Charles M. (Charles Manly) Melden (1853-1949) was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and died in Alameda, California. He was a Methodist minister with both D.D. and Ph.D degrees. In 1881 he married Melinda A. Melden (b. Lewis), a shoe factory worker, in Saugus, Massachusetts. She died in 1891, and in 1892 he married Addie L. Melden (b. Croxford), a teacher, in Somerville, Massachusetts. They moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where Melden was president of Clark Atlanta University from 1897 to 1903, and then to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was president of New Orleans University. Both institutions were founded under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church with a mission of educating Black students. He authored the book From Slave to Citizen published in 1921. Melden's wife was involved in missionary work. They retired to Oakland, California, in about 1925. Melden was acquainted with William I. Gill, a student of Mary Baker Eddy's who was also a Methodist minister. In 1886 Gill wrote to Eddy to recommend that Melden study Christian Science with her, but the records do not reflect that he did so.

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