Henry Mellus

Henry Mellus (died 1860) served as Mayor of Los Angeles from May 9, 1860 to December 26, 1860. His term was cut short because of his death. He had arrived in California in 1835. Originally from Boston, he sailed "around the horn" with Richard Henry Dana (of Dana Point fame and author of Two Years Before The Mast) on the ship named the Pilgrim. This book exposed the practice of "flogging" by sea captains on their crew when sailing to distant ports-of-call. Prior to becoming mayor, he was a prominent merchant. In 1845 he and William Howard (of Howard street fame in San Francisco)formed the firm of Mellus & Howard in San Francisco. This firm had the most active commercial business in San Francisco in the years when the settlement was known as Yerba Buena, and in 1846 bought the property of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The Mellus's (brothers, Francis and James) were also prominent merchants in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.