Van Zandt News (Wills Point, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 27, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 11, 1983 Page: 2 of 16
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County tales
By Ruth McGee
Historical Columnist
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, . The following biograph-
’ tical sketch of the Rose Dry
’.Goods Company was writ-
ten with permission of A.
W. Rose fr., and will be a
part of the business and
professional section of the
i forthcoming History of
' Van Zandt County.
Rote Dry Goods Com pa
< ny celebrated its 100th an-
• niversary during the month
• of February, 1973. The
; history of one of Wills
; Point’s most colorful busi-
neases was written as the
town itself made its place
in history, as both celebra-
ted their 100th anniversary
in the same year.
Rose Dry Goods was first
! established in the Cedar
Grove Community before
the town was located at its
present site. News of the
railroad coming through
the area caused the Roses
to move the store to the
new townsite.
In asking some of the
old-timers in the Wills
Point area their opinion of
Rose Dry Goods Store, the
reply usually was "They
sold good quality merchan-
dise." The family itself was
highly respected in the
community.
A young Jewish man
came to America from his
native Germany when he
was sixteen years of age.
He settled first in the east,
but soon headed for a part
of the country that was
waiting for development
and, in the eyes of an am-
bitious young man, offered
opportunity.
Not too much is known
about the early life of B.
W, Rose, founder of the
store. Rose was the father
of Arthur William "Dude'
Rose.
Rose was the youngest of
four children in his family.
His mother died when he
was 13 years old and his fa-
ther died a few years later.
Since early family histories
are passed usually by word
of mouth, and Mr. and
Mrs. Rose died before the
years of reminiscing with
family members became a
part of their lives, that his-
tory is lacking.
B. W. Rose was riding
down a lane near his home
in Germany in a wagon
with members of his family
B. W. ROSE (1843-1922) A. W. DUDE ROSE
ARTHUR W. ROSE JR.
when he was a small boy.
He picked an apple from a
tree near the road. An au-
thority of the government
learned that he had taken
the apple and he was fined
for the act. The youth was
deeply impressed by the
unfairneses of such a rule
and told his mother that
when he was older he
would come to America.
He would not be content to
live in a country that would
levy a fine on a child for
eating an apple taken from
a tree beside the road.
He made his pledge to
come to America good.
Later, other brothers and
sisters followed.
Rose was visiting his sis-
ter in Erie, Pennsylvania,
when he met Miss Lena
Koch, whom he later mar-
ried.
Leta Kotch Rose was en-
dowed with the same pion-
eering spirit as her hus-
band, enduring the hard-
ships of the early settlers
right along with him. They
were the parents of four
children. One daughter,
Faye, died at the age of IS.
When the railroad came
through the Wills Point
area, Cedar Grove was
skirted. The businessmen
who had established their
stores and shops at Cedar
Grove realized that the
railroad would be the con-
necting link, a factor that
would influence the success
of their businesses, so they
moved to Wills Point. Rose
was among those business-
men.
The store that he esta-
blished in 1823 was moved
to the new townsite, first
occupying a wooden build-
ing where the present
building is located on
North Fourth Street mid
way between Commerce
and James Streets.
A. W. Rose recalled that
the oldtimen told him the
present building was con-
structed of bricks that were
made south of Wills Point.
Rose had no true record of
the age of the building, but
he presumed that it is at
least 100 years old.
After the death of B. W.
Rose in 1922. his children,
Mrs. Selma Rose Schur-
man, Marvin Rose and A.
W. Rose, continued to
operate Rose Dry Goods
Company. Arthur William
Rose, the only remaining
member of the family, died
just three months after the
company celebrated its
100th anniversary.
Rose Dry Goods Compa-
ny experienced many
changes during its 100
years of operation. The
floor-length bustled dresses
were replaced with fash-
ionable models that strike
milady four inches above
the knee. The early day
bathing suit that covered
the body from the neck to
below the knee has been
replaced with one that can
be stuffed into a teacup
with room to spare. These
changes in style and fash-
ions for members of the so-
called weaker sex did not
come without considera-
tion for the male of the
species.
The merchandise in the
men’s department moved
from frock-tailed coats to
zoot suits, pistol legs, flares
with cuffs, without cuffs,
double-breasted, single-
breasted and dozens of
other styles.
