William Mellen was born at Clinton, N. Y.; Guerdon E. Smith was born in De Kalb Co., Ill.

The evidence

• “Two children were born to them—William Mellen, the elder, was born at Clinton, November, 1848; he married in 1875 Miss Sarah C. Pease, a daughter of J.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/32-courts-and-legal-profession.md, Vol. 2, PDF p. 246 / book p. 748

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

  

• “GUERDON E. SMITH, of firm Smith & House, growers ; born in De Kalb Co., III., in November, 1848 ; came to Wisconsin in 1857, locating at Beloit; in 1869, moved to' Sycamore, 111., where his father built the first grist-mill ; remained one year, when he returned to Beloit and learned the machinist's trade with Merrill & Houston, continuing for nine years ; in 1870, forme i partnership with J. B.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/18-bios-beloit.md, PDF p. 760

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources