Melick, Stewart Pierce

MELICK, BEST, KLINGEMAN, MOELICH, HILLIARD, REESER, PARTRIDGE, TOWNSEND, DARLING, DENNIS, HUNTLEY, SEAVEY, DRAKE, EVERETT, DEPEW, WARE

Posted By: Joy Fisher (email)
Date: 7/6/2026 at 06:14:50

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 25, 2007, 12:25 am

Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1896)

STEWART PIERCE MELICK, one of the leading merchants of Dallas Center, Iowa, was
born in Lightstreet, Columbia county, Pennsylvania, August 5, 1844, and is a son
of Jacob B. Melick, an old resident of Lyons, now North Clinton, Iowa, who was
born on the 7th of October, 1820. The latter's father, Peter Melick, was born
February 27, 1794, and died in August, 1867. He was a farmer of Lightstreet,
Columbia county, Pennsylvania, and by his marriage to Margaret, daughter of
Jacob Best, became the father of thirteen children, of whom Jacob B. was the
eldest. Peter Melick was the fourth son and child of Peter M. Melick, Sr., who
was born April 18, 1752, and died February 11, 1830. He married Rachel, a
daughter of John F. Klingeman, and granddaughter of Jacob Klingeman, who came to
this country from Germany in a very early day. Peter Melick, Sr., lived on his
father's land near Espy, Pennsylvania, until 1778, when his house was destroyed
by the Indians. He was the son of Johann Peter Moelich and grandson of Hans
Peter Moelich, of Bendorf on the Rhine, Germany. The latter was born in that
place, October 12, 1715, and probably came with his brothers to America when a
mere boy in 1735. Our subject has a valuable work published by his cousin,
Andrew D. Melick, entitled "Story of an Old Farm," which carries the family back
to the time when one Moelich, a native of Greece, first settled in Germany. The
word Moelich is of ancient Greek origin, standing for lyric verse, and is one of
the most historic names in print. One of England's sweetest singers had
immortalized the name in song,-"From the mead where the melick groweth." The
evolution of the word down to our subject is Moelich, Malick, Mellick and Melick.

Jacob B. Melick, the father of our subject, was twice married, his first
union being with Mary, a daughter of Adam Hilliard, and their wedding was
celebrated June 16, 1842. To them were born three children, of whom Stewart P.
is the eldest. The mother died September 1, 1851. On the 1st of February, 1854,
Mr. Melick married Martha Reeser, a daughter of Benjamin F. Reeser, and they
became the parents of three children. The father was a medical practitioner and
opened a drug store in North Clinton, which he conducted in connection with the
practice of his profession until his death on the 27th of March, 1893.

In the usual manner of farmer boys Mr. Melick of this sketch passed his early
life, and in connection with the labors of the fields attended the district
schools. He accompanied his father to Iowa in 1855, locating in North Clinton in
June of that year. In 1871 he arrived in Dallas Center, where he opened a
general store in connection with John M. Hoopes, which they conducted for five
years, when the firm was changed to Melick & Fox. Two years later our subject
bought out his partner's interest and for the next five years was alone in
business, but at the end of that time sold a half interest to S. Ineson. In 1894
this connection was dissolved and now the firm is composed of Mr. Melick and one
of his sons, under the style of S. P. Melick & Son. At the age of fourteen our
subject had entered the office of the old Lyons Mirror, as an apprentice, and
for seven years followed printing. In 1862 he enlisted in Company K,
Twenty-sixth Iowa Infantry, and was discharged at Memphis while in the Fort
Pickering Hospital. When he had recovered he went to Virginia in the
Quartermaster's Department, in which he remained until the close of the war. On
returning home he again took up the printer's trade, which he followed until his
marriage.

On the 18th of February, 1869, Mr. Melick wedded Augusta H. Partridge, who
was born in Sycamore, De Kalb county, Illinois, April 11, 1847, and to them were
born five children, one of whom died at the age of two years and three months
and another died in infancy. Those living are Louis Earl, born December 27,
1871; Martha Augusta, May 5, 1876; and Charles Stewart, February 3, 1879. On the
17th of April, 1895, Louis Earl Melick married Nellie V. Townsend, who was born
in Dallas county, August 6, 1873, and is a daughter of Nathan and Victoria
(Darling) Townsend. Her father was born in Flint, Michigan, in 1847, and when
but four years of age accompanied his father, Nathan A. Townsend, Sr., to
California. The latter was of English parentage and during the '50s kept an
old-time frontier hotel in Muletown, California. In early manhood the son
returned to Iowa, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits, and in 1870 wedded
Victoria Darling, who was born in Potter county, Pennsylvania, in 1846, and is a
daughter of Luke and Mary Darling, who were of Scotch descent and about 1864
came to Iowa, where the mother died. Besides his farming interests, Mr. Townsend
also carried on merchandising until 1893, when he removed to Clay county,
Nebraska, where the family still resides. After the death of her mother, Mrs.
Townsend lived with her brother Stephen and taught in the public schools of this
section until her marriage.

