The Gordon Family Tree

Where this stands

Everything below comes from what Ryan remembers. A "?" marks a detail he wasn't fully sure of — a name, a birth order, or a relationship worth double-checking with family.

Where the two lines meet

Randall Gordon and Ellen Strobel's marriage is the join between the Gordon and Strobel branches below.

• Randall Max Gordon§b. 26 Oct 1953, Salem, Oregon · from Oregon, family via PA & NE ⚭ 10 Jun 1973, Newport, Oregon§ Ellen Marie Strobel§b. 30 May 1951, Eureka, South Dakota · from South Dakota
  • Ryan Max Gordon§b. 18 Apr 1977, Salem, Oregon · oldest ⚭ Brittanie Ellen Mough
    • Ramsey Max Gordonb. 2005
    • Carsyn Mckenzie Gordonb. 2007
    • Finnley Ryan Gordonb. 2009
    • Hawkins Griffin Gordonb. 2014
  • Adam Michael Gordon§b. 23 Jan 1979, Salem, Oregon · younger brother ⚭ Tammy Nokes / Tammy R. Smithname mismatch · uncertain Ryan's "GordonStrobel" tree lists Adam's wife as Tammy R. Smith (b. 1975); the name recorded here from memory was Tammy Nokes. Likely the same person under a different (maiden or prior-married) surname, but worth confirming with Ryan.
    • 2 stepchildren (unnamed)
    • Alexander Merrick GordonRyan & Adam's parents' grandson

The Gordon Line

Pennsylvania (Westmoreland area) & Nebraska roots, also Iowa and Ohio, before Randall settled in Oregon.

