Collection is open for research.
Gift of William Henry Dierdorff III, November 2020 (RL2020-056).
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 sketches and biography, Coll 976, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Sketches were removed from frame and matboard for preservation purposes. Explanatory note by Dessie Lou Hodges had been taped to the back of the frame; this note was removed from the frame backing and photocopied.
Other materials at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library relating to William H. Dierdorff include: the William H. Dierdorff collection, Mss 5281; the Dierdorff family papers, Coll 646; the William H. Dierdorff family papers, Coll 977; the Dierdorff and Ross family photographs collection, Org. Lot 1088; and a vertical file, Genealogy - Dierdorff family.
The collection consists of six small ink and pencil sketches of Oregon landscapes that William H. Dierdorff made in 1896 and a brief biography of Dierdorff by his grandson, William Henry Dierdorff III. The sketches have dates and notes at the bottom to indicate which hymns the organist at the Presbyterian church in Tualatin Plains, Oregon, should perform for the service on the indicated date. Five of the sketches have notes on the back indicating the location portrayed: Willamette Falls; a ship and rocks near Netarts Bay; the Yamhill and Tillamook Stage Road; the wharf at Garibaldi; and Garibaldi Beach. The sketch without a location label depicts a river scene with a tent on the shore in the background. The collection also holds a photocopy of an explanatory note about the sketches written in 2000 by Dierdorff's granddaughter, Dessie Lou Hodges.
The biography, written in 2008 and editied in 2020, includes typescripts of Dierdorff's obituary in the Hillsboro Argus and a letter that he wrote to his wife in 1901, and four photographs of Dierdorff at different ages.
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.