Rose, John

When John Rose was born on 3 September 1761, Loudoun County, as established by the Virginia House of Burgesses, was not quite four years old. That same year, the first courthouse in the county was built in the town that would eventually be called Leesburg, but was known in 1761 as “George Town.” Rose spent most of his life in and around Leesburg and was buried there in the Old Stone Church cemetery, which was the first Methodist-owned property in America.  

Rose married Anna Beall in 1792 and they had five daughters. He outlived three of his children and also his wife. Throughout his long life, Rose was a sailor, a farmer, and a businessman who played a role in the early history of banking in Loudoun County. He was the first Mayor of Leesburg, which was incorporated as a town in 1813, and later served as Loudoun County sheriff. 

In 1780, during the Revolutionary War, Rose sailed from Alexandria and was captured by the British. Upon his release in 1783 and subsequent return to Virginia, he purchased 430 acres in Loudoun County “adjacent to Thomson Mason” and called his home “Sailor’s Rest.” In his 1836 will, Rose stipulated that some of his enslaved people be freed. It appears this did not happen, since his estate was still satisfying the claims of various creditors as late as 1850. 

Anne Champlin