Erwin Melton was born in Fannin County, Texas, 2-20-1888, son of Felix Cooper
  and Susan (Pafford) Melton. His father was a Baptist minister. He received his
  schooling in Texas. His father and two brothers were blacksmiths in Texas and
  Oklahoma. He had four sisters.
     Erwin came to Gerlane, a new town in Barber County, in 1911. There was a 
  post office, bank, 3 elevators, a lumber yard, two mercantile Co.s, a cream
  station and railroad depot. The Bruce Hensleys served meals to passers by.
     It seemed to be a thriving town, so Erwin built a shop, a frame building to
  start his business. Later he built a tile building. He was a mechanic and worked
  on cars of the time. There were gas pumps, and he sold oil and tires.
     He built a home in Gerlane in 1913, and married Nellie Alice Colborn in 1914.
  Nellie was the 6th of 12 children of Frank C. and Alice Colborn. She was born on
  the family farm 1-17-1891, three miles northeast of Gerlane. She attended Dist.
  70, College Hill School. Before marriage, Nellie worked at J.K. Richardson
  Mercantile Store in Gerlane.
     Erwin was a general blacksmith, an expert wheel-wright. In 1923, with help
  from Raymond Hull, they made a corncob and wood fire around steel tires. When
  they were red hot, they placed the steel tires around the wooden wagon wheels,
  eight were placed each time.
     Sidney as born 7-26-1917. At age 2 he had erysipelas and lost his hearing.
  From ages 6 to 18 he attended the Kansas State School for the deaf at Olathe,
  Kansas. When he was older, he helped in the blacksmith shop. During WWII, Sidney
  worked in an airplane factory in Wichita. He now resides in Midwest City,
  Oklahoma with his sister, Elora.
     Eilene was born 12-24-1920, and on 4-12-1922 Elora was born. The family was
  completed with a son, Erwin C., 2-28-1931. The girls attended Dist. 8, Roundup
  School. When the new school in Gerlane was built, they completed grade school
  there, then graduated from MLHS.
     By 1936 the town was vanishing as the railroad was not rebuilt after a flood,
  and business was poor. Erwin purchased the Earl Reeves blacksmith shop in 
  Medicine Lodge and continued his trade. He sharpened plowshares and hard surfacing
  became a big boost of Barber County farmers.
     Erwin developed inflamatory rheumatism in his hands. In 1945 he sold his shop,
  equipment, apartment buildings and his home in Medicine Lodge and moved to Pratt.
  They bought a help-yourself-laundry which was a good business due to the air base
  north of Pratt. They made many good friends there.
     The son, Erwin C., drowned while swimming in the sand pit south of Pratt on
  6-17-1946. He was fifteen.
     Elora married Harold Skidmore, Air Force man. He passed away unexpectedly in
  1971. They had two children, Pamela Jean and Harold Melton. They live in Oklahoma.
  Eilene married Frank Poindexter of Rural Medicine Lodge. They have 3 sons; Robert,
  John, and Donald. Frank was deceased in 12-9-1976.
     Erwin and Nellie were devout Christians. He was an ordained Baptist Deacon, and
  an enthusiastic song leader. He passed away in Jan. 1953, and Nellie in Feb. 1965.
  The family plot is in Greenlawn Cemetery, Pratt, Kansas.
               
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 325 
     Submitted by: Eilene Melton Poindexter.