From Proud Heritage, Volume I by DCPA, currently out of print.
George M. Mellersh led quite a colorful life after coming to the United States with his parents in 1850. He was born November 24, 1836 in Surrey County, England, son of Francis Mellersh, a carriage maker, and Margaret Brooker. An older brother, Francis Jr., came with them, and the family settled in Memphis, Tennessee. After their father died in 1853, George helped out on their farm for a while, then was involved in steamboating on the Mississippi and White Rivers for a time. In 1855, George volunteered for U.S. Army service fighting the Indians in Northwest. His Ninth Tennessee Infantry was sent to Washington Territory; and in time he became orderly sergeant of his company. He was offered a commission but refused it, preferring to return home, which he did by way of the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in August, 1858. On November 24, 1858, George married Elizabeth D. James, a sister of Thomas James, Jr., coal merchant, in Memphis.
During the War Between the States, George served as Captain of Company E, 154th Senior Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, known as the Hickory Rifles. At the Battle of Shiloh, he recaptured his unit’s Confederate battle flag, which, with his saber, is still in possession of the family.
He decided after the war to come to Texas with his wife and several of their small children, three others having died in Memphis and one in Newcastle, Pennsylvania. They arrived in Dallas in 1873 by stage via Texarkana. Mr. Mellersh at first had a log cabin built on a very large tract of land he bought, later enclosing it inside a larger frame cottage on what is now Dickason Street. In 1889, he engaged the local architect, W. H. Harrell, to plan and construct a very large brick, two-story mansion. Mr. Mellersh named his showplace, “Oak Lawn” because of the numerous oak trees on the grounds. The whole area later adopted the name Oak Lawn. The Mellersh mansion was known for its many dances, literary club meetings and other social events, including many for the Methodist church across the road, later Oak Lawn Methodist Church. The family acquired the first bath tub in the neighborhood. Their home was on the present site of the Melrose Hotel. Mr. Mellersh later sold off some of the property to the west for residential lots.
When he first came to Dallas, he had a tannery business on Ross Avenue. Then he became a drummer for several wholesale grocery houses, coal interests, agricultural implements, and clothing firms. It was while he was returning from one of his trips to south Texas in December, 1877 that he and a fellow stage passenger were held up by Sam Bass near Mary’s Creek at Fort Worth. Bass learned later that Mr. Mellersh had hidden his gold ring in his mouth during the robbery and threatened to kill him if he ever caught him.
“The Drummer Poet” was the Grand Patriarch of the I.O.O.F. in 1871 and Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Tennessee, a Master Mason of the Cyrene Lodge of Memphis, Knight Templar, Past Grand Commander of Tennessee, and in 1891 made a member of the Grand Lodge of Texas. He was a member of First Baptist Church in Dallas.
His wife, Elizabeth, born June 26, 1837, died in Dallas May 5, 1895. George died August 12, 1910 in Dallas, both being buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Their children were Frances Maria Anne “Fannie”, Mrs. Edmiston Kennedy Martyn (1865-1941); Georgie G., Mrs. William Rush Salmon (1867-1943); Cyrene Jewel “Rena”, Mrs. Alexander W. Macon (1873-1952); and Elizabeth Sarah “Bessie”, Mrs. Charles Walter Chapman (1876-1934). Grandchildren were Frances Mellersh Martyn, Mrs. Frederick Reece Horton (1892-1971); Ida Elizabeth Martyn, Mrs. William Egert (1894-1970); Emma Ruth Martyn, Mrs. John Blanchard Harris (1896-1976); Marian Gwendolyn Martyn, Mrs. James Russell Mount (1905-1956); Bailey Mellersh Salmon (1897-?); Stuart Hansell Salmon (1904-?); Adrienne Chapman, Mrs. Hazel Paris Bell (1897-1948); George Mellersh Chapman (1898-1931). Great-grandchildren are Bette Ruth Horton, Mrs. Dennis Black DuPriest, Jr.; Elizabeth Jane Harris, Mrs. Leonard G. Boswell; James Russell Mount, Jr.; the late William Martin Mount; Bailey M. Salmon, Jr.; Louis Salmon; Stephen Rush Salmon; John Mellersh Salmon Anna Gwen Salmon; and Cyrene Bell, Mrs Ralph E. Matthews. Great-great grand children are Elizabeth Ruth Boswell, John Griffin Boswell, Paul Mount, Carol Margaret Mount, and Stephen Martin Mount.
By Bette Ruth Horton DuPriest, Great-granddaughter, Dallas
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