George Mellinger

EORGE W. MELLINGER, of Brookville, Ohio, sprang from Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry. He was born near Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa., April 5, 1844, and is a son of Joseph and Lydia (Kissinger) Mellinger. When he was nine months old he was brought by his parents to Ohio, where they first settled in Crawford county, living there until 1856, when they removed with their family to Montgomery county, and settled in Salem. In these two counties their son George was educated, attending the common school until he was seventeen years old, and in November, 1861, he enlisted at Troy, Ohio, in company E, Seventy-first Ohio volunteer infantry, for three years or during the war. He veteranized as a member of this same company January 14, 1864, at Gallatin, Tenn., was discharged at San Antonio, Tex., and was mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, January 9, 1865. He was in the battle of Shiloh, and was captured at Bowling Green, Ivy., in August, 1862. Being immediately paroled, he was sent to Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, where he was exchanged, and in January, 1863, returned to his regiment at Fort Henry, Tenn. He was in the latter part of the Atlanta campaign, and participated in the battle at Lovejoy Station, after which he was in the march to Nashville, Tenn., having a skirmish with the rebels at

Pulaski, Tenn., and a battle at Franklin, Tenn., on the way to Nashville. In the battle of Nashville he was wounded by a glancing shot in the left leg, from the effects of which he was compelled to lie in hospital at Nashville and at Jeffersonville, Ind., for six weeks. Rejoining his regiment at Huntsville, Ala., he went with it to Texas and served there during the remainder of his term of enlistment. Mr. Mellinger regards as his hardest march that from Atlanta to Nashville, another trying experience being a march in Texas, on which the troops suffered exceedingly from want of water. He was a participant in all the active service of his regiment, and was promoted to corporal for meritorious conduct.

The war having ended, he returned to Montgomery county, and on May 26, 1868, married Malinda Spitler, who was born October 20, 1846, in Perry township. She is a daughter of David and Nancy L. (McCormick) Spitler, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania and a son of Jacob and Catherine (Houk) Spitler. David Spitler was one of the original pioneers of Perry township, settling on the farm now owned by Jesse Wagoman. Jacob Spitler was also one of the original settlers of Perry township, clearing up a farm from the woods.

David Spitler was twice married, his children by his first wife being: Grizzann, William, Catherine, Mary and Daniel, the latter of whom died at the age of twenty-three. By his second wife David Spitler had the following children: Malinda, Abner, Jacob, Martha

Jane and David. He was a man of high character, a member of the Lutheran church, to which most of his children also belonged, and was a substantial and successful farmer. He served as township trustee, and lived to be sixty-five years of age.

Mr. and Mrs. Mellinger have lived in Perry township ever since their marriage. Their children are as follows: Ambrose; Edna;

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

aHRISTIAN MEYER, a successful farmer, of Perry township, Montgomery county, Ohio, was born June 7, 1840, in Wuldungen, village of Klinnen, Prussia, and is a son of Christian and Catherine (Toegen) Meyer, the former of whom was a farmer, owning 100 acres of land which had belonged to his father, Frederick Meyer, who, in his turn, had inherited it from his forefathers. It had been in the family for many generations. Christian Meyer and wife were the parents of the following children: Conrad, Jacob, Henry, Christian, Dorothy, Elizabeth and Catherine. Mr. Meyer was a member of the Lutheran church, was well-todo, was an honored and valued citizen, and died at the age of seventy-three.

Christian Meyer, the subject of this sketch, received a good common-school education in Prussia, and there learned the carpenter’s trade. He came to the United States when nineteen years of age, sailing from Bremen, Germany, May 12, 1858, in an old-fashioned sailing vessel, and was some seven weeks on the sea, landing in New York in July, and reaching Chicago on July 4. Here he followed his trade for a month and then went to Dayton, Ohio, where he had friends, and where he worked at his trade, and also in a sash factory.

Like many other foreigners, he entered the volunteer army of the Union, enlisting August 16, 1861, at Dayton, Ohio, becoming a member of company B, First regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, to serve for three years or during the war. Lewis Coleman was his captain. Having served his full term he was honorably discharged at Louisville, Ky., August 16, 1864. He was in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, and in the entire Atlanta campaign, during which his regiment was under fire almost without cessation for four months. During this campaign he was in the battles of Buzzard’s Roost Mountain, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and Atlanta, in which last engagement Gen. McPherson was killed. Mr. Meyer was discharged at White’s Station and mustered out at Louisville; Ky. He was always an active soldier, and being in company B, a flanking company, was in many skirmishes and in other positions of unusual danger. He was in all the battles and skirmishes in which his regiment was engaged, and was slightly wounded at Stone River by a musket ball, but did not go to the hospital.

Returning to Dayton, Ohio, from the war, he worked for some time at his trade and then went to Nashville for the government in 1864, remaining about a year. He was married in Dayton, Ohio, in 1868, to Miss Frederika Pfeiffer, who was born August 18, 1847, in the village in Prussia which was her husband’s birthplace. She was a daughter of Carl and Henrietta (Bruno) Pfeiffer, who were the parents of the following children: Elizabeth,

Henrietta, Frederika and Augusta. Mr. Pfeiffer was well educated, a member of the Lutheran church and died in Prussia at the ripe age of seventy-one years.

Christian Meyer, after his marriage, settled in Dayton, where he worked at his trade for several years. In 1878 he removed to Perry township, where he purchased a farm of sixty-two acres, upon which he has since lived and which he has improved and developed in many directions. He and his wife have the following children: Charles, Louis, Catherine, William, Henry, Sadie and Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer are members of the Lutheran church, as are also their children. Mr. Meyer is a republican in politics.

As printed in Centennial portrait and biographical record of the city of Dayton and of Montgomery County, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with the biographi (1897). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.