Born in Amherst County in the Virginia Colony, Rose attended the common schools.

The 1810 Census shows 37 enslaved people in his household, who worked on his plantation and served in his house.

Slavery ended in New York state in 1827, and the 1830 Census shows 3 free people of color in his household and no slaves.

In an unusual migration path, Rose moved north to Seneca County, New York in 1803.

Rose died in Waterloo, New York, while attending a session of the circuit court, on November 24, 1835.