In his autobiography, Always the Young Strangers, Carl Sandburg wrote that “Cully” Rose “knew everything a property man ought to know, and if you wanted an argument anytime he could give it to you. Usually he told you where to get off before you could start an argument.”

Rose was born September 1, 1874, to August and Maria Johnson Rose in Galesburg. They were natives of Sweden and were married there. Their first two children were born in Sweden. Charles was the first of several more children born in Galesburg. The elder Rose was a shoe and bootmaker. In the 1880s he worked for the D.W. Bunker Shoe Store.

Cully attended one year of high school and in 1895 went to work at the Auditorium at the corner of East Ferris and North Broad Streets. Sandburg and other boys worked for him moving scenery and acting as bit players. If they had to climb into the "flies" to change scenery, they were paid ten cents (equal to $2.87 in today's money). A small compensation for handling ropes thirty or forty feet above the stage.

Rose enlisted in Company C, Sixth Infantry Regiment (Illinois National Guard) in 1894. He was elected sergeant of the company. On April 26, 1898, Company C departed from Galesburg at 10:00 p.m. by train. They received a cheering send-off from the citizens of the city. Sandburg had enlisted the same day and said farewell to his family at the depot.

Charlie Rose later wrote a history of the unit's service in Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War. His description illustrates the miserable conditions under which the men served. The poor food, the hot and humid weather, the lack of supplies,  the insects, the rain and mud combined to make a horrible experience. When the company returned to Galesburg in September, some of the men had to be carried from the railroad cars.

For the rest of his life, Rose was devoted to the Clark Mills Carr Camp 26 of the United Spanish War Veterans and Post 2257 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He filled many of the offices of the two organizations and arranged reunions of the Company C men for many years. Sandburg attended as many reunions as his schedule would allow.

At the age of thirty-eight Rose married Ellen E. Keefe. She was a willing participant in the auxiliary organizations associated with her husband's memberships. They purchased a home at 1494 Mulberry and lived there the rest of their lives.

Rose held a variety of jobs after leaving the Auditorium stage. He was a machinist at the apron factory, a bill poster, clerked in a hardware store and was a night watchman. He would often reminisce about the many famous people he had met while working at the Auditorium.

Charles Rose died May 5, 1951, and was buried in Linwood Cemetery. The pallbearers included several of his nephews. Honorary pallbearers were named and each was a veteran of the Spanish-American War. Mrs. Rose lived until 1956. She was interred next to her husband. His parents had been buried in the same lot in 1903.