Rose Dry Goods Compa-
ny established a reputation
early for good merchan-
dise. It was an unwritten
policy of the management
through the years to give a
customer the best for the
money spent.
During the first week in
February, 1973. in celebra-
tion of their 100th year in
business. Rose Dry Goods
Company marked down all
merchandise 20 percent
excluding Stetson hats.
In an interview with A.
W. Rose before his death,
he stated, ‘‘In speaking for
myself, my wife Rosalie,
our two children, Arthur
William Rose Jr. and Mrs.
Cecile Rose Smith, and our
four grandchildren, I
would like to say that our
family owes very much to
the people of Wills Point
and the Wills Point area.
“Your patronage has
made our business a suc-
cess. Your friendship has
warmed our hearts and
operating the store has gi-
ven us the golden oppor-
tunity of making new
friends through the years."
If the owners of Rose
Dry Goods Company neg-
lected business at the store,
it would be for a visit with
their grandchildren,
Anthony William Rose and
Michael William Rose in
Dallas and Ansel H. Smith,
Jr., and Karen Cecile
Smith in Monroe, Louisia-
na.
The success of a retail
merchandise store depends
largely on good manage-
ment; however, any
manager can tell you that
success also depends very
much on those who meet
the public and sell the mer-
chandise. This was the opi-
nion of A. W. Rose, who
felt they had been fortun-
ate in being able to keep
interested, loyal workers
throughout the years.
A complete list of those
who worked at the store
from the time it was first
established would be im-
possible to obtain, some of
them were Mist Sally Brid-
ges. Mrs. Nora McKinnev.
Mrs. Kate Sewell. Mrs.
Mertie Thompson, W. W.
Grooms, A. G. McDonald.
Charlie Lasater, John Sam
ford, Joe Rice, Mrs. Inez
Gardner, Lucille Martin,
and Lois Rowden. There
were many more.
During a two year per-
iod, 1950 1951, Jack
Shofner managed Rote Dry
Goods Company while
Rose recovered from an il-
lness.
Those employed in 1973
were John R. Johnson,
Mrs. J. B. (Nell) Bruster,
Mrs. John R. (Mabel)
Johnson. Mrs. Charlie Le-
heck a and Mrs. Mary Ale-
xander.
(More Neat Week)
Repairs Carpentry Improvements
HALL'S
CONSTRUCTION
404 Judy Lane
Canton, Texas 75103
'567-2174
Ranchers
Steak House
SPECIALIZING IN
STEAKS. MEXICAN FOOD. SEAFOOD
IASI HIGHWAY SO - WILLS POIHT, TX.
Phone 873-2022
ROBERT and GENEVA ALLEN, Owners
★ ★
CALCULATORS • FURNITUR-
RUBBER STAMPS • BUSINESS CAROS.
ENGRAVING • PRINTING
CxiiCvi i
5C OFFICE SUPPLY
KEN b LINDA CRISLER
873-2544
HWY 80 EAST
WILLS POINT. TX.
ran miss
IDEWS
HD
cony
JACKIE HUDDLE
HUDDLE
MUFFLER SHOP
201 W. Dallas — Canton
567-2691
Grand Mo
loving
Invest
Dec. 14-16
ex Savings
Wills Point
V
Everyone is invited to
celebrate our new larger office
Wills Point. Stop in for the
look at the new Invest ex
and enjoy refresh-
lte, souvenirs and a
idly reception. Also, be
ire to register for our Grand
’rue drawing.
Grand Prize
Panasonic Video
Cassette Recorder
Someone is going to win
fun of a new VCR. Tape
your favorite shows, the bowl
games or record the late, late
show while you’re asleep.
Show movies to friends or get
a camera and make your own
movies. Register anytime
during our Grand
Moving celebration. The
drawing will be held at
5:00 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, but
you dpn’t have to be present
to win.
New drive-up window • New night depository
_
INVESTEX
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SAVINGS
New directions in financial service.
Wills <Q> Commerce, 873-2698
Hours: 9:00 - 3:30, Monday - Thursday
9:00 - 5:00, Friday
Member FSUC
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Van Zandt News (Wills Point, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 27, Ed. 1 Sunday, December 11, 1983, newspaper, December 11, 1983; Wills Point, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth991595/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Van Zandt County Library.