William A. Rose was born on July 7, 1837, in New York to David and Betsey Rose. His father was a goldsmith. Rose grew up and attended school in Alfred, New York, and by 1860, he was working as a farm laborer.

 

He enlisted in the Union army on August 21, 1861, and he mustered in as a sergeant in Company D of the 86^th New York Infantry on September 25. The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, and the siege of Petersburg. He was wounded at Petersburg on June 16, 1864. He was promoted to 2^nd lieutenant on November 26, 1864, and then to captain on January 21, 1865. He mustered out on June 27, 1865.

 

He returned to Alfred after the war, and he married a woman named Delilah. Their son David was born around 1872. Rose worked as a farmer, and by 1870, he owned $1,600 of real estate and $790 of personal property. He began working as a jeweler in the 1870s. He applied for a federal pension in June 1890 and eventually secured one. His wife died in 1893, and he married a woman named Effie on June 25, 1895. They moved to Almond, New York, in the early 1900s. He died in Hornell, New York, on February 22, 1923.

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