Obit: Van Gorden, Mary Ellen (Nellie) (1880 - 1968)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Van Gorden, Squires, McCullough, Wasserburger, Barker, Burke, Campbell

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 4/04/1968

Van Gorden, Mary Ellen (Nellie) (1880 - 2 April 1968)

Funeral services will be held from the Methodist Church in Alma Center at 2 p.m. Saturday for Mrs. Harry (Nellie) Van Gorden, 87, a former Neillsville resident, who died Tuesday afternoon in Jackson Home at Black River Falls.

Mrs. Van Gorden, the grandmother of Richard H. (Dick) and Heron A. (Pink) Van Gorden, and Mrs. Charles Wasserburger, all of Neillsville, had been in failing health for the last five years. She had resided in the Jackson resided in the Jackson home for the last year; and for the four years previous had been in a home at Westby.

She was born Mary Ellen (Nellie) McCullough near Toronto, Ont., Canada, and moved with her parents onto a farm in the Hixton area when she was 18 years of age. She was married to Harry Van Gorden in 1902.

Surviving are two sons, H. Bruce of Black River Falls, and Archie H. (Red) of Jupiter, Fla. Nine grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren also survive.

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 4/18/1968

Funeral services were held Saturday for Mrs. Mary Ellen (Nellie) Van Gorden from the Methodist Church in Alma Center. (A portion missing here) (Born in) 1880, the only child of James and Louisa (Squires) McCullough. Her fat her died when she was a year old, and her mother later married William G. Barker. To this union were born six children: John William, George Arthur, Thomas Edgar, Edith, Laura and James Alfred.

In 1892, she came to Wisconsin with her family. They settled on a farm at Pole Grove, near Hixton. At that time, Mrs. Barker’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Squires, and her brother, Frank, were living in South Alma.

Mrs. Van Gorden was married to Harry H. Van Gorden of Hixton February 25, 1902, in Toronto, where the Barkers again were residing. During the early years of their married life, they lived in Hixton, where Harry worked for his father, S. H. Van Gorden.

In 1908, Mr. and Mrs. Van Gorden and their three sons moved to Alma Center, where they operated a general store for 25 years. In 1932, they moved to Whitehall, where they operated a feed mill for seven years. They moved to Eau Claire in 1939, where Mr. Van Gorden operated the Texaco Oil Company, which was owned by the family.

In 1946 Mr. Van Gorden retired and he and his wife moved to Merrillan, where they purchased the house of the late Mr. and Mrs. M. P. Cannon. They sold the home in 1951 and moved to Neillsville, where two of their sons, Archie “Red” and Kenneth resided.

Mrs. Van Gorden was preceded in death by her husband, who died in 1956, and by a son, Kenneth, who died in 1963. She is survived by two sons, Archie “Red”, of Jupiter, Fla., and J. Bruce of Black River Falls; two half-sisters, Mrs. Edith Burke of Toronto and Mrs. Laura Campbell of Midland, Ont.; nine grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.


Stan, odd how some have transcribed this Van Gorden name as VanGorden and VanGordon, two words connected and the proper way in history books is Van Gorden as I see it in the History of Alma Center book and I always recall it as two words and you see it as two words in their advertisements. This is one name that we could elaborate on for our website I think. If I take any info from this History book of Alma Center, called Alma Center Memories, do I have to get permission from someone to use the info? It is a book with lots of pictures of Van Gorden businesses, feed mills and stores.