Edward Rosewater

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Edward Rosewater, born Edward Rosenwasser,[1] (January 21, 1841 – August 30, 1906) was a Republican Party politician and newspaper editor in Omaha, Nebraska. Rosewater had a reputation for always being "aggressive and controversial", and was influential in Nebraska politics as one of the leaders of the state Republican Party.[2]

Contents [show] Biography[edit] Born in Bukovany, Bohemia to a Jewish family, Rosewater immigrated to the United States in 1854.

Abolitionist movement[edit] Rosewater attended a commercial college, and then entered the telegraph with Western Union. He worked in Oberlin, Ohio in 1859 during the celebrated abolitionist cause célèbre, the Wellington rescue case. During that time Rosewater became closely associated with Simeon Bushnell and Charles Langston. "The outbreak of the American Civil War found him in the employ of the Southwestern Telegraph Company [(later Western Union)] in Alabama, and he was absorbed with it into the Confederacy. There was no getting away, and he was transferred to Nashville, Tenn." [3]

While in Alabama, he had transcribed the speech in which Jefferson Davis vowed to “carry the sword and torch through the northern cities” and sent it to the Associated Press. In a contretemps between Davis and Rosewater over this speech many years later, Davis intimated (so Rosewater maintained) that “from the information he could procure, [Rosewater] was a northern spy and not admitted into [the] good secession society of northern Alabama.” [4] When the Union forces retook Nashville in February 1862, Rosewater offered his services, supervising the restoration of the army’s telegraph lines across the Cumberland Gap.[5] A short visit to his family in Cleveland followed, after which he enlisted in the United States Army Telegraph Corps, staying with General John C. Frémont throughout his West Virginia campaign.[6]

Later Rosewater was attached to the staff of General John Pope, remaining with him until after the Second Battle of Bull Run. Afterwards he was stationed in Washington. While serving at the White House telegraph office, Rosewater was responsible for sending out President Abraham Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation" on January 1, 1863.[7]

Arrival in Omaha[edit] In the summer of 1863 when Rosewater came to Omaha, it was the terminus of the Pacific Telegraph Company. He was the Western Union manager and an Associated Press agent, and soon became the Omaha correspondent for several eastern daily newspapers. Rosewater married Leah Colman on November 13, 1864 in Cleveland, Ohio, departing after the wedding for Omaha, Nebraska where he had secured a home for his new bride.

In the fall of 1870 Rosewater was elected to the Nebraska House of Representatives,[8] and the following year he founded the Omaha Bee.[9] Less than a month after launching the Bee, he founded the weekly Pokrok Západu (The Progress of the West), the first Czech-language newspaper in Omaha. [10] While in the Legislature, Rosewater was credited with creating the first Omaha Board of Education. He was historically regarded as the father of Omaha Public Schools.[11]

Under his guidance the Omaha Bee supported progressive ideas such as creation of a school board for the Omaha Public Schools and direct election of senators. But at the same time, Rosewater opposed women's suffrage. A period review of his writing style commented that he wrote "concise, pointed, and clear, and in political campaigns, especially, he is an untiring and dauntless fighter."[12][13]

Rosewater served on the Republican National Committee in the late 19th century. In 1888 he built the Bee Building, a downtown landmark which was demolished in 1966. In 1897, at the behest of President McKinley, Rosewater came to Washington D. C. to head the U. S. delegatation at the Congress of the Universal Postal Union (the international body responsible for promoting efficiency in the flow of mail from country to country, tasked that year with securing cheaper international postage). This experience colored his work as an organizer for the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition, for he prevailed on the Post Office to produce a special Trans-Mississippi Issue of nine stamps commemorating the Exposition, and was credited with much of the success of that event.[14] Rosewater also ran two losing campaigns for a U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska. He died at the Omaha Bee building on August 30, 1906.[9]

Controversy[edit] Rosewater constantly pursued his own version of news, and often got into violent confrontations, with one even being given front page treatment in the The Day's Doings, a sensationalist New York City journal. In another fight Rosewater was almost killed by a local worker after reporting on that man's secret love affair.[7] Rosewater's style and treatment of the news left him open to constant criticism and attacks of his journalism, however, they also lent to personal attacks, more than one of which were anti-Semitic in their nature.[15]

Legacy[edit] Immediately before his death, Rosewater was involved in founding the American Jewish Committee. After he died suddenly of natural causes, his son Victor Rosewater joined the AJC in his place.[16] In 1957 CBS and the AJC produced a dramatic television show highlighting Rosewater's arrival in Omaha, his anti-slavery attitude and his journalistic style.[17]

Edward Rosewater's newspaper reporting style led to the Omaha Bee being labeled an example of yellow journalism. Critics believed its sensationalized news contributed to tensions resulting in the Omaha Race Riot of 1919.[18]

In 1910, Rosewater School in Omaha was built in Rosewater's honor.

