Joseph George Rosengarten

Joseph George Rosengarten (July 14, 1835 – January 14, 1921) was a Philadelphia lawyer, historian, and Civil War veteran. He served on the staff of General John F. Reynolds.

Early life and education Joseph George Rosengarten was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the child of German immigrants George D. and Elizabeth (Bennett) Rosengarten. His father, one of Philadelphia's wealthiest men by the 1890s, was an accountant and manufacturer, who created a large chemical establishment and had an interest in numerous other profitable business ventures, including the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Rosengarten received his early education in private schools in Philadelphia, and for a time came under the influence of a scholarly man in York, Pennsylvania, the Rev. Charles West Thomson, who aroused in him a liking for literature that became "an abiding habit." The regiment was soon ordered to Washington, D.C., and upon its arrival, went into camp at Arlington Heights. (In one eyewitness's later account of Reynolds' July 1863 death, Rosengarten is referred to as "Major Adolph Rosengarten," his brother, an officer in the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Army of the Cumberland, who had been killed in December 1862 at the Battle of Stones River. In March 1865, he received the rank of Brevet Captain. Rosengarten served on the Board of Managers (1878), and later as vice president (1893-1910), and finally, as president (1911-1914) of the House of Refuge. In 1907, he was awarded an honorary LL.D. degree by the University of Pennsylvania.

Rosengarten was also remembered for his large circle of influential friends and acquaintances:

Few men had [such] a large circle of acquaintance; and having a rare gift for friendship, he continued to maintain association with many of those with whom he was thrown into contact either in [Philadelphia] or through his frequent trips abroad. He knew the Darwins, father and son; he came into close touch with eminent writers and scholars like F. Max Müller, Thomas Hughes, Goldwin Smith, Herbert Spencer and Lord Bryce; he formed a friendship extending over many years with the de Rochambeau family and secured the passage of an act of Congress for the purchase of the letters of Washington to [the Comte de] Rochambeau. He knew the great trio of American literature, Longfellow, Emerson and Lowell; he had met all the Presidents from Buchanan to Wilson, and knew practically all the generals in the Civil War. He died in Philadelphia on January 14, 1921. He is buried beside his sister Fanny at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

Family His brother Harry B. Rosengarten took over leadership of the family chemical business from their father. Harry's son Adolph G. Rosengarten II succeeded his father and built Chanticleer Garden in the Philadelphia suburbs. Another son, George D. Rosengarten II, also joined the family business, later serving terms as president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Chemical Society. After the family business was merged with Merck & Co. in 1927, a third son, Frederic Rosengarten, served as chairman of the board of the resulting corporation until 1950. Adolph's son Adolph Jr. joined the board in 1934 and was elected vice chairman in 1971.