• Jacob Gordonb. abt 1775, presumably Pennsylvania · wife not identified · great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather · uncertain Found in Ryan's newly-added "GordonStrobel" Ancestry tree as William K. Gordon's father, with almost nothing else attached – no birthplace, no death date, and no wife's name (Ancestry shows only a placeholder "Mother Gordon"). Treat this generation as a lead to verify, not a confirmed fact.
  • William K. Gordon§b. 1801 · d. 1874 · great-great-great-great-great-grandfather · uncertain ⚭ Priscilla P. Mentze§b. 1802 · d. 1885 Identified from Ryan's new "GordonStrobel" tree as Maris Gordon's parents – the first lead found on Maris's own family. Maris had at least four siblings there: Robert Alexander Gordon (1830–1899), born 12 Mar 1830 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; William Kidd Gordon (1831–1908), born 4 Aug 1831 in Wheeling, (West) Virginia; Charlotte S. Gordon (1840–1868), born in Virginia; and Joseph Gordon (b. 1842), also born in Virginia. The birthplaces trace a migration – Lancaster, PA in 1830, Wheeling by 1831, Virginia by 1840–42 – consistent with a family that kept moving, and with Maris later turning up as a "waggoner" (a wagon driver/hauler) in the 1850 Pennsylvania census. No primary source is yet attached to this generation in Ryan's tree, so treat it as a strong lead pending verification.
    • Maris Gordon§b. 1824, Pennsylvania · d. 1853, Ohio · death still not backed by a primary record · great-great-great-great-grandfather · uncertain ⚭ by 1850, PA§ Elizabeth (Blakely) Gordon§b. 15 Sep 1828, Westmoreland Co., PA · d. 1891 · later remarried as Elisabeth J. Blakeley Proctor Ryan recalled a name that looked like "Maris" or "Mares" Gordon in an 1850 Pennsylvania census, and this appears to be the match: a household in Washington Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania headed by "Mares Gordon," age 26, a waggoner born in Pennsylvania, with an inferred wife "Elizabeth," age 23, and two more Blakely women in the household – Mary (26) and Susana J. (23) – almost certainly Elizabeth's unmarried sisters, still going by their maiden name. Ancestry's own record-linking ties this same "Elizabeth Gordon" to Find a Grave's Elisabeth J. Proctor and to an 1854 Ohio marriage record in which an "Elizabeth J. Gordon" (already carrying the Gordon surname) married Simon Proctor – matching Elisabeth's known remarriage exactly, and confirming her first husband's surname really was Gordon. Ryan's newly-added "GordonStrobel" tree now treats this identification as settled: it names Maris and Elizabeth (there "Elisabeth Jane Blakely," b. 15 Sep 1828, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania – matching what Ryan originally recalled) as William Blakely Gordon's parents outright, gives Maris's own parents (see above), and adds a second son, Ellis Gordon (1853–1870, see below), plus Elizabeth's father Andrew Thomas Blakely (1791–1860) and siblings Mary A. Blakely (1830–1911), John Gilchrist Blakely (1842–1915, born Perry Co., Ohio) and Thomas J. Blakeley (b. 1854) – Mary A. Blakely matches the "Mary (26)" in the 1850 census household exactly. A few details differ from what was found independently and are worth double-checking: Ryan's tree gives Maris's 1850 residence as "Sandy Creek, Venango, Pennsylvania," but the actual census image attached to that fact still reads Washington Township, Washington County (kept here, since it's the primary source); it gives Elizabeth's remarriage to Simon Quinn Proctor as 11 May 1854 in Belmont County, Ohio, versus the 2 Feb 1854 Belmont County date found earlier (noted on William's card below); and it gives Elizabeth's death as 12 Mar 1891 in Hamilton County, Nebraska, versus Find a Grave's 11 Jun 1891. Maris's death (1853, Ohio) still has no source attached in Ryan's tree, so it remains the strongest probable match rather than fully certain. Elizabeth and Simon Proctor went on to have seven children together: Alice Ann (1854–1945), Emma Virginia (1856–1929), Walter Carl (1858–1923), Elmer Ellsworth (1862–1907), Sherman (1866–1935), Charles Calvin (1867–1952), and John Oscar (1874–1965) Proctor – half-siblings to William and Ellis Gordon. By 1870 the family (Elizabeth, by then widowed twice) was living in Cass County, Iowa, which is almost certainly why William Blakely Gordon married there the next year.
      • William Blakely Gordon§b. 24 May 1852, Ohio · d. 24 Feb 1904, buried Pawnee City, Pawnee Co., Nebraska · great-great-great-grandfather ⚭ 6 Dec 1871, Cass Co., Iowa§ Maria Harlan§b. abt 1852 · d. 1919 William was a farmer in Pleasant Township, Cass County, Iowa in 1880, then the family later moved to Nebraska, where he died and is buried in Pawnee City – the same part of southeast Nebraska where his son Roy later settled (Hebron, Thayer County, is the next county over). The 1880 census gives William's own parents' birthplaces as Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania, matching the family's Westmoreland-area Pennsylvania roots that Ryan recalled, and fitting his likely father Maris Gordon's Pennsylvania household (see above). Find a Grave names William's mother as Elisabeth J. Blakeley Proctor (15 Sep 1828, Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania – 11 Jun 1891, Seaton Cemetery, Hamilton Co., Nebraska); an 1891 Aurora, Nebraska newspaper obituary on her memorial says she left six sons and two daughters (with 7 Proctor children plus William and Ellis Gordon, that fits). She married Simon Quinn Proctor in Belmont County, Ohio – 2 Feb 1854 per that marriage record, though Ryan's own "GordonStrobel" tree gives 11 May 1854 instead; and Ryan's tree gives her death as 12 Mar 1891 in Hamilton Co., Nebraska rather than Find a Grave's 11 Jun 1891 – both still worth reconciling with an original record. Find a Grave also lists a second wife for William, Margaret Burgess Gordon (1850–1931), though it isn't clear which, if any, of William's children were hers rather than Maria's. Besides Roy, William and Maria's household included at least two more sons not listed on Find a Grave: James H. (age 4 in 1880) and John (age 2 in 1880), plus the three sons with Find a Grave memorials: Walter Price Gordon (1877–1955), Roy Max Gordon, and Harry Paul Gordon (1891–1965). Ryan recalled the line as "Ralph, then Roy, then Walter" – the records instead show Walter as Roy's older brother (Ralph's great-uncle), not his father.
        • Roy Max Gordon§b. 29 May 1881, Lewis, Cass Co., Iowa · d. 17 Jul 1956, Hebron, Thayer Co., Nebraska · great-great-grandfather ⚭ Agnes C. Gordon Roy managed a lumber yard in Hebron, Thayer County, Nebraska, per the 1920 census, which also lists three of Ralph's siblings: Harlan S. (13 in 1920), Helen (9), and Dorothy E. (2).
          • Ralph Max Gordon§b. 10 Feb 1909, Pawnee/Thayer Co., Nebraska · d. 23 Feb 1994, Salem, Marion Co., Oregon · osteopath physician · great-grandfather ⚭ Mary Belle Sampson§Ryan had guessed "Towers" — records point to Sampson instead · b. 1910 · d. 1975 Ralph remarried a woman named June sometime after Mary Belle's death (confirmed by Ryan; matches Oregon's 1994 death index, which lists June as his spouse). Ryan had recalled Mary Belle passing around 1978; his own "GordonStrobel" tree instead gives 1975 – close enough to be the same event, but worth a source check.
            • Robert Max Gordon§b. 29 Aug 1931, Kirksville, Missouri · d. 18 Dec 1999, Las Vegas, Clark Co., Nevada ⚭ 26 Aug 1951, Multnomah Co., OR§ Rosemary Aldora Barton§b. 8 Jul 1933, Walla Walla, WA · d. 21 Apr 2002, Kailua Kona, Hawaii The family was living in Estes Park, Larimer Co., Colorado by 1940 (Robert age 8) — likely the source of "born in Colorado." Robert's sister: Patricia (b. abt 1937, confirmed via 1940 census). Ryan's "GordonStrobel" tree now identifies Rosemary's parents as Dewey Samson Barton Sr. (1898–1952, b. Galesburg, Illinois · d. Portland, Oregon) and his second wife Ethel Elizabeth Towers (1911–1996), married 4 Sep 1932 in Walla Walla, Washington – and confirms her full brothers as Dewey Sampson Barton Jr. (1935–2017, b. Portland OR) and Fred Towers Barton (1940–2020, b. Portland OR), matching what the family remembered. Dewey Sr. had an earlier family too, from a first marriage to Grace Jacobs.
              • Debra Gordonoldest of 6 · married several times
                • Ian Balmerwith Daryl Balmer Daryl later married Linnea — their daughter Jubilee Balmer is Ian's half-sister
              • ↳ Randall Max Gordon — see Ryan's Household above
              • Sandra Gordon ⚭ Robert Ficker
                • Michael Ficker ⚭ Krysti
                  • Kaysi Ficker
                  • Benjamin Ficker
                • Stephanie "Stevie" Ficker ⚭ Kimo Mahi
                  • Ella Mahi
                  • Kekoa Mahi
              • Mary Gordon ⚭ Steven Winstanley
                • Stephanie Winstanley 2 sons, two different fathers (unnamed)
                • Robert Winstanley ⚭ Mora believed 2 sons (unnamed)
                • Sarah Winstanleynot married
              • Kathleen Gordonaka Kathleen Kagey ⚭ Kenneth Dahlquist 2 stepchildren (unnamed)
              • Ralph Gordonyoungest of 6 · unmarried, no children
      • Ellis Gordon§b. 1853, Ohio · d. bef. 1870 (age <17) · William Blakely Gordon's younger brother Maris and Elizabeth's second son, born the year Maris died. He grew up in his mother's household alongside his seven Proctor half-siblings after her 1854 remarriage, but died young – sometime before 1870, per Ryan's tree, though no cause or exact date has turned up.

