Their Golden Anniversary

MR. AND MRS. EUGENE ALDERMAN MARRIED 50 YEARS AGO.

Highly Respected Holyoke Couple Will Keep Open House Tomorrow and Greet Neighbors and Relatives -- Came Here in 1879.

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene C. Alderman of 50 Pearl Street will tomorrow celebrate the 50th anniversary of their wedding at their home. The affair will be altogether informal. No invitations have been issued, except that extended a week ago, when Mr. and Mrs. Alderman invited friends and neighbors to call during the afternoon or evening. The day will be spent by the couple at their home, surrounded by their children, grandchildren, relatives and friends.

Mr. and Mrs. Alderman came to Holyoke in 1879 and have since made their home here. Eight children were born to them and all were reared in Holyoke and today hold responsible positions. No family is respected more in Holyoke than the Aldermans and tomorrow promises to be a busy day at the family home on Pearl Street. Like Holyoke the family has grown each year, the happy couple having eight children and 13 grandchildren now.

For a couple that depended for sustenance on the wages of the one, no Holyoke couple has a prouder or more creditable record in Holyoke today, and their thrift, integrity and frugality may well serve others as a guiding star. Born of sturdy New England parents they were brought up in a Connecticut town to respect the laws and their years of married life have been a pleasure. Thirty-one of the fifty years have been spent in Holyoke.

Mr. & Mrs. Alderman were married in Simsbury, Conn. January 22, 1860, by Rev. Joseph Vinton, pastor of the Congregational church. Mrs. Alderman was formerly Miss Ellen E. Holmes and was born in Thompsonville, Conn., January 15, 1842. When a few years of age her parents removed to East Granby, Conn., and in that village she was brought up with Mr. Alderman. The latter was born in East Granby on March 18, 1840, and grew up there.

Both attended the public schools of East Granby and when a mere boy Mr. Alderman learned the trade of carpenter. He was 20 and his wife 18 when they went to Simsbury, Conn., a nearby town, and were married. Returning to East Granby they lived there until 1879 when they removed to this city. In the Connecticut town Mr. Alderman followed his trade as carpenter.

He obtained employment in this city at his trade and in 1884 began work in this capacity for the Holyoke Water Power Company. A faithful and skilled workman he rounded out 25 years of service with that company two months ago when he retired. The power company officials speak highly of Mr. Alderman as a man and employee. His services were highly appreciated and it is only because of his advanced age and solicitation of his children that Mr. Alderman left the company's employ.

Mr. Alderman had been married only two years and was but 22 years old when he answered the call of President Lincoln to save the union, and he enlisted with the 25th regiment of Connecticut volunteers. The regiment was rushed to the front and assigned to the army of the west, engaged in opening the Mississippi from Cairo to the Gulf. The regiment received its baptism of fire in the battle at Irish Bend, one of the first of the nearly daily battles and skirmishes that ended in the downfall of Port Hudson and Vicksburg. The 25th Connecticut was in General Bank's army and was under fire for 44 days in the course of the siege. After that campaign, which broke the backbone of the resistance to the Union forces in the west, Mr. Alderman's regiment was assigned to cleaning up the territory around there, and he figured in several more battles before he was mustered out with full honors after a year and a half of service. Mr. Alderman was wounded once, a bullet striking him in the forehead. He is an enthusiastic member of Kilpatrick post, and every year attended the reunion of his old regiment in Connecticut.

The musket was hung on the wall and Mr. Alderman returned to the bench and the hammer and did his full share to cultivate the arts of peace. Mr. Alderman was an inspiration to him, and together they raised one of the most remarkable families in the valley. There are eight of them in all and each one of them has achieved more than ordinary success in the walk of life they have chose. There are five boys and three girls, all grown to mature years now, and several of them heads of families themselves.

This week the whole family group sat for a photograph at the same time that the pictures accompanying this article were taken and it really is to be framed and presented to Mr. Roosevelt as the exponent of large families when he returns from Africa.

Here are the eight children: George P. B. of the firm of George P. B. Alderman & Co., architects; Charles E., superintendent of the Hampden Glazed Card and Paper Company; Oliver C., in the hardware business in Springfield; Henry H., architect, in company with George P. B. Alderman; Eugene R., assistant superintendent at the Farr Alpaca Company; Miss Ellen I., teacher in the Highlands grammar school; Miss Carrie L., teacher in the Elm Street school; and Miss May E., teacher in the kindergarten department at the Kirtland school.

Mr. and Mrs. Alderman have been for many years members of the Trinity Episcopal church of Tarryville, Conn. Mr. Alderman is a member of Mt. Tom lodge, F. of M. The home life of the couple has been blessed with good fortune, and Father Time has not pressed very heavily on the shoulders of either.

Good neighbors, generous, law abiding residents, Mr. and Mrs. Alderman will observe their golden wedding anniversary in the way they lived. Their door was always open to friends and neighbors and tomorrow all are invited to call and make merry with the old couple, their children and grandchildren. There are many relatives and friends from out of town in for the happy event and the day promises to be a big one.

Mr. and Mrs. Alderman will receive from 2.30 until 5 o'clock in the afternoon, and from 7 until 10 o'clock in the evening. The Rockland trio will furnish music, and the three daughters will be assisted in entertaining by Mrs. Harold Carruthers, Miss Emily Collingwood, Miss Ethyl Partridge, Miss Christina Dickey, Miss Belle Stokes and Miss Christine Alderman, one of the grand children. Mrs. Charles E. Alderman, Mrs. Oliver C. Alderman, Mrs. Henry H. Alderman and Mrs. Eugene R. Alderman will also look after the entertainment of the many expected guests.

Older friends from afar are expected, and among them Mrs. Henry Clark of Boston, Robert Holmes of Unionville, Conn., an old comrade in arms of Mr. Alderman, and a lifelong friend of the family; Howard Foster of Beverly and many relatives of the family from Suffield and Springfield.

The G.A.R. will be guests of honor as well as the Order of the Eastern Star, in which Mrs. Alderman has been prominent for many years. Mrs. Alderman is also connected to the women's Relief Corps, and the ladies auxiliary of the Y.M.C.A. (Published January 22, 1910)