Biographical sketch extracted from:

Biographical and historical record of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1887. p. 729.

DR. C. T. MELSHEIMER, a practicing physician of Bluffton, Wells County, with whose interests he has been prominently identified since the spring of 1844, was born in Hanover, York County, Pennsylvania, the date of his birth being September 29, 1819. In his youth he received excellent educational advantages, attending school at Gettysburg and Ashland, Ohio, and the Chicago Medical College. He was united in marriage March 29, 1845, to Miss Susan Ann Dwire, a daughter of Rev. William Dwire, of the Methodist Episcopal church of Ashland, Ohio. To this union were born six children, five sons and one daughter, of whom two sons and the daughter survived the death of the mother, which occurred August 3, 1878. Dr. Melsheimer was again united in marriage, to Mrs. Martha Cartwright, his present wife, December 9, 1880. As before stated, the doctor settled at Bluffton in the spring of 1844, and since that time has been actively engaged in the practice of his chosen profession, building up a large and lucrative practice. In practice he is not only progressive, but strictly conservative. In August, 1862, Dr. Melsheimer was commissioned by Governor O. P. Morton, of Indiana, First Assistant Surgeon of the One Hundred and First Indiana Infantry, which position he filled until failing health compelled him to resign. In July, 1885, he received the appointment as a member of the Board of Pension Examiners for the Eleventh Congressional District of the State of Indiana. In politics the doctor affiliates with the Republican party. In religion he is a firm believer in the fatherhood of God, the brotherhood of man, and in the final salvation of every son and daughter of Adam. In 1850 Dr. Melsheimer united with the Odd Fellows order at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was a member of Harmony Lodge until October 6, 1852, when he united with the Odd Fellows Lodge, No. 114, of Bluffton, in which lodge he still retains his membership.