This is an interesting problem, because there are unique resources to possibly solve it. Riverboat crews were held in high regard during the 1860s and the names of well-known steamboats were common knowledge in the towns and cities along the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers. The death of riverboat crewmen--especially captains, pilots, and owners--were reported in the period newspapers. That would be true of many engineers, too. It would help to know in which river James Rose worked. Most of the riverboats with a St. Louis connection specialized in one of these three. Can you determine upon which river James Rose worked?

I looked in the main index of Frederick Lay's "Lay's Packet Director-1848-1994" by Ohio University Press, but found no James Rose. Two other Roses were listed, but they were both owners of riverboats.

I also looked in Stanley, Wilson, and Wilson's "Death Records From Missouri Newspapers, January 1861-December 1865," which lists eight different Rose people whose deaths were reflected in MO newspapers, but the only James Rose was a five-year-old boy at Louisiana, MO.

Can you narrow the period in which Rose died? That may help. Also, as said above, it would help to know on which river he worked, and especially on which vessels he worked.

Bruce Nichols