon,” who desired “another hearing” on his appointment. Scott was confirmed by Judge Joseph Churchill and sworn in on December 30. On May 21, 1927, when a new Dorchester District Courthouse opened on Washington Street and Melville Avenue, Scott was among the members of the court who “carrying their papers, books, and records, departed at noon for their new home.” In 1928, he was given a $500 raise; this, too, was somewhat controversial, sparking “criticism.” In 1930, Scott graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelor of Law.
Scott was an amateur actor and singer. In 1926, he appeared in the Ashmont Players production of the operetta Swords and Scissors which was staged in the parish hall of All Saints Episcopal Church in Peabody Square. He received a good review, an anonymous critic in the Boston Globe noting, “Scott Rose was Truffle, a detective, a part he played with real detective genius.”
By 1930, Scott and Daniel had moved to 8 Kenwood Street. On September 3, 1932, Scott married Jean Smith. Jean, also originally from Pictou County, Nova Scotia, was the daughter of a mayor of the town of Pictou. At the time of her marriage, Jean’s parents lived in Toronto, where her father owned a mill. Jean had immigrated to the United States in 1924. Scott and Jean were married by Reverend Arthur W.P. Wyle, at All Saints Church. The ceremony was small, with “only a few intimate friends” invited. Scott’s best man was his father, while Jean was attended by Jennie Blaikie, who married Daniel a couple of years later. Scott did not inform his colleagues at the courthouse about his marriage for a week; when the news was discovered, it was covered in the papers under the headline “Surprises by News of His Marriage.” Jean and Scott had a son, Scott, Jr., born in 1934.
On his World War II draft registration in 1942, Scott reported he lived at 24 Ventura Street and was still a Suffolk County Probation Officer at the Dorchester Court. Shortly after, he left the court and returned to drafting, working as a draftsman for the Stone and Webster Company, an engineering consulting firm.
Scott died on January 11, 1948, at his home on Ventura Street. Services were held for him at All Saints Church. After Scott’s death, Jean worked as a nurse at the Long Island Hospital, and later remarried. She died in 1997.
Sources:
Naturalization Records. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com
1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 U.S. Federal Census; Ancestry.com
United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
Military, Compiled Service Records. World War I. Carded Records. Records of the Military Division of the Adjutant General’s Office, Massachusetts National Guard.
“United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” database, citing Military Service, NARA microfilm publication 76193916 (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985); FamilySearch.org
“Funeral Services for Mrs. Elizabeth C. Rose,” Boston Globe, 23 Feb 1924: 16; Newspapers.com
“Daniel H. Rose,” Boston Globe, 3 June 1946: 48; Newspapers.com
“Dorchester District,” Boston Globe, 21 December 1925: 9; Newspapers.com
“Group Opposes Rose for Court Position,” Boston Globe, 22 December 1925: 4; Newspapers.com
“Rose Named Over Protest,” Boston Globe, 31 Dec 1925: 24; Newspapers.com
“Last Case in Old Dorchester Court,” Boston Globe, 21 May 1927: 12; Newspapers.com
“City Council Cuts New Sewer Order,” Boston Globe, 28 Feb 1928: 32; Newspapers.com
“Dorchester District,” Boston Globe, 23 June 1930: 12; Newspapers.com
“Surprises by News of His Marriage,” Boston Globe, 12 Sept 1932: 7; Newspapers.com
United States, Selective Service System. Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives and Records Administration; Ancestry.com
“Scott Rose,” Boston Globe, 12 Jan 1948: 11; Newspapers.com
“Deaths,” Boston Globe, 16 June 1997: 21; Newspapers.com