Commander-in-Chief Perley Mellor has been actively involved in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; he has been a life member in the Willie Grout Camp 25 Worcester, Massachusetts, for over 50 years. From an early age he grew up loving the organization as his mother and father were greatly involved. His father Clark W. Mellor was Commander-in-Chief during 1988/89 and his mother Elizabeth was a life member of the Auxiliary to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and a sister in the Woman’s Relief Corps, Auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic.His uncles Donald and Edward were also brothers in Camp 25. His grandmother Alice was a sister of the WRC.

Today, it’s his wife Diane and daughters Heather, Jennifer, and Veronica who are actively involved in the Auxiliary.  The Allied Orders run deep in their blood.

Commander-in-Chief Mellor is the great grandson of Sgt. Clark W. James,  Co. K 21st Connecticut  Infantry and comrade of George H. Ward Post 10 G.A.R., Worcester; Pvt. William H. Mellor, Co. H 34th Infantry Massachusetts and comrade of George H. Ward Post 10 G.A.R., Worcester; and  Pvt. Andrew Lucia, Co. D 13th Vermont Regiment.

He was elected as Commander-in-Chief at the 131st National Encampment in Los Angeles. He has distinguishably served the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in the following ways: Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief, Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief, National Council of Administration; 3 year office, National Liaison to Cathedral of the Pines, Member of the Civil War Memorials Grant Committee, Assistant to PCinC Danny Wheeler for the National ROTC/JROTC Program, Department of Massachusetts Commander; 3 terms in office, Department Council, Camp 25 Commander; 2 terms in office, Camp 25 Council, Past New England Regional Association  Commander; 1 term in office, Member of the 2008 National Encampment Committee, and in numerous other offices at the Camp and Department levels.

Commander-in-Chief Mellor served in the United Stated Air Force for 20 years and retired in 1984 as a Tech Sergeant. He went to work for BAE Systems as a security officer and retired from that company in 2006. Within the community he is active in organizations such as the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, American Society of Industrial Security, Civil War Roundtable of New Hampshire, Friends of Gettysburg, Lincoln Fellowship of Pennsylvania, Civil War Trust, and the Girl Scouts. He is also a Kentucky Colonel.

He grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, traveled the world with his family while with the USAF, and has settled in Nashua, New Hampshire.