The father of Mrs. Stewart P. Melick, Charles P. Partridge, was born in
Massachusetts, and was a son of John Partridge, who left the Bay State for
Wyoming county, New York, and later went to De Kalb county, Illinois. The latter
used to tell many interesting stories of the Indian massacre in the valley of
Wyoming and of the witchcraft in Massachusetts. The other children of his family
were Lyman, deceased, who never came West; Ashman, who is also deceased, and was
for many years a resident of southern Kansas; Amos, who lives in Pike, New York;
Phoebe, who is the wife of George Dennis and makes her home in Sycamore,
Illinois; and Almyra, who is the wife of Hartley Huntley and makes her home in
Pike county, Illinois. Charles P. Partridge married Lucy Anne Seavey, who was
born in Chichester, New Hampshire, in 1817, and was a daughter of William and
Lucy Anne (Drake) Seavey, who also had a son, William Seavey, Jr. The latter's
son, Lafayette W. Seavey, is a scenic artist of some prominence in New York
city. Mrs. Partridge was only sixteen years of age at the time of her marriage,
and accompanied her husband to De Kalb county, Illinois, where they both passed
away. Five children blessed their union,- Augusta Helena, Lucy Anne, Charles P.,
Zelotus B. and William S. Lucy Anne, who was born in Wyoming county, New York,
April 5, 1834, attended a seminary in Pike, that State, and with her parents
removed to De Kalb county, Illinois. At Sycamore, Illinois, she married A. A.
Everett, and they later removed to Lyons, Iowa, from there to Chicago, thence to
Greenwich, Huron county, Ohio, and finally to Dallas Center, Iowa. Charles P.,
Jr., was born in Wyoming county, New York, and from his home, in Sycamore, De
Kalb county, Illinois, went to Winona, Minnesota, where he worked in the lumber
districts one winter and the following spring went down the Mississippi river on
a raft, and at Galveston, Texas, died of yellow fever in 1859. Zelotus B., who
was born in De Kalb county, May 8, 1845, at the age of sixteen enlisted in the
Thirteenth Illinois Infantry, becoming a member of Company F. At the first
battle of Vicksburg he was wounded in the arm, and on his way from that place to
St. Louis his feet were frozen. In a hospital in the latter city the surgeons
placed him on a table and were about to amputate his arm, but he refused to
submit. During his confinement there his mother was with him. He later
re-enlisted in the one-hundred-days service. In 1872 he removed to Hall county,
Nebraska, where he took up a homestead claim, and was baggage agent for the
Union Pacific Railroad at Grand Island, Nebraska, for some time. He is now
serving as County Clerk of Hall county, being elected on the Republican ticket.
At Sycamore, Illinois, he wedded Hannah Maria Depew. William S., the youngest
child of the Partridge family, was born in De Kalb county, in 1851. He also
removed to Hall county, Nebraska, in 1872, and is now in the employ of the Union
Pacific Railroad at Grand Island. In that State he married Molly Ware, and they
have two children.

We now return to the personal history of Mr. Melick, who is a charter member
of D. C. Richmond Post, No. 230, G. A. R., of which he served as Commander in
1890. was for several years Adjutant, and the remainder of the time has been
Quartermaster. He and his wife are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and are also active workers in the Sunday-school, of which he served as
superintendent for over fifteen years, and she is equally prominent in all of
the ladies' societies of the church. He is a stanch Republican in political
faith and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln at his second election. In all
enterprises for the advancement of his county or State, Mr. Melick takes a
leading part, and in social as well as business circles the members of the firm
of Melick & Son rank high.

Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA

ILLUSTRATED

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants."'柚ACAULAY.

"Biography is by nature the must universally profitable, universally pleasant,
of all things."佑ARLYLE

"History is only biography on a large scale"有AMARTINE.

CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1896

NOTE:

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July 2026: This file was originally submitted to the USGenWeb Archives for Iowa. The National Coordinator, Linda Lewis, gave us permission to move the submissions to the IAGenWeb Project message boards and websites when the Archives site was discontinued.