- JOHN VANDERVELDEN, who is now engaged in tilling the soil on a fine fa rm of sixty acres located in Grand Chute township, was born on the fa rm on which he now resides, February 26, 1877, and is a son of Martin a nd Harriet (Joosten) Vandervelden, the former born in Holland, and the lat ter in Grand Chute township, on a farm situated one mile north from that o wned by John Vandervelden .
Martin Vandervelden came to' this country when he was eleven years old, wi th his parents, the family locating on the present Vandervelden farm, whe re Martin Vandervelden grew to maturity, became the owner of the land an d, cultivated it until his retirement in 1908, when he removed to the vill age of Little Chute. He and his wife had a family of fourteen childre n, as follows: Georgina, the wife of Theodore Van Oudenhoven, a farm er of North Dakota; Johnnie, who is deceased; Christian, an employe of t he Kimberly paper mills; Frank, a fireman of Kimberly; Mary, who married P eter Wellenberg, a farmer of Grand Chute township; Nettie, who married Arn old VanHamond, a resident of Little Chute; Peter, a pipe fitter of Kimberl y; Martin, residing with his father; George and Joseph, twins, the latt er deceased, and the former a resident of Little Chute, and a millwrig ht by trade; Henry and Tony, employes of the paper mill, residing with the ir parents; and Simon, who is deceased. John Vandervelden attended the dis trict schools of Grand Chute township, and the village school of Little Ch ute, and from the time that he was thirteen years of age until he was twen ty-one he worked as an employe of the paper mill and as a farm hand. Wh en he had attained his majority he went to the Kimberly mills, where he be came beeter engineer, a position which he held until July, 1906, at whi ch time he went to North Dakota and took up a homestead of 160 acres, resi ding thereon for eighteen months, proving up his claim. On his retur n, he worked on his father's farm for one year, and then returned to Nor th Dakota for two months, at which time he located in Kimberly and was emp loyed as a pipe fitter in the mill. During the latter part of November, 19 11, Mr. Vandervelden returned to the old homestead, where he has since be en engaged in general farming. Mr. Vandervelden is independent in his poli tical views. He is a member of the Roman Catholic 'Church and is connect ed with the 'Catholic Order of Foresters, as are his brothers .
On January 23, 1900, Mr. Vandervelden was married to Dina Goemans, who w as born March 13, 1882, in Grand 'Chute township, daughter of George and J ohanah (Searmans) Goemans, the former born in 1824, and the latter Augu st 24, 1836, both in Holland .
They came to America in 1867, on May 28th of which year they locat ed on a. farm in Little Chute, where Mr. Goemans spent the remainder of h is life, dying in 1894. His widow now makes her home with her children. M r. and Mrs. Vandervelden have had five children: Harriet, Marie, George, J osephine, and one child who died in infancy .
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1876 - 1951 (75 years)
Biography
