Francis Mellus

Francis Mellus (February 3, 1824 - September 14, 1864), brother of Henry Mellus, was a Los Angeles County Supervisor and a successful California business man.

Francis Mellus, born in Salem, Massachusetts, was a younger brother of Henry Mellus. He came to San Francisco in 1840, and was employed as clerk by his brother, Henry. Francis Mellus bought hides 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. Francis married Adelaida Johnson (the daughter of James (Santiago) Johnson and a sister of Henry Mellus’s wife Anita). James J. Mellus was the son of Francis Mellus.

Francis Mellus was elected to the Los Angeles Common Council—the legislature of that city—on May 1, 1854, and he was chosen to be council president; he resigned from the council on December 8 of that year.[1]

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.[2] After the ending his partnership with Alexander in 1863, Francis Mellus was representative for the Wells Fargo Express Company until his death in 1864. Francis Mellus' widow, Adelaida Mellus, married his partner Alexander in 1864.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850-1938, compiled under direction of Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles (March 1938, reprinted 1966). "Prepared ... as a report on Project No. SA 3123-5703-6077-8121-9900 conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration."
  2. ↑ Supervisor Francis Mellus
  3. ↑ Sixty years in Southern California, 1853-1913, containing the reminiscences of Harris Newmark,1916, The Knickerbocker press, New York