Roseann Emch was born on December 12, 1890, the daughter of John and (?) Emch, 315 Harve Street, Toledo, Ohio. She had two older sisters, Minnie, born about 1886, and Elizabeth (Lizzie), born about 1888, and a younger brother, Will, born around 1893, and a younger sister Helen, born in 1900. Both Minnie and Rose worked as domestics in Toledo. Minnie was the housekeeper for the Reynolds family on Collingwood for 40 years.
In 1912, Rose traveled to California by train to visit her brother Will and find work. Apparently, she was sent by her family to discourage the attention of Norval Price, a divorced man, who continued to woo her long distance and whom she eventually married. While on the West Coast she traveled all over the Pacific Northwest, working for different families, and leading an active social life with her friends. On June 2, 1915, she participated in the wedding of her brother Will and Bertha (also known as Bert and Birdie). In August and September of 1915, she returned to Toledo by train via Canada and North Dakota, entertaining herself and fellow travelers with her ukulele, and stopping in Minnesota and Chicago before reaching Toledo on September 18. She married Norval Price in the 1920s and made another trip to California before settling down in Toledo and raising a family. She died in the late 1970s, and her family only became aware of her diaries after her death.