Is best remembered as the young Jewish member of the Telegraphers Corps of the Union Army, who transmitted President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/8573204/edward-rosewater

Edward Rosenwasser was born in Bukovan, Bohemia in 1841.His parents, Herman and Rosalia Kohn Rosenwasser and their 11 children emigrated to the United States and settled in Cleveland OH in 1853.

At the age of 16, Edward Rosewater completed a commercial college course in 4 months in 1857 and then went to Cinninnati to study telegraphy. He was first employed by the Southern Telegraph Company in Alabama. He was transferred to Nashville TN at the beginning of the Civil War. When Nashville was captured by the Union Army, Rosewater joined the U.S. Military Telegraphic Corps – accompanying Generals Fremont and Pope on the Virginia Campaigns of 1862.

Edward Rosewater was responsible for the transmission of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1963.

Later that year he resigned and went to Omaha as manager of the Pacific Telegraph Company. Rosewater married Leah Colman on November 13, 1864 in Cleveland, Ohio. As he began to set down roots in Omaha,he became involved in politics and was eventually elected member of the legislature of Nebraska in 1870.

In the same year he took office he founded "The Omaha Bee," the weekly Pokrok Západu (The Progress of the West), the first Czech-language newspaper in Omaha. The Bee became a platform for Rosewater's progressive ideas, such as creation of a school board for the Omaha Public Schools and direct election of senators (of note, Rosewater opposed women's suffrage. And the Bee's brand of sensationalized journalism has been identified as contributing to tensions resulting in the Omaha Race Riot of 1919).

In 1892 Rosewater was chosen to represent his state as member of the Republican National Committee, and in 1896 became member of the advisory board of the National Committee, being reelected to that office in 1900 and 1904. Rosewater was appointed a member of the United States Mint Commission in 1896 and representative of the United States at the Universal Postal Congress held at Washington in 1897. In the latter year he was elected vice-president of that congress. Awake to the interests of his adopted city, Rosewater was the projector of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition held at Omaha in 1898, and was elected member of the executive committee in charge of publicity and promotion. He prevailed on the Post Office to produce a special Trans-Mississippi Issue of nine stamps commemorating the Exposition, and was credited with much of the success of that event. The most profitable event of the exposition, an Indian Congress that convened representatives of some 35 tribes was "the child of [Rosewater%E2%80%99s] brain," according to the Congress's chief ethnological consultant James Mooney, and its "successful outcome was due chiefly to his tireless activity and unfaltering courage." Rosewater also ran two losing campaigns for a U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska, the last in 1906.. Immediately before his death, Rosewater was involved in founding the American Jewish Committee. After his sudden death, his son Victor Rosewater joined the AJC in his stead.

OMAHA EDITOR IS FOUND DEAD OWNER OF BEE AND PROMINENT NEBRASKAN FINISHED SENATORIAL CAMPAIGN Edward Rosewater's Death Probably Due to Excitement Following Unsuccesful Run for Nomination for United States Senator

Omaha. Neb. Aug. 31. Edward Rosewater, proprietor and editor of the Omaha Bee, prominently identified with political, financial and business matters of Omaha, and citizen of Nebraska for forty years, was found dead in a room on the third floor of the Bee building early this morning. He had sat down on a bench, fallen asleep and died of heart failure. Mr. Rosewater went to Waterloo, Thursday afternoon where he made a speech at an old soldiers' picnic. Ha returned at 7 P. M., and went direct to his office in the Bee Building. It was Mr. Rosewater's habit to go to different parts of the building at his pleasure and it is presumed he stepped Into the room which is used as a court room, and sat down on one of the benches for a few minutes' repose and fell asleep. Judge Troup found the body when he arrived at the court room this morning. The death of Mr. Rosewater, coming this suddenly, was a great shock to the people of Omaha, who learned of it through extra editions of the Omaha papers. Dr. Charles Rosewater, brother of the dead editor, said that Mr. Rosewater had often expressed a wish that when death came it would be quick and painless. Dr. Rosewater attributed the sudden death of his brother to excitement attendant on a long campaign in which Mr. Rosewater was a prominent, but unsuccessful candidate for the nomination for United States senator by the Nebraska state convention. Mr. Rosewater's life had been an active one and the greater part of that activity had been spent in Omaha. For some time after coming to Omaha, he was manager for the Western Union Telegraph Company, having followed the telegraph profession before and during the war. He was a military telegrapher and was a trusted telegrapher of General Grant. After leaving the Western Union Company, Mr. Rosewater founded the Omaha Bee, a small afternoon paper. He developed the paper into one of the largest newspapers in the West. A few years ago he gave over the active management of the paper to his two sons, Victor and Charles Rosewater, though he retained the title of editor.

Published in The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, September 1, 1906 Page 7