Henry Mellus served as Mayor of Los Angeles from May 9, 1860 to December 26, 1860. Henry Mellus and his brother Francis Mellus were both successful California business men.
Henry Mellus
Henry Mellus (August 24, 1816 - December 26, 1860) son of William and Amelia (Lyon) Mellus, was born in Dorchester, Boston.[1] He was a brother of Francis Mellus. Henry sailed "around the horn" with Richard Henry Dana, Jr. on the ship named the Pilgrim, and arrived in California in 1835. In 1837 Mellus returned to Boston, and then returned in 1839 to California, becoming a successful merchant in San Francisco. In 1845 he and William Davis Merry Howard formed the firm of Mellus & Howard in San Francisco. This firm had an active commercial business in San Francisco, and in 1846 bought the property of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
In 1846 Henry married Anita F. Johnson (the daughter of Santiago Johnson and a sister of Francis Mellus’s wife Adelaida). After the marriage, the Mellus’ family lived in Los Angeles. Bell Row, a two-story, "L" shaped adobe built by Captain Alexander Bell, became Mellus Row, owned by Henry Mellus.[2]
After relinquishing the Bryant & Sturgis agency in 1848, Mellus went to Boston with his family on a visit. He returned to this coast in the winter of 1849-50, at which time he had an attack of apoplexy. He partially recovered.
After Henry retired from Mellus, Howard & Co., his brother Frank joined as a partner, and the firm became Howard, Mellus & Co. Frank shortly after withdrew, and the firm name was changed to Howard & Green.[3]
Henry Mellus was elected as Mayor of Los Angeles in May 9, 1860 and died while holding that office.
| Preceded by Damien Marchessault |
Mayor of Los Angeles, California 1860—1860 |
Succeeded by William Woodworth |
Francis Mellus
Francis Mellus (February 3, 1824 - September 14, 1864), born in Salem, Massachusetts, was a younger brother of Henry Mellus. He came from Boston to San Francisco in 1840, and was employed as clerk by Henry in business. Francis Mellus bought material for this company along the coast of California, taking the goods by sailboat to San Diego, where they dried them, and when sufficient had been collected to fill a ship, which usually took a couple of years' time, Mellus sent the goods east. After eleven years of that work he came to Los Angeles, where he entered the general merchandise business with David W. Alexander, under the firm name of Alexander & Mellus. After the ending this partnership in 1863, Francis Mellus was representative for the Wells Fargo Express Company until his death in 1864. Francis Mellus was a member of California state assembly 1st District, 1855-56. In 1858 he was elected to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.[4]
Francis married Adelaida Johnson (the daughter of Santiago Johnson and a sister of Henry Mellus’s wife Anita). Francis Mellus' widow Adelaida Mellus, married his partner Alexander in 1864. James J. Mellus was the son of Francis Mellus.[5]
References
- ^ Historical collections of the Essex Institute, Vol III, 1861, Essex Institute, Salem
- ^ Sixty years in Southern California, 1853-1913, containing the reminiscences of Harris Newmark,1916, The Knickerbocker Press, New York
- ^ Henry Mellus; From Forecastle Hand To Merchant
- ^ Supervisor Francis Mellus
- ^ Sixty years in Southern California, 1853-1913, containing the reminiscences of Harris Newmark,1916, The Knickerbocker press, New York
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