Anita Felicitas Johnson was the daughter of Capt. James ("Don Santiago") Johnson and Maria "Carmen" Guirado.

She married Henry Mellus, son of Capt. William Mellus and Amelia Lyon, on April 13, 1846, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, at the Church of the Angels in the Plaza. They were married until his untimely death on December 26, 1860, just seven months after his election as 8th Mayor of Los Angeles; he was only forty-four. The couple had seven children, all but the first of whom were born in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, namely:

HENRY SANTIAGO MELLUS
(December 7, 1847, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California - unknown);
ANITA ERULANA ("WETA") (MELLUS) TILESTON
(August 22, 1849 - August 19, 1928, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California);
WILLIAM B. MELLUS
(October 20, 1851 - unknown {likely died in infancy});
ISABELLA GUIRADO ("BELLA") (MELLUS) HAVERSTICK
(December 13, 1852 - January 24, 1917, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California);
ADELAIDA ELENA ("LOLA") (MELLUS) HAMILTON
(June 11, 1854 - June 1, 1932, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California);
GERTRUDE R. ("GUSTY") (MELLUS) LEDYARD
(December 13, 1857 - March 29, 1938, Glendale, Los Angeles County, California); and
FREDERICK COMMONFORTH ("FRED") MELLUS
(August 18, 1858 - August 24, 1910, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California).

She married Jean Baptiste Trudel, aka John Baptiste Trudel, on November 19, 1861, likely in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. Trudel was born ca 1831 in Montreal, Canada, and died between December 4, 1871, when he was naturalized in Los Angeles, and June 1, 1880, when the 1880 Census was taken and Anita appeared as the widowed head of the household in Los Angeles. The couple had four children together, all of whom were born in California, namely:

ELVIRA HONORINA ("VERA") (TRUDEL) [GLASSELL] RUSSELL
(April 14, 1862, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County -
November 11, 1938, Decoto, Alameda County, California);
EDMUND ALEXANDER TRUDEL
(August 24, 1864, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County - unknown);
ALBERT VICTOR TRUDEL
(June 4, 1867, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County -
September 11, 1894, Redondo Beach, Los Angeles County, California); and
VIOLET ROSE (TRUDEL) [MIXER] SINGER
(September 27, 1869, Redondo Beach, Los Angeles County -
August 13, 1953, Newport Beach, Orange County, California).

On the 1850 Census, Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, Anita F. Mellus and her daughter, Anita Mellus, age 1, appeared in the household of her husband's brother-in-law and sister, Ed H. and Amelia (Mellus) Payson. Anita's mother-in-law, Amelia (Lyon) Mellus, also resided there. Both Henry Mellus and son Henry Santiago Mellus, then about 3, were absent. Neither Henry nor the young son were found elsewhere.

On the 1860 Census, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, Anita F. Mellus appeared in the household of her husband, Henry Mellus, whose occupation was shown as "Mayor of Los Angeles". Firstborn child, son Henry S. Mellus, was present in that census, along with his siblings Anita, Isabella, Adelaida, Gertrude, and Frederick.

On the 1870 Census, Wilmington, Los Angeles County, California, Anita Trudel appeared in the household of her husband, John E. [sic-B.] Trudel, along with their children, Elvira, Edward A., Albert V., and Violet Trudel, and Henry and Anita's son and daughter, Gertrude and Frederick Mellus.

On the 1880 Census, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, Anita Trudell [sic-Trudel], widowed, appeared as the head of the household which included her Trudel children, Elvira, Edmund, Albert, and Violet; two Mellus children, Frederick and his older, married sister, Alida [sic-Adelaida, known as "Lola"] E. (Mellus) Hamilton; and Adelaida's four Hamilton children, Robert T., Samuel C., Bella, and Anita (known as "Weta").