Nellie Van Doren was born in Illinois in 1864, daughter of Joseph M Van Doren and Eliza B Wilson Van Doren. Nellie and her family relocated to Erie, Pennsylvania between 1870 and 1880.

In 1891, Nellie Van Doren married Andrew J Van Blarcom, son of William Van Blarcom and Catherine A Sutton Van Blarcom. They had two daughters in Newton, Sussex, New Jersey; Ruth, born in July 7, 1892, who married Philip E. Whiting; and Mildred, born April 18, 1900.

Nellie worked as a homemaker keeping house. According to census docs, the family lived in the same house from about 1910 – 1930.

Nellie died in 1961 and is buried with her husband in a large Van Blarcom plot in Newton Cemetery in Newton, Sussex, New Jersey.