admin HERBERT ALEXANDER MELDRUM, President of the American Savings Bank, and Secretary and Treasurer of the H. A. Meldrum Company, is one of the foremost business men of Buffalo, holding a position of equal prominence in commercial enterprise and financial affairs. As head of the great Meldrum department store, Mr. Mel drum represents modern mercantile development in its broadest and most progressive sense.
Herbert Alexander Meldrum was born in Buffalo, February 15, 1870, and educated in the grammar-schools and Central High School.
When twenty years old Mr. Meldrum entered the employ of Adam, Meldrum & Anderson to learn the dry-goods and department store business from the foundation. He remained with the Adam, Meldrum & Anderson firm till 1897, when he became one of the organizers and the executive head of the H. A. Meldrum Company. Though one of the youngest of Buffalo’s big department houses, the firm stands in the front rank in point of business done and in general reputation.
A notable instance of the initiative and enterprise which characterize Mr. Meldrum as a business man was furnished by the airship flight, which took place in Buffalo in the summer of 1906, under the auspices of the H. A. Meldrum Company, by A. Roy Knabenshue. It was one of the most interesting events of the season, attracted tens of thousands of spectators and was widely commented upon by the press. It was the first and thus far the only occasion on which the airship has made its appearance in Buffalo, and commanded public attention, not only as a most original and novel method of advertising, but as an event uniting both scientific and spectacular interest. The flight was very successful, and Mr. Meldrum later, for the experience, made a balloon ascension with Mr. Knabenshue, traveling about forty miles, crossing the Niagara River and landing at Silverdale, Ontario.
Mr. Meldrum is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Manufacturers’ Club, Buffalo Historical Society, Buffalo, Saturn, Country, Park and Automobile clubs of Buffalo, and the Aero Club of America, New York City. He is a member of Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church.
September 23, 1895, Mr. Meldrum married Miss Louise Hingston, a daughter of Edward J. and Mary (Reese) Hingston of Buffalo. They have three children: Herbert Alexander, Jr., Alan Hingston, and Esther Louise Meldrum.
SOURCE: Memorial and Family History of Erie County New York; Volume I