Vander Meulen, Nellie

KRAMER, VAN NIMWEGEN, VAN SITTERT

Posted By: Allen C Hibbard (email)
Date: 11/23/2014 at 17:55:29

First White Girl Is Dead

Mrs. G. A. Vander Meulen, Passes Away At Los Angeles Home Sunday

OF PIONEER PARENTAGE

Last Visited Pella In 1922 A t Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Fest

Relatives in Pella received word Monday that Mrs. G. A. Vander Meulen had died Sunday, November 20th, at her home in Los Angeles, California. The message gave no particulars regarding her illness, and it was not previously known that she was not in her usual health, Mrs. Vander Meulen was eighty years old. Funeral services will be held in Pella at the Second Reformed church Monday afternoon, November 28th, and interment will be in Oakwood cemetery, beside the body of her husband, who died several years ago.

Mrs. Vander Meulen enjoyed the distinction of being the first baby girl born in the Holland colony at Pella. We do not have the exact date of her birth, but the town was settled in the fall of 1847, so she was probably very near eighty at the time of her death. Mrs. Vander Meulen was here at the celebration of the Seventy-Ffth [sic Fifth] anniversary of the founding of Pella and rode in the parade that was held as the first native white daughter. This is disputed by some, but no one else has arisen to claim the title. This was Mrs. Vander Meulen's last visit to Pella.

Mr. and Mrs. Vander Meulen moved to Los Angeles fifteen or more years ago, after he had been engaged in the hardware business in Pella for many years. Since the death of Mr. Vander Meulen, she has lived with her children, two of whom, Henry P and Clara (now married) live in California. One daughter, Maude, Mrs. Nicholson, lost her life there in an automobile accident two years ago. Another son, Andrew, lives in South Dakota. One brother, Dr. M. Kramer, a nephew, Peter Van Sittert, and a niece, Mrs. A. V. Van Nimwegen, live in Pelia [sic, Pella.]

[The Pella Chronicle (Pella, IA) 24 Nov 1927, p.1]