Albert N. Alderman (6/4/1825 – 8/17/1908) was born in Windsor, Ashtabula County, Ohio. His parents, Jesse M. Alderman and Elura Cook, were New Englanders, both natives of Connecticut. Albert was one of 15 Children. Albert grew up working on the family farm.
In 1854, at the age of twenty-nine, Albert married 19-year-old Irish immigrant Elizabeth Brennan (12/25/1835-9/27/1887). They had 5 children. When he was a thirty-six, he enlisted as a Private in Co K, 29th Ohio Infantry Regiment on September 28, 1861. The 29th Ohio was organized at Camp Giddings, Jefferson, Ohio and was comprised of recruits primarily from counties in northeast Ohio. Its first commander was Col. Louis P. Buckley.
Alderman participated in the battles of Winchester and Port Republic before he was wounded at the Battle of Cedar Mountain on August 9, 1862. The Battle of Cedar Mountain, sometimes called Slaughter Mountain, was a one-day battle in Culpeper County, Virginia. The battle was a Confederate victory in which the rebel forces under Stonewall Jackson outnumbered the Union troops led by General Nathanial Banks almost two to one. Both of Albert Alderman’s tent mates were killed in the battle. Clara Barton, in her first official duties of the war, arrived on the scene four days later to help tend to the wounded. Albert was soon back in action with his regiment at the battles of Chancellorsville and Antietam.
The 29th Ohio was then shifted from the Eastern Theater to the Western Theater (primarily in Tennessee and Georgia) where Alderman participated in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, and the fighting in the campaign leading up to the surrender of Atlanta.
For two years Alderman served as the chief clerk of the Provost Department of the Second Division of the Twelfth Corps. One of his most treasured souvenirs from this job was a requisition order for a quart of whiskey signed by General Ulysses S. Grant. Atlanta fell to Sherman’s troops on September 2, 1864, and on September 28, exactly three years from the day he enlisted, Albert Alderman was mustered out of Federal service.
The Alderman’s were a martial family. Their father Jesse had served as a sergeant in the Ohio Militia during the War of 1812 and five of Albert’s brothers served in Ohio regiments during the Civil War. One brother did not return from the war and lies in an unmarked grave.
After his discharge from the army, Albert Alderman returned to Ohio, to Elizabeth and their infant daughter Lillian. By the time they arrived in Tustin in 1876, Albert and Elizabeth were the parents of three more children, Heber, Alton and Arlington Ray. The family settled on a farm in the foothills of north Tustin then known as the Fair Haven Colony. It was founded by Rev. Henry H. Messenger and intended to be an Episcopalian temperance colony. Albert supplemented his farm income with carpentry work. In 1881 he was elected the first warden (vestryman) of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tustin.
On September 29, 1887, Elizabeth Alderman passed away at the age of fifty-one. By the time of her death, three of her four children were adults. With her husband a vestryman, Elizabeth was also an active member in the Episcopalian Church. Albert N. Alderman passed away on August 17, 1908, in Hemet, Riverside County, California at the age of eighty-three. After an Episcopal funeral service at the home of his daughter in Santa Ana, Alderman was laid to rest with military honors provided by his fellow members of the Sedgwick Post 17 of the GAR. His
obituary in the local newspaper described him as a life-long Episcopalian, chronicled his war time experiences and closed with, “He was a life-long Republican, and believed in the expansion of our territory and the gold standard.”
The life story of their five children follows:
Charles J Alderman (1854-1854) died as an infant.
Elizabeth Lillian Alderman (3/8/1859-7/6/1941) was born in Windsor, Ohio. She came to Tustin with her parents when she was 17. In 1885 she married Clarence Sheats (9/26/1857-1/31/1930), a member of another pioneer Tustin family. He was 24 and she was 25. They had one daughter, Lula Marie (1886-3/31/1956). They lived in Santa Ana where Clarence was a Real Estate Agent. Their daughter, Lula Marie, married Alfred Wilkes (9/22/1888-7/7/1935). The Wilkes resided in City of Los Angeles where he was a dentist, and she was a teacher. After Clarence’s death, Elizabeth lived with her daughter until her death at age 77. Both Clarence and Elizabeth are buried at Santa Ana Cemetery.
Heber B Alderman (8/20/1865-1/8/1906) was born in Windsor, Ohio. He came to Tustin with his parents when he was 11. There is no evidence that Heber ever married. In 1906, at age 39, Heber died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the family walnut grove. A coroner’s inquest subsequently ruled the death accidental.
Alton L Alderman (8/1867-5/11/1923) was born in Windsor, Ohio. He came to Tustin with his parents when he was 9. He married Bertha Candice Scanland (1871-1949) on February 9, 1907, in San Jacinto, California. He was 39 and she was 35. They had no children and were divorces. Before his death, he was a Deputy City Marshall. He died in San Bernardino, California at the age of 55.
Arlington Ray Alderman 1/30/1873-9/4/1944) was born, in Windsor. Ohio, He came to Tustin with his parents when he was 3. He married Rose C. Robbins (1874-1935) on December 19, 1901, in Los Angeles, California. He was 28 and she was 27. They had two children during their marriage. He was in the agriculture business in Los Angeles then San Diego County He lived with his widowed daughter and her daughter after Rose died at age 61. He died in San Diego, California, at the age of 71 and was buried in Oceanside, California.
See Museum file for the sources of this Family Profile
Researched by Timothy Zierer and Vicki Gray
Created: 9/4/2021
