Collection is open for research.
Acquired prior to April 2008, possibly gift of John Dierdorff (Lib. Acc. 26486).
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.
William H. Dierdorff family papers, Coll 977, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Other materials at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library relating to William H. Dierdorff and his family include: the William H. Dierdorff collection, Mss 5281; the Dierdorff family papers, Coll 646; the John Dierdorff papers, Coll 666; the William H. Dierdorff sketches and biography, Coll 976; the Dierdorff and Ross family photographs collection, Org. Lot 1088; and a vertical file, Genealogy - Dierdorff family.
The collection consists of the papers of William H. Dierdorff (1849-1903) and photographs and postcards relating to the family of his son William H. Dierdorff (1898-1975). The papers consist of three diaries for 1896, 1897, and 1899, which detail the elder Dierdorff's life as a Presbyterian minister; an 1898 notebook with diary entries and notes for sermons; an address book; and a cash book.
There are two postcards in the collection: one is of Wallowa Lake, which the younger William H. Dierdorff sent to his mother, Emma Ross Dierdorff, in 1949; the other is of The Dalles Dam, which was sent to the younger William H. Dierdorff and his wife, Patty Dierdorff, in 1965. The photographs in the collection include images of an unidentified 1962 event at the high school in Pendleton, Oregon, and of the following Oregon locations: Crater Lake, Tollgate, Hillsboro, The Dalles Dam, and Newport. They also include images of unidentified landscapes and people, possibly family members.
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.