Dierdorff and Ross family photographs collection

Collection

Identifier: Org. Lot 1088

Staff Only

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

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

Additional Description

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).