By Dr. Curtis Varnell
One of Arkansas’s natives’ sons, Johnny Cash, had his statue placed in the rotunda of the National Capitol in Washington, D.C. From my earliest memories, I can remember his deep voice resonating as he sang about love, prisons, and railroads. World famous, his life resonates with our history and with the state of Arkansas.
Each state is allowed only two statues, the other being the statue of civil rights leader Daisy Bates. Two older statues were removed, those of James Clarke and the statue of U.M. Rose. Relatively unknown today, both of these men played important roles in Arkansas history. James Clarke, a populist Senator and former governor of Arkansas, is best known for his stand on the use of silver currency, his violent temper, support of “white supremacy”, and for wishing to liberate the Philippines from American control. One wonders how and why his statue was ever erected. The other statue, that of U.M. Rose, is an entirely different story. Rose was born in Bradfordsville, Kentucky, on a farm of 300 or 400 acres,[9]: 8 on March 5, 1834, son of Joseph and Nancy Rose. Taught by a tutor, he learned Latin by age five, once stating, “I cannot remember a time I could not read.” His mother died in 1848 and his father a year later. The estate was worth less than the debts so the children were thrown out into the world. Rose survived by taking a job as a clerk at a nearby store. The clerk position did not allow him time to study so he resigned and worked on a farm as a field hand for board and $5 per month. From these humble beginning came one of the foremost and greatest lawyers of the century. Rose eventually was admitted to Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky where he was able to complete studies and graduate in six-months-time. In 1853, he moved to Batesville and then into Pulaski County. He was opposed to the succession of Arkansas from the U.S., he took an oath to support the Confederacy and was named state historian. During the war, he was sent to Richmond, Virginia where he copied all names and information about Arkansas Confederate soldiers. Unfortunately, these records were lost in a warehouse file. After the war, he moved into Little Rock and set up what is now known as the Rose Law Firm. He was once offered a position as U.S. Senator but declined stating, “I have no love of political life. I have seen much of it at a distance. I regard it for the most part as a sham and a delusion, and often it is a shame and a disgrace.”

In 1872, he was one of the 75 lawyers who formed the American Bar Association and was president of the organization in 1901-02. He also was active in the formation of the Arkansas state bar association and was chairman of that group. He presented a number of cases before the supreme court of both Arkansas and of the United States. A friend of President Theodore Roosevelt, the president once described him as “the brainiest man I have ever met.” Roosevelt appointed Rose as a delegate to the Second Hague Peace Conference and gave him the status of ambassador of the United States.
In 1913, Rose took a fall in his office and died a few days later. All the state and county offices were closed for the day of his funeral, held at Oakland Cemetery in Little Rock. An extraordinary man, Rose overcame many obstacles including early death of this parents, lack of extensive formal education, and poverty to become one of the foremost legal minds of the 19th century. His legacy, the Rose Law Firm, is one of the most recognized and respected law firm
in the country. In 1915, the Arkansas General Assembly voted to place a marble statue of Rose in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. Replacing and updating our state monument is a way of demonstrating change and honoring those of a newer generation but let us not forget the contributions of our ancestors.