Harry Humphrey Van Gorden was born on February 2, 1881, to Schuyler and Clara Van Gorden.
Schuyler owned a General Store in Hixton, Wisconsin where Harry worked up until 1902, when
he married Mary Ellen 'Nellie' McCullough and they opened a store together in Fenwood,
Wisconsin. The couple would have three sons: Archie 'Red,' Bruce, and Kenneth between
1903-1905. After their store in Fenwood burned down, they bought a General Store in Alma
Center, Wisconsin in 1908 which they would run until 1930. They also bought the Feed Mill in
town in the 1920s. By the 1930s, Harry and his sons would own four Feed Mills in four
different cities as the company H.H. Van Gorden & Sons before Harry sold out of the
business in 1939. In the same year Harry bought the Texaco bulk plant and station in Eau
Claire. Harry writes in his diary about the struggles he experienced with running his Texaco
stations during the war as gas was rationed and he was shorthanded, having to do most of the
work himself at 60 years old. Harry would sell his Texaco business in 1945 and he and Nellie
moved to Merrillan, Wisconsin where they lived until 1951 when they moved to Neillsville.
Harry died on October 21, 1956 in Neillsville at age 75.
Archie Humphrey 'Red' Van Gorden was born on April 11, 1903 in Hixton, Wisconsin. He
married Hazel Madeline Fremstad on July 10, 1924. The couple had three children together:
Richard (1925-2016), Heron (1926-2016), and Cyrena (1928-2008). Red worked for his father
until he bought the Feed Mill in Neillsville, Wisconsin in 1929. He joined the National
Guard in Neillsville in 1940 and was called into Federal Service in October when his unit
was sent to a camp in Louisiana for training. Red, joined by Hazel while Harry and Nellie
looked after their kids still in Neillsville, remained in Louisiana until he was sent to
Australia in April 1942. He would serve in Australia and New Guinea until 1943. He tried to
return to the family Feed Mill business that his brother Kenneth had maintained while he was
serving but found it too difficult to work in the wintry weather. Red and Hazel moved to
Florida in 1946 where they ran a motel until they retired in 1958. The couple would
primarily live in Florida for the rest of their lives but would return to live in Wisconsin
during the warmer months. Red suffered a stroke on September 27, 1981 and died on October 8
in Neillsville at the age of 78.
