The Clyde and Dawn Aaron Family:Information about Peter Rose

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Peter Rose (b. February 22, 1732/33, d. May 09, 1814)

Peter Rose (son of Peter Rose and Catherine Butmansky) was born February 22, 1732/33 in Hasselberg , Franconia, Germany, and died May 09, 1814 in Betlehem, Penna. He married Anna Rosina Boeckel on April 21, 1773 in Salem, NC, daughter of George Frederick Boeckel and Anna Elizabeth Rohrbach.

Notes for Peter Rose:
Moravian records show that Peter Rose of Salem NC was toll keeper at the Lehigh Bridge from 1801 until the time of his death in 1814. Other Moravian records show that he came to America when a young man ,enlisted in 1775 and fought against the French and was wounded in the right shoulder. After joining the Moravian church, he worked on the farm at Bethlehem and in 1773 Married A. Rosina Boeckel. They removed to North Carolina but returned to Bethlehem where in 1801 he became toll keeper at the bridge.
Additional Records show that he was a member of George Washington's own company of Rangers, was with Braddock at the defeat of Fort Duquesne, was wounded in the right shoulder.
Interesting episodes in the life of Peter Rose, the old Toll collector,from the Salem N.C. Diary
April 6- It shall be recommended to Peter Rose that he marry Rosina Beckel.
April 7- Peter Rose has not accepted the proposal concerning Rosina Beckel, but suggests Christine Merk. The conference considers it necessary to send on the proposal to her, through sister Graff. On the 8th, Christine Merk positively declined, as she is not fitted for work on a plantation. Brother Peter Rose thereupon accepted the first suggestion, and Sister Rosina Beckel accepted it also and on April 10th they were betrothed by Sister and Brother Graff.
These interesting entries are found in one of the old diaries in Salem, North Carolina, although they refer to Bethlehem people, both Peter Rose and Rosina Beckel lived in Salem for a term of years before they finally settled in Bethlehem. Peter Rose fought through the French and Indian Wars, enlisting in 1755 when he was only twenty-two. After joining the Moravian Church, he worked on the main farm in Bethlehem and went down to North Carolina when Salem was founded in order to take charge of the farming there. Anna Rosina Beckel was born at Christian Springs in 1751 and was one of the seven single sisters sent down from Bethlehem to open the Sisters House in Salem. The seven girls, for they were very young, settled in Bethabara for a short time until the new house in Salem was completed and then moved over, bag and baggage, in a train of wagons that also transported oats and rye. Two of the others were Anna Maria Steup and Betsey Colver. The day they moved into the Sisters House was February. 24, 1771, a lovely early Spring day and they immediately began to dig garden so they would have plenty of green vegetables. Betsey Colver had been busy with the commissary department of the pioneer settlers and had laid in the winter stock of provisions in Bethabara, the diary states that she showed them "how to cut schnitz".
Rosina Beckel must have shown herself a capable and efficient young woman, for it was only two years afterwards that she was judged worthy of matrimony. Why Peter Rose fought shy of Rosina the maiden and preferred Christina Merk, who was a widow, is not stated. But he and Rosina moved out of town onto a plantation when they were married, and like the fairy story, "lived happily ever after," as far as is known.
Peter had a team of good horses and a strong wagon which was often requisitioned for community use. Until the time of his marriage , he acted as teamster for the single brethren. He fenced his farm and in the Spring of the year of 1777 his new fences were threatened by a brush fire and he had to call for help to protect his lines. It must have been an uneasy season for in April he reported that evil persons must be lurking in the woods. A sheep and a lamb were stolen from him and one night his dog was so uneasy that he and his wife arose and went to the barn. While crossing the yard, a big stone was thrown at them. In the Autumn, Peter loaned his wagon to haul the acorns. A number of brethren aided by the Sisters, went out to gather acorns for winter feeding and Peter hauled them to the sheds. In return, the reapers helped him cut his grain in season and again the Sisters helped.
The "evil persons" lurking in the woods must have stolen a horse from him for on July 19, 1777, the diary records "as Brother Peter Rose and his wife were coming to town this morning they met a man who was riding the horse which was stolen from them. Brother Rose spoke to him and he at once offered to give up the horse which he had secured from another, presumably the thief , provided Rose could prove it was his horse." This was easily done and the man surrendered it to Rose, whereupon Rose hired the horse to him for the rest of his journey, to be returned to Salem in two months. In July 1778 Peter was one of those who carried around the petition of the Assembly regarding the State oath. These various journeys of his were not always on horseback and once on a foot journey, he wrote that the setram he was compelled to wade came up around his body.
In 1779, there was an epidemic of smallpox, and Peter's little son became ill, but recovered in time to share in the Love Feast held to celebrate the passing of the epidemic.
On Oct. 8, Peter had a "special evidence of the protection of the angels." He had a bad habit of hanging a candlestick with a lighted candle on a chair by the bed, and when he was fast asleep the flames caught on the bed. He had a vivid dream that he saw a great flame of fire shooting up and as he awoke, the bed was on fire and it was put out with much difficulty."
Just when Peter returned to Bethlehem seems not to have been noted, but he is registered as the toll-taker on Bethlehem's new bridge in 1801, a position he held until his death in 1814. He is buried in the old graveyard, as is Rosina, his wife.

More About Peter Rose:
Burial: 1814, God's Acre, Bethlehem..section B ,Row4, site 5.
Military service 1: With Braddock at the defeat of Ft. Duquesne.
Military service 2: Wounded in the right shoulder with Braddock.
Military service 3: 1755, George Washington's Rangers.
Occupation 1: 1801, Lehigh River Bridge Tollkeeper.
Occupation 2: 1780, Farmed Moravian Church farm in Bethlehem.

More About Peter Rose and Anna Rosina Boeckel:
Marriage: April 21, 1773, Salem, NC.

Children of Peter Rose and Anna Rosina Boeckel are:

+Godfrey Peter Rose, b. August 17, 1775, d. 1799, Philadelphia, Pa.

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