Melchior/Michael Fluman was born in Switzerland in 1842. Nothing is known of his early life, and his mother's name is unknown. He married Anna Ecker Linder in 1868. They were living in Berne, Switzerland in 1881 when Anna inherited some land from her Uncle in Ridgeway, PA. They arranged to sell the land and brought the paperwork with them when they arrived in Ridgeway the following Spring.
Michael and Anna settled in Ridgeway and he worked as a laborer in a Tannery or on a Farm for the rest of his life.