Thomas Mellon
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| Thomas Alexander Mