Rose
Samantha Ceallaigh
Rose1.jpg
Portrayed By Scarlett Johansson
Gender Female
Date of Birth January 23, 1865
Age 19
Zodiac Sign Aquarius
Aliases Rose
Place of Birth Niles, MI, USA
Occupation Dove
Known Relatives Margaret Ceallaigh (Mother), Michael Ceallaigh Sr.(Father), Mike Ceallaigh Jr.(Brother), Joseph Ceallaigh(Brother), Isaac Ceallaigh (Brother), Shannon Ceallaigh (Sister)
Significant Other None

History

The young woman known as Ruby was born Samantha Ceallaigh. The firstborn to a pair of Irish immigrants on their way to Chicago, Samantha's life started out tough. She was less than a month old when her parents took her on the last 100 miles of their journey to Chicago. As a young immigrant family in a booming city, the Ceallaigh's found themselves living in deplorable conditions, surrounded by the filth and decay of a train city on the rise. Things were only strained in the following years, as Margaret Ceallaigh gave birth to three boys and another daughter. Fortunately for the Ceallaigh's, Chicago had a significant Irish community, and their fellow Irishmen saw to it that the family survived.

Always a small but determined girl growing up, Samantha seemed to be a symbol of Irish stubbornness and beauty. Growing up around the train-yards of Chicago, Samantha developed a knack early on for using her looks to get what she wanted from the men in the alleys, shops, and warehouses of the gateway to the West. At first, she started out as an incorrigible darling who always appealed to others sympathies, but later she became a true coquette and a tease to get what she wanted.

Not that she was spoiled. She didn't have time to be spoiled. When she was six, Michael Ceallaigh Sr., Samantha's father, died in the Great Chicago Fire, leaving her mother to support the family while Samantha took care of her three younger brothers and her sister. Then, in 1883, Samantha's mother and her three brothers died of typhoid fever, leaving an eighteen year-old Samantha to look after her sickly twelve year-old sister Shannon. Acting on the advice of a local doctor, Samantha decided to move to Colorado for her sister's sake, hoping that the clean mountain air and open, uncrowded land would give her a chance to recover. But Shannon never recovered from the typhoid fever, and she remained weak as they set out for Silver Creek, Colorado.

The trip had been hard on Samantha, too. At first she tried to rely on using her looks to tease favors out of generous men, but soon she found that wasn't enough. Putting aside her Irish Catholic upbringing, Samantha first compromised her honor in Kaskaskia, Illinois. In order to cross the Mississippi without being harassed on the ferry for being a young single woman traveling with a weak girl, Samantha arranged to be escorted by a young man from the river-town who would pretend to be her husband, and he took payment as best she could give. As the money and time ran short for Samantha and the dying Shannon, Samantha found herself making similar arrangements several more times. One night, Samantha and her sister ran out of town with a handful of money stolen from a cattle-hand who'd gotten violent with her. Two days later, Shannon died, just three days' travel from the Colorado border.

Alone, disenchanted with the West before she even arrived, Samantha had learned hard lessons about survival. Adopting a pseudonym more befitting her new lifestyle, Samantha found it easy to give up her old name in exchange for Rose. Rolling into Silver Creek's on a stagecoach with a fancy dress bought with money she would have used to buy medicine for Shannon, Rose was certain she'd make the most of this new life in this new place, any way she could.

Chronology

(Pre-IC)

  • April 2, 1864 - Michael and Margaret Ceallaigh arrive in New York from Ireland.
  • December 7, 1864 - With the promise of readily available rail-worker jobs, Michael and Margaret begin their move to Chicago.
  • January 14, 1865 - Michael and Margaret Ceallaigh stay over in Niles, Michigan, just 100 miles from Chicago.
  • January 23, 1865 - Samantha Ceallaigh is born in a small boarding house in Niles, Michigan.
  • February 7, 1865 - The Ceallaighs finally arrive in Chicago.
  • June 30, 1867 - Margaret Ceallaigh gives birth to Mike Ceallaigh Jr.
  • May 13, 1868 - Margaret Ceallaigh gives birth to Joseph Ceallaigh.
  • July 9, 1870 - Margaret Ceallaigh gives birth to Isaac Ceallaigh.
  • October 10, 1871 - The Great Chicago fire claims hundreds of lives, including Michael Ceallaigh Sr.
  • October 20, 1871 - Margaret Ceallaigh gives birth to Shannon Ceallaigh.
  • November 14, 1883 - The Ceallaigh's are struck with typhoid fever. Margaret, Mike, Joseph, and Isaac die within two weeks.
  • December 20, 1883 - Samantha and Shannon are released from quarantine.
  • February 5, 1884 - Samantha and Shannon begin to head southwest for Silver Creek Colorado.
  • March 23, 1884 - Shannon dies of consumption.
  • April 11, 1884 - Samantha arrives in Silver Creek, under the name Rose.

Quotes

  • "I don't know what I'm looking for, but I'll be sure once I find it."
  • "It's man's nature to take what he wants, and it's woman's nature to give it to him. But I believe I split the difference by asking for something back."
  • "After growing up in Chicago, I didn't think it'd be possible to get lost in such a small town!"

Trivia

  • Colorado's forests and mountains.
  • Politeness and good manners.
  • Taking care of others like a big sister or mother.
  • Singing, especially Irish folk songs.

Back

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License