Henry Rouse

Some Special People of Warren County     House of Printing

               Henry Rouse was born in Westfield, New York, October 8, 1824. He received a good academic education principally by his own industry and endeavors. His teachers, noting his character and studious nature, paid his tuition bills, which years later he paid back in full plus interest. He studied law for two years, but gave it up because of an impediment in his speech.

               He came to Warren in 1840 and taught school that winter in Tidioute. He accepted his pay in wooden shingles and putting them on a raft, sold them in Pittsburgh. After doing this for two years, he was able to buy his own raft and began to accumulate his fortune. He bought into a sawmill and produced his own lumber. He also owned a fleet of rafts. He became a partner in a store in Enterprise. After fifteen years of diligent work, he was the owner of one thousand acres of prime pine lumber.

               In 1858, he was elected to two terms in the Pennsylvania legislature.

               In 1859, he started to invest in oil wells and oil lands. He spent much time, money, and labor in opening and improving roads, constructing bridges, and helping on projects that tended to develop the wealth of the new county.

               Henry Rouse was burned to death in an oil well fire at 37 years of age. He left half his estate to the improvement of roads and bridges in Warren County, and the other half, after bequests to friends, to the building of the Rouse Home in Youngsville. He died April 17, 1861.

Courtesy of the Warren County Historical Society