Arthur Calvin Mellette was born on June 23, 1842 in Henry County, Indiana. He is said to have been descended from Jean de Mellet, a sub-lieutenant in the Régiment de Bourbonnais, a French military organization that sailed for America in 1780 and at the close of the Revolution returned to France. De Mellet is said to have emigrated to Virginia with his family after resigning his commission. Charles Mellette, father of Arthur Calvin, was born in Monongalia County, Virginia, and removed in 1830 to Henry County, Indiana, where he spent the remainder of his life and where he was married on April 14, 1836, to Mary Moore; she bore him five children.
Education
Arthur spent his youth as a farmer lad with an insatiable desire for education, and in his elementary learning he was almost self-taught. He attended Marion Academy and entered the sophomore class of Indiana University, where he received the A. B. degree in 1864. After graduation, he served as a private until the end of the Civil War. He returned to the university and completed his law studies in 1866, received the LL. B. degree, and was admitted to the bar.
Career
Mellette settled in practice at Muncie but was soon diverted from the law by journalism. He conducted the Muncie Times with success and acquired influence in politics. He was a member of the state House of Representatives from Delaware County in the session of 1872 and 1873 and was largely responsible for the development of the Indiana township school system, which has become the model system for many states. In 1879, when his wife's health failed and a change of climate was imperative, he removed to Dakota Territory, where influence from Indiana soon obtained for him an appointment as register of the United States land office, then located at Springfield but soon removed to Watertown, where he lived for the remainder of his life. When he retired from the land office in 1882 he resumed the practice of law, but having acquired a competence his attention was chiefly devoted to his personal affairs. He was a member of the first constitutional convention of 1883 and was chiefly responsible for the provisions in the constitution placing a limit on the legal indebtedness of the state and on tax levies for state purposes, fixing salaries of state officers at a very low figure, and providing that the state should engage in no work of internal improvement. These limitations were carried over to the second and to the third constitution, under which South Dakota was admitted to statehood. In 1885 he was chosen provisional governor of the "State of Dakota, " to which admission was denied. He was the original advocate in the Northwest of Harrison's nomination for president, in 1888 was successful in obtaining for him the support of Dakota and some adjacent states, and was made national committeeman of the Republican party for Dakota. Among the first appointments made by President Harrison, was that of Mellette to be governor of Dakota Territory, and at the election of 1889 he was elected the first governor of the state of South Dakota. As the first governor he took infinite pains to establish precedents of simplicity and economy. When he left the governorship, in January 1893, his health was seriously impaired, and he was never again strong. He died on May 25, 1896 at Pittsburg, Kansas, and was buried at Watertown, South Dakota.
Achievements
Arthur C. Mellette is known as the last Governor of Dakota Territory, the first Governor of the State of South Dakota. He is the namesake of Mellette, South Dakota and Mellette County, South Dakota.
Personality
Mellette was himself philanthropic by nature, and he spent himself and his fortune in benevolence. The tragic death of his eldest son and the loss of his fortune through the treachery of a friend added to the burden of his declining years. It was characteristic that, upon the defalcation of the state treasurer for whom he had become surety, he immediately turned over to the state all of his possessions. He was hoping to devote himself to experimentation in the field of physics when broken health and broken fortune brought his useful years to a close.
Connections
Mellette was married, on May 29, 1866, to Margaret, the daughter of Theophilus Adam Wylie, long associated with Indiana University.
