Howard Pennington Alderson was the youngest of three children born to Thomas (1840-1898) & Anna McLeod (1844-1912) Alderson. He was born in Illinois on Aug 3rd, 1879, the only boy in a home with two older sisters, Marguerite, age 3, & Ethel, age 2. The family was living in Palestine, in Benton County, in 1891, when Howard's sister, Ethel died at the age of 14 years. She was buried at the Palestine Cemetery in Benton County. His father, Thomas, died in 1898 at the age of 58 yrs. and was buried next to Howard's sister, Ethel. Howard's other sister, Marguerite, was a music teacher living in Newberg, Yamhill County, per the 1900 US Census. In 1900, Howard was shown to be living in Halsey, south of Albany in Linn County. He became a machinist for the Southern Pacific Railroad and married a woman in 1903 with the same name as his mother, Anna M.,b.in 1878. They had three children. Cecil L. was b.@1909?; Irene was b.1912, and later married Ove McCrary who had been born in Wisconsin in 1906; they had at one son, Donald, b.1930; Howard's 3rd child was a son named Clair, b.Jan.1917. The family lived in Albany in their home at 215 W.7th St. and Howard continued to work for the railroad, in the roundhouse by the 1930 census.At the age of 55, he apparently died while at work from an infection of his heart lining, on Oct 26, 1934. His death certificate states he was born in South Dakota, however he was actually born in Illinois, per all of his censuses. His funeral was held on Oct 29th, 1934 and he was buried at Riverside Cemetery in the same plot as his mother, Anna McLeod Alderson, who had passed on Sept 14, 1912. His wife, Anna M. Alderson, passed in 1945 and was also interred in the same plot at Riverside Cemetery, Albany, Linn County, Oregon. Irene died in 1990, but I have not been able to locate where she is buried. I've never been able to locate their son, Donald, who was never again mentioned on another census, although Irene and Ove moved to Salem where he found work at the State of Oregon Printing Dept. as a pressman. I've not located Cecil but found Clair. He married Jean Elizabeth (Tibbits) Wilson in 1964 while working for the State Police, but died in 1968 from the same kind of heart issues that took the life of his father. He is buried with his mother, aunt and uncle at Riverside Cemetery. Jean passed in 1998 and was buried in Wyoming, the state of her birth. If anyone is aware of Cecil's or Irene's whereabouts, I'd appreciate knowing. Thank you so much.
I mistakenly believed he was related to my great uncle's, Robert Leander Burkhart, wife, named Marguerite. However, my Marguerite Alderson was a daughter of Reverend Christopher Alderson and Mary Catherine Royal. It is interesting to note that both Marguerites had a sister named Ethel.
Updated Jan 29, 2016