On 27 April 1865 Mary Lurvey Duncan married Charles E. B. Alderman in Milton, Rock county, Wisconsin. Alderman was the son of Albert Eugene and Susan Alderman. He was born 25 November 1838 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He too was a soldier in the Civil War – he fought and was wounded at the Battle of Cedar Mountain 9 August 1862. And after his discharge, he filed and received a pension. This is from young William’s application but it gives an idea of the wealth of information in pension files.
In the 1870 Federal census William Duncan, age 7, is living with Charles and Mary Alderman and their daughter, Ida, age 4. They live in Waupun, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin.
In the 1880 Federal census, our William Duncan is now William Alderman. He is 18 and a fireman for the railroad. Besides his half-sister, Ada, there are now Gertrude,10, and Albert, 8. Charles is listed as a carpenter now. They are living in Moorhead, Clay county, Minnesota.
This is from a later pension file – 1915, but it shows William’s signature and his name using the middle initial ‘D’
And with this the Duncan surname became a middle name and Alderman is the surname for William’s descendants.
This I Leave 