The Strobel Line

South Dakota roots, around Lemmon and Eureka.

• Herman A. Buechner§b. 2 Mar 1884, Big Stone City, SD · d. 9 Jul 1955, Lemmon, SD · great-grandfather ⚭ 1925§ Avilda M. Moe
  • Beulah Buechner§Cleo's older sister
  • Cleo Marie Buechner§b. 5 Oct 1929, Lemmon, SD · d. 20 Jan 2006, Oregon ⚭ · divorced 7 Oct 1974, Klamath Co., OR§ Donald John Strobel§b. 11 Feb 1928, Eureka, SD · d. 12 May 2004, Lebanon, OR Living in Lemmon, Perkins Co., South Dakota as of 1950. Ryan's new "GordonStrobel" tree confirms Donald's brother as Harold Calvin Strobel (1930–2011, also b. Eureka, SD) and turns up two more siblings Ryan hadn't named: sisters Esther A. Strobel (1926–1970) and Kathleen Ann Strobel (b. 1942). Donald's parents were John J. Strobel (1892–1969) and Freida Stein (1903–1951), both of whom died in Eureka, South Dakota. After the divorce from Cleo, Donald married Gertrud Marianne Schugger (1928–2013) on 29 Mar 1975 in Reno, Nevada; he later lived in Lebanon, Oregon, where he died and is buried.
    • Mary Alene Strobel§b. & d. 25 Mar 1950, Lemmon, SD · infant, died same day
    • ↳ Ellen Marie Strobel (b. 30 May 1951, Eureka, SD) — see Ryan's Household above
    • Michael Strobel§b. 8 Sep 1952, Eureka, SD ⚭ Marie Couey
      • AprilMichael's stepdaughter 3 kids — 2 boys, 1 girl (unnamed)
    • Nela Strobel§b. 16 Jan 1954, Eureka, SD ⚭ & divorced Grant Rice
    • Roberta Strobel§b. 14 Aug 1957, Aberdeen, SD ⚭ Douglas Davenport
      • Travis Davenport ⚭ Serene Poe 1 stepdaughter, plus 1 son together (unnamed)
      • Alana Nicole Davenport ⚭ Samuel Hurst 2 sons together (unnamed)
    • Patrick Strobel§b. 8 Jul 1959, Aberdeen, SD · youngest · married a couple of times has some stepchildren (unnamed)
  • Warren H. Buechner§Cleo's younger brother

The Mough-Britt Line

Brittanie's side — the Moughs from Ohio by way of the Bay Area, and the Britts from Oklahoma and Arkansas, both settling around Stockton/San Joaquin County, California.

• Harry A. Mough§great-grandfather (Mough side) ⚭ Mary C. McCabe
  • James Andrew Mough§b. 30 Apr 1932, Akron, Ohio · d. 18 May 1992, San Francisco, CA · Brittanie's grandfather ⚭ 25 Oct 1953, Santa Clara, CA§ Joy Ann Shedwill
    • James Andrew Mough§b. 18 Sep 1954, Alameda, California · Brittanie's father, same name as his own father ⚭ Ginny Leatrice Brittb. 1954, California · d. 2026
      • Brittanie Ellen Moughb. 29 Dec 1980 · oldest · Ryan Gordon's wife ↳ see Ryan's Household
      • Ryan Moughb. 20 Dec 1982 · Brittanie's younger brother
• Simon T. Britt§b. abt 1813, near Raleigh, North Carolina · d. 1860, near Lockesburg, Sevier Co., Arkansas · great-great-great-grandfather (Britt side) ⚭ Dicie Ann Turnage§b. abt 1815–1820, North Carolina · d. early 1866, Sevier Co., Arkansas Farming household in Saline Township, Sevier County, Arkansas in 1850, real estate valued at $200. Simon had moved the family from Tennessee (found there in the 1840 census) to Arkansas by 1850, and secured several Arkansas land patents 1855–1860. Children in the 1850 household: Henry (19), Mary (17), Eliza (15), Stanley (11), Elias (8), Martha (6), Benjamin F. (3), and Emely (an infant). Simon died in 1860 (will probated in Sevier County that May); by the 1860 census, taken that June, Dicey herself is recorded as the farm's head of household — and a notably wealthier one, with real estate worth $3,600 and a personal estate of $1,200 — living with the four still-minor children: Elias (17), Martha (14), Franklin (12), and a younger son not present in 1850, Parris (8). Dicey outlived Simon by about six years, dying in early 1866; two probate filings in Sevier County (3 and 31 Jan 1866) mark her death. Both names, and much of this generation's detail, trace to a single remarkable document: a Confederate Biographical Memoranda questionnaire in the Arkansas History Commission's records, filled out in his own hand by their son, Elias Lafayette Britt, giving his father's and mother's names, birthplaces, and migration route as he understood them. It states plainly that Simon T. Britt was born near Raleigh, North Carolina, lived for a time in Henry County, Tennessee (where Elias himself was born, on 22 Aug 1842), and later settled near Lockesburg in Sevier County, Arkansas – matching everything else found independently in the census and land records. It also confirms Dicie Ann Turnage by name as Elias's mother. But tellingly, the form's next line for each parent – "he/she was the son/daughter of ____ and his wife ____" – was left entirely blank. Elias, filling this out roughly four decades after both his parents had died, apparently did not know his own grandparents' names, which is very likely why no record naming them has turned up: the family's own knowledge of that generation had already been lost by the early 1900s. Separately, Ancestry's land-office index lists Simon's own middle name as "Turnage" too – an intriguing echo of Dicey's maiden name that remains unexplained. The circumstantial trail for Dicey's family points toward the Turnage households of Pitt and Greene County, North Carolina (a Joseph Turnage appears in both in the 1830 census, and a separate Britt–Turnage marriage – Emanuel Britt to Chasity Turnage – shows up in Pitt County too), but none of it rises above a plausible lead.
  • Elias Lafayette Britt§b. 22 Aug 1842, Henry Co., Tennessee · great-great-grandfather (Britt side) ⚭ 22 Dec 1881, Howard Co., AR§ Mollie Stuart Elias likely remarried after Mollie's death (or a divorce): Ancestry's Arkansas County Marriage Index shows him marrying S. E. "Ellen" Bradford on 27 Feb 1896 in Pike County, AR — matching the "Ellen Britt" (b. abt 1843, Kentucky) recorded as his wife in the 1900 census, living in Saline Township, Howard County, with daughters Rosa (19) and Rena (12), and stepdaughter Bulah Bradford (16) from Ellen's earlier marriage. Because Thomas Sr. was born in 1884 — three years into the Mollie Stuart marriage and well before the 1896 Bradford marriage — Mollie Stuart, not Ellen Bradford, was almost certainly his biological mother.
    • Thomas Benjamin Britt§b. 20 Jun 1884, Arkansas · d. 23 Feb 1953, De Queen, Sevier Co., Arkansas · great-grandfather (Britt side) ⚭ Birtha Roberts§
      • Thomas Benjamin Britt§b. 14 May 1924, Haworth, McCurtain Co., Oklahoma · d. 25 Sep 1986, Palo Alto, California · Brittanie's grandfather ⚭ Virginia Doris Lawson The family settled in Stockton, San Joaquin Co., California by the 1950s.
        • ↳ Ginny Leatrice Britt — see above, married James Andrew Mough
        • Benjamin Franklin Britt§Ginny's brother — Brittanie's uncle

Full Directory

Every named relative, grouped by generation, with their relation to Ryan.