Dierdorff and Ross family photographs collection
Scope and Contents
Photographs depicting the Ross and Dierdorff families. Collection includes images of the Reverend William H. Dierdorff, his wife, Emma Ross Dierdorff, and his brother, Ainsworth W. Dierdorff; members of the Ross family (descendants of the Reverend George Ross), and the Tualatin Plains Presbyterian Church. Formats include cabinet cards and daguerreotypes. Also included are a small quantity of clippings and ephemera.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1855-1964
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Biographical note
William Henry Dierdorff was born in 1849 in Pontusac, Illinois. In 1856, he emigrated with his family to Oregon. He worked as a civil engineer and a draftsman before becoming a Presbyterian minister in 1892. In 1894, when Reverend George Ross of the Presbyterian church in Tualatin Plains (known as the Old Scotch Church) died, Dierdorff was appointed as his replacement. Later that same year he married Ross's daughter, Emma Ross (1870-1960); the couple had three sons: Ross Ainsworth Dierdorff (1896-1964), William Henry Dierdorff (1898-1975), and John Dierdorff (1899-1989). In the later 1890s, Dierdorff preached in Klamath Falls, but illness forced him to retire in 1900. He died in 1903 in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; obituary in the Tillamook Headlight, September 17, 1903; obituary for Emma Ross Dierdorff in the Oregonian, June 16, 1960; biographical information provided by Dierdorff's grandson, William Henry Dierdorff III.
Extent
0.45 Cubic Feet (1 document case)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Photographs depicting members of the Ross and Dierdorff families, including images of the Reverend William H. Dierdorff, his wife, Emma Ross Dierdorff, and his brother, Ainsworth W. Dierdorff, as well as the Tualatin Plains Presbyterian church. William H. Dierdorff (1849-1903) emigrated to Oregon with his family in 1856. He became pastor of the Presbyterian church in Tualatin Plains after the death of the Reverend George Ross in 1894, and married Ross's daughter, Emma Ross (1870-1960).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of William Dierdorff, January 2012 (Lib. Acc. 27524).
Subject
Genre / Form
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Dierdorff and Ross family photographs collection
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- 2012
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240
libreference@ohs.org