Bluefield Evening Leader, Bluefield, West Virginia

Wednesday, January 27, 1909, page 3

Mrs Eliza Floyd Alderson, relict of Rev Lewis A Alderson, and mother of Major J Coleman Alderson, died at her home in Charleston Sunday morning at 4 o'clock having been ill since the previous Friday. Mrs Alderson was in her ninetieth year.

The death of Mrs Alderson removes one of the descendants of a pioneer family in West Virginia, one that was foremost in the early days of shaping the destinies of the state. She was a grand-daughter of Elder John Alderson, who organized the Greenbrier Baptist Church in 1781 the first Baptist Church erected west of the Alleghany mountains in this section.

Mrs Alderson was born August 4, 1819, at Amherst Springs, Virginia. With her husband, the Rev L A Alderson she moved to Atchison, Kansas in 1858 and continued to reside in that section of the country until the death of her husband in 1881, when she returned to the east and has made her home with Major J Coleman Alderson for the greater part of the time since returning.

Of the eight children born to the decedent and her husband, only three survive. Those remaining are Major J Coleman Alderson, of Charleston; Lewis Alderson, of Sheridan, Wyoming, and Mrs C J White, of Atchison, Kansas.

The decedent had been a member of the First Baptist church for three quarters of a century. The body was taken to Alderson where it was interred in the family burying ground.

The Atchison Weekly Globe, Atchison, Kansas

Thursday, January 28, 1909, page 6

Mrs L A Alderson, mother of Mrs Church White, of Atchison, and one of the town's earliest residents, died yesterday morning of pneumonia at the home of her son, Coleman Alderson, at Charleston, West Va. Had she lived until the 4th of August next, she would have celebrated her ninetieth birthday.

Mrs Alderson was born August 4, 1819, in Amherst county, Va, twenty miles from Lynchburg. She came west with her husband and children in the spring of 1858. There were no railroads here and the trip from St Louis was by boat. The late Carey Alderson was a child, and used to recall being carried off the boat when it reached the landing at Atchison. There were no churches here, and to Mr Alderson, who was a Baptist preacher, belongs the credit of founding the Baptist church. His energy and zeal made a Baptist church possible when other denominations were still dormant, and he became its first pastor, preaching for several years without pay. He built the home on North Fifth street above Division, now owned by Dr Hoagland, shortly after his arrival, and this house became the center of social activity. True, it was the mite social more than the dance, but Mr and Mrs Alderson had the true Southern trait of hospitality, and a mite social became as enjoyable in their hands as any dance could be. When the members of the Baptist congregation felt they could afford a salaried pastor, Mr Alderson resigned, and at one time was in the bookstore business with his son. He died in 1881, and his widow made her home with her daughter, Mrs Church White, until three years ago, when she left for Charleston, to live with her son. She was a life long member of the Baptist church, and her whole life was devoted to the cause.

Mrs Alderson is survived by three children: Coleman, with whom she made her home; Mrs Church White, of Alderson, and Louis, of Sheridan, Wyoming. Interment will be made in Alderson, West Virginia, the early day home of the family. In the spring the body will be brought to Atchison and buried in Mt Vernon, the body of L A Alderson to be removed from Oak Hill and laid beside her.