Lockley, Fred. "History of the Columbia River Valley, From The Dalles to the Sea." Vol. 2. S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1928. p. 564. CHARLES E. MELDRUM As part owner of the Lakin Brass Works, Charles E. Meldrum is an important factor in the industrial life of Milwaukie and bears a name well known to the old residents of Clackamas county, where members of this honored pioneer family have lived for three generations in succession. He was born in Oregon City in 1873 and is of Scotch and Irish lineage. His father, John W. Meldrum, was born December 17, 1839, near Burlington, Iowa, and Was a son of John and Susanna Depew (Cox) Meldrum. John Meldrum was a native of Shelby county, Kentucky, and followed the trade of a stonemason. In 1845 the family started for Oregon, joining a wagon train organized at Council Bluffs early in the spring, and arrived at their destination in the following October. They first located at what was then known as Pacific City, living on a donation land claim, and afterward resided in the vicinity of Lebanon, Oregon. In 1849 John Meldrum joined the rush of gold seekers in California and at the end of six months decided to return to Oregon. On making inquiries at the bureau of Indian affairs in California he was assured that it would be safe to make the trip at that time but while camping at Table Rock in the Rogue River country his suspicions were aroused and as a means of protection guards were posted. During the night the Indians eluded the guards and drove off the horses, also securing a considerable quantity of gold dust, which the members of the party were carrying in their saddle bags. They were obliged to walk to Eugene and there obtained horses, on which they journeyed to their homes. John Meldrum settled in Oregon City and in that section of the state he and his wife spent their remaining years. When they crossed the plains their son, John W. Meldrum was a child of six and at an early age he became inured to the hardships and privations incident to frontier life. He had little opportunity to attend school but improved his mind by the reading of good books. For some time he worked in the mines of Idaho and eastern Oregon and about 1865 became a deputy surveyor for the United States government. He followed that line of activity for many years and did contracting for the government on subdivision work. In 1888 he was elected surveyor of Clackamas county and in 1890 became county judge, also acting as chairman of the board of county commissioners. Through his instrumentality the country roads were greatly improved and the money tax system was inaugurated, proving much more effective than the labor system. In 1898 Mr. Meldrum was appointed special agent in the general land office and examined surveys in Nevada and Wyoming. In January, 1871, he bought the north half of the Peter M. Rinearson donation land claim on the east bank of the Willamette river and here in 1909-1910 he laid out the townsite of Meldrum, situated ten miles from Portland. He retained and his widow still owns a tract of eighty acres, to which he moved in 1878, and the remainder of his life was spent on that farm. For many years he was a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church and in politics was a strong republican. In the activities of the party he took a prominent part and was delegate at large from Oregon to the national convention at St. Louis, which nominated William B. McKinley for president. He was a member of the Pioneer Society and the Oregon Historical Society, while his fraternal affiliations were with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United Workmen, On September 26, 1872, he married Miss Georgiana Pope, a native of Oregon City and a daughter of Charles W. and Sarah E. Pope, who came to Oregon in 1850, and a niece of Governor Abernethy. Mr. Meldrum passed away in September, 1919, leaving a family of three children: Charles E., Eva S. and David T. Charles E. Meldrum attended the rural schools of Clackamas county and the high school in Oregon City. When an interurban line was established between Portland and Oregon City he obtained work with the traction company and afterward took a six months' course in a Portland business college. He reentered the service of the street railway company and was employed in the shops at Milwaukie until 1899. For two years thereafter he was a fireman for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company and in 1901 returned to his father's farm. A year later he entered the repair shop of the Portland & Oregon City Railway Company and there remained until 1907. For a period of two years he devoted his energies to the building of transmission lines at Klamath Falls, Oregon, and then became an operator in the power house, filling the position until 1914, when he returned to Meldrum, and was there engaged in farming for eleven years. In February, 1925, he purchased an interest in the Lakin Brass Works at Milwaukie, and has since exerted his best efforts in behalf of the business, which is constantly expanding. On December 10, 1902, Mr. Meldrum married Miss Ethel Lakin, a daughter of C. A. Lakin, Sr., and to this union has been born one child, Francis C., who is a public school pupil. Mr. Meldrum resides on the farm which his father cultivated for so many years and has added many improvements to the place, which is highly developed. In fraternal affairs he manifests a keen interest and has held a number of offices in the local camp of the Woodmen of the World. He has been through all of the chairs in the Odd Fellows lodge and encampment and is grand monarch of the Ancient Mystic Order of Samaritans. His wife is a past warden of the Daughters of Rebekah and president of the Parent-Teachers Association of Jennings Lodge. They have cooperated in many movements for the general good and are highly esteemed by all with whom they have been associated. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in August 2010 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.