1876-?
Florence M. Rose was one of the earliest lawyers in NJ, she was admitted to the bar in 1898, when only three other women had passed the bar, one of whom was Mary Philbrook. In 1902, Florence passed her counselor at law exam. She said she found her work “very fascinating” and would advise other women to go into law.
The Sunday Call said she was “truly womanly in mind and character but posessing a keen instinct for legal affairs.”
Florence was a life long Newark resident and attended Miller Street School and Newark High School, graduating with the highest grades in the college course in 1896. She lived on Vanderpool, and later South 12th Street with her parents, who were born in England, her two sisters and one brother. She enjoyed learning French and German and her family spent summers in Point Pleasant. She was part of the Woman Lawyer’s Club.
Florence appears on the 1915 census living with her mother and sisters on South 12th Street. After that she seems to disappear from the record and it is unclear when she died.
Bibliography
“Woman Lawyer Now Counsellor At Law” Newark News Jul 16, 1902
Gregory, Franklin, “The Trials and Tribulations of our ‘First Lady of Law” Star Ledger Aug 18, 1981
US Federal Census 1900, 1910
NJ State Census: 1885, 1895, 1915
“Woman Lawyer’s Club” Newark Sunday Call Jun 25, 1899
“Woman as Lawyers” Newark Sunday Call Apr 16, 1899