E.A. was born on a farm in Barber County between Isabel and Nashville,
     in 1932. She was named by two neighbor ladies, by the name of Alvina (Van)
     Roessler and Edna Blackwell; at which time her parents, Fred and Mary
     Hamilton made a promise to call her Van. The family left the farm in 1937
     and moved into Medicine Lodge.
       Van has always felt as though she was born to achieve "some certain
     destiny of significance" and in Van's early years that destiny imaginarly
     was, as a great world renowed entertainer at the opera. The gentle, sloping
     roof of her father's chicken house provided the stage on which Van did her 
     entertaining that thrilled and was enthusiatically applauded by her imaginary
     audience of millions. On state, she sang at the top of her lungs and she
     danced her heart out while ever so glamorously dressed in her long, flowing
     gowns; all to the utter mortification of her brother, John. For if he was
     within ear shot, Van's performances always sent John scurring into the house
     with the pathetic plea of, "Mama, make Van come in the house! The neighbors
     think she's crazy!" Ultimately, her brother was spared, for at age ten Van
     was introduced to the working world and had little time for the chicken
     house operas.
       Van's first job in the working world was as a dishwasher in Hart's Hotel,
     where she was quickly made a waitress.
       At age fourteen Van graduated from the eighth grade and made the decision
     to quit school. In those days you were allowed to quit school when you had
     graduated from the eighth grade. Van reasoned that school was boring and she
     was making good money as a waitress, besides she was eager to get on with
     living and what lay ahead.
       At fifteen years of age Van married twenty-two year old Francis Eugene 
     (Blackie) Ward. They became parents of an only child, Ronald Eugene, in
     1948. The marriage did not last, it was over in three years. With the help
     of God and family Van managed to raise Ron, alone, as no other lasting
     relationship was in store for her until 1965 when she met and married 
     Harold Ray Mitchell, a widower with five children.
       In 1971, when the children were all raised Van passed a high school
     equivalency test and entered Northwestern Oklahoma State College at Alva,
     Oklahoma. She graduated in 1974 with a degree in elementary education and
     two years later moved back to Medicine Lodge, where she became employed
     by the Kansas Social Rehabilitation Services. Other jobs through the years
     included being a grocery cashier, an assembly worker at Boeing Aircraft,
     a cosmetologist, an asphalt crew member making and laying paving, teaching
     elementary and also, being a carpenter's helper.
       Van still has no idea what her "certain destiny of significance" could 
     be, but one thing she is relatively certain; it is NOT as a world renowned
     entertainer at the opera, something her brother knew long ago.
                
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas, pg. 332 
     Submitted by: Van Hamilton Mitchell