THE DANIEL EDWARD ALDER FAMILY

The Alder family became known in northeast Nebraska in the late 1800s.  Coming here from Iowa, they had ancestors who were a mixture of English, German, and Scotch-Irish.

Isaac S. Alder was born July 19, 1858.  He and his wife, Eva (born in 1870), were blessed with eleven children: Gracy, Sadie, Rosie, Mary, Ida, Rena, Henry, Benjamin, Melvin, McKinley, and Daniel Edward (who later became known simply as Edward).  Isaac died November 27, 1909, at the age of 51.  Both he and Eva, who died in 1940, were buried in the Dorsey Cemetery in Holt County, Nebraska.

Very little is known of their children’s lives.  One of six girls, Gracy Alder was born in 1886 and died at the innocent age of five, as proven by the gravestone in the Dorsey Cemetery. Of the five boys born to Isaac and Eva, only three are known to be buried in the Dorsey Cemetery. McKinley, born in 1901, and Melvin, born three years later, were both committed to mental institutions and both died in 1975.  The other boy buried in Dorsey was Daniel Edward, about whom this history is written.

Daniel Edward, born in 1889, was raised in the Dorsey area. He married a girl of English descent, Cora Grace Hudson, who was also born and raised in the Dorsey area.

The little bit of history known about the Hudson family is that Cora’s father, Thomas Hudson, was born in 1840 and fought from 1861-1865 in the Civil War.  He served with the Grand Army of the Republic, as witnessed by the marker near his grave in the Dorsey Cemetery.  He and his wife, Loretta (born in 1846, and died in 1912), had seven children: Walt, George, Henry, Elmer, Ella, Nellie, and Cora Grace.  Again, very little is known about the Hudson children.  Henry, born in 1872, died when he was 19.  Elmer was born in 1885 and died in 1920.  Both are buried in the Dorsey Cemetery.  Cora Grace, born in 1888, married Daniel Edward Alder and constituted the other half of the beginning of the Daniel Edward Alder family history.

When Daniel Edward and Cora Grace (who later became known as Grace) were married, they farmed her parents’ land located 16 miles west and 5 miles north of Verdigre, Nebraska.  They had three sons: Elmer, Thomas, and Harold. 

pg 195  photo  Daniel Edward Alder and Cora Grace [Hudson] Alder

They raised dairy and stock cattle to help make ends meet in what were tough times.  (In the days of the Depression, the boys also picked up walnuts off the ground to sell in town,.)  The boys attended the Dorsey and Star schools.

In 1927 tragedy struck - the house burned to the ground.  The Alders were forced to move to a nearby farm.  They moved twice again before moving into the nearby Knoxville dance pavilion, which Daniel owned at the time.  (This is the same pavilion where Lawrence Welk once played before he became so famous.  As near as memories can recollect, admission was $1.00.)

Twelve years after fire had destroyed their house, the family moved back to the home place.  But a new house was not yet built.  They cooked dinners in the ice house (which stills stands) and made their beds in the outbuildings for two years.  The boys slept in the corn crib; their parents were more fortunate; they slept in the granary where the winter nights were not as miserable.

Daniel Edward Alder died in 1949 at the age of 60.  Cora Grace passed away in 1965.  They were buried side-by-side in the Dorsey Cemetery.

Elmer, the eldest son of Daniel and Cora, was born in 1910.  He served in the Air Force in World War II and was sent to India.  After he was released from duty, Elmer returned to Nebraska and worked as a mechanic in O’Neill, Lynch, and Verdigre before settling in Emmet, Nebraska. He married Lucille Boelter and they had seven children: Delmar, Dennis, Sandra, Betty, twins Danny and Davey, and Dean.

Delmar lives in Portland, Oregon, and has three daughters: Diane, Debra, and Tracy.  His first wife, Virginia, died and he married Bonnie.

Dennis and his wife, Karen, live in the O’Neill area with their children, Derrick and Rebecca.

Sandra married Stanley Miller.  They live in Emmet and have two children, Chad and Michelle.

Betty married Jerry Bargen and they had Richard, Brian, and Beth.  She lives in Georgia.

Danny married Connie Frank, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dean L. Frank of Verdigre, and they live in O’Neill.  They have two boys, Christopher and Jason.

Davey had three boys -- Davey, Jr., Michael, and Douglas -- by his wife, Brenda, before they were divorced.  He calls O’Neill his home.

Dean and his wife, Tracy, live in the Dorsey area and are parents of two children, Lee and Tina.

Thomas, the second-born son of Daniel and Cora, was born in 1913.  He, too joined the armed services during World War II, but was sent home because he suffered from ulcers.  He worked as a mechanic at Verdigre Motor before carrying the mail on the Star Route in the Dorsey area.  He began farming north of the Dorsey Cemetery, but when his father died, he took over the home place.  He married Arlene Vavak, daughter of Jim and Rose Vavak of Verdigre, and they were blessed with three boys: Russell, Jay, and Don.  All three boys graduated from Verdigre High School..

Russell married Karen Krippen and they had two boys, Brent and Steve.  Russell was killed in a car accident on June 30, 1986, and was buried in the Dorsey Cemetery.  Karen and the boys live in O’Neill.

 Jay married Bev DeKay and they have three children: Amanda, Tyler, and Jessica.  They also live in O’Neill.

 Don, single, farms the home place in Dorsey where he and his parents still live.

Harold Alder, the youngest son of Daniel and Cora Alder, is featured with his family in a separate history.