San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CAPTAIN GEORGE H. MELONE
The name of Capt. George H. Melone
is a familiar one to nearly every citizen of Stockton which is not only his
birthplace but has been his residence during his entire life, and he is honored
and esteemed for the worthy part that he has taken in the various activities of
the county. He was born in Stockton,
California, October 28, 1869, the eldest of four living sons born to George W.
and Eliza C. (Davis) Melone, both natives of Missouri. George W. Melone left his native state and
crossed the plains to California in 1851 and located in Stockton where he
established a general merchandise store, which he conducted for many years and
at the same time was a successful auctioneer.
For about two years he was the owner and proprietor of the Plaza store
on Montgomery Street, San Francisco, in the days when the waters of San
Francisco Bay came up to his back door, before the filling in of lower Market
Street. He married Miss Eliza C. Davis,
a daughter of J. M. Davis, a well-known California pioneer who crossed the
plains in an early day. Seven sons and
two daughters were born to Mr. and Mrs. Melone:
Russell S. died at the age of forty-two; Joseph died in infancy; George
H., of this sketch; Alice H. died at twenty-three; Gilbert S., of the firm of
Melone & Perry of Stockton; Walter died when fourteen years old; Mabel died
when twelve years old; Otis is a motorman on Stockton Electric Railway; Edward
D., with the Sperry Flour Company in Stockton.
George W. Melone was a Democrat in politics and fraternally was a member
of Charity Lodge, I. O. O. F., and Centennial Lodge, K. P.
George H. Melone received a good
education in the public schools of Stockton and his spare time was spent with
his father helping in the store and was thus occupied until he was twenty-four
years old, when he took a position as watchman on the passenger steamer Mary
Garrett. He then became captain of the
Victory, a vessel in the reclamation service.
The reclamation of the Delta lands was begun in 1898 by John Hurd. Mr. Melone was the superintendent of the
dredger pumps of the River Land and Reclamation Company and as such occupied a
prominent place in the reclaiming of these lands. After eleven years of reclamation work he
entered the employ of the California Navigation & Improvement Company as
captain of the J. R. McDonald. At that
time this company owned and operated two passenger steamers, three tow-boats
and nine barges. Captain Melone then
became pilot on the passenger steamer J. D. Peters and in December, 1920,
became captain of the T. C. Walker.
The marriage of Captain Melone
united him with Miss Lottie Muller, born in Stockton, a daughter of Daniel
Muller, a hotel keeper of early days in Stockton. Mrs. Melone’s
maternal grandfather was Adam Schimmelpfennig, a
native of Germany who came around the Horn to California and settled in
Stockton in an early day. He was an
accomplished musician, and was a member of Stockton’s first bands. He bought a block of land from Captain Weber
extending from Main Street to Weber Avenue and from Ophir to Sierra Nevada, the
deed being signed by Capt. Weber himself.
At the time of purchase this land was in the country, but it is now a
fine residence section of Stockton.
Captain and Mrs. Melone are the parents of one daughter, Alice L. Fraternally Captain Melone is a member of the
Stockton Elks.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
451-452. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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