Background:  Kindred Mason Rose, the second son of Robert and Mahala Rose, was about eighteen when he moved from Tennessee to Missouri with his parents. On February 14, 1856, he married Nancy Ann Sanford, the daughter of George Washington Sanford and his wife Lavina (Williams) Sanford. They drove in a buggy to Louisiana, Missouri, where they were married by a minister. They returned to their home on the prarie, about four miles west of Curryville and a bit to the north of present highway 154. There Kindred had built a three room log cabin with an attic room. There were five slaves to work the tobacco fields and an old woman called "Old Till" who did house work. These slaves ate in a log hall behind the house, which had a log pole running the length of the room above the table. Nancy Ann’s first child, George Sanford Rose, said that when he was a boy he would walk hand over hand on the cross pole above the table when the slaves were eating, to the amusement and approval of the slaves, but his mother Nancy disapproved and pulled him down forbidding any more such exhibitions.

Nancy Ann and Kindred were members of the Methodist Church and were regular attendants at the services, which were held in the Rose School House. As more children came, they would drive to church in a wagon but left the children outside lest they disturb the services.

It is half expected that the Nancy’s source of ancestry is the Sanfords of Westmoreland County, Virginia who are tied to the Sanfords of England. However, no sure connection was proved. On October 20, 1865, Nancy died of typhoid fever. She was buried in the family cemetery near Robert and Mahala, her in-laws. She left behind four children: George Sanford, Bethel Summerfield, Almeta, and Emma Lou. Kindred sold his land and purchased land in Spencerburg. Here he served as president of the school board, and was very active in the Masonic Lodge. He cleared his newly purchased land and built his new home for himself and his four children. This house still stands today. The limestone soil of the new land was excellent for tobacco production. But his tobacco production soon ended. In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery. He released his slaves and his crop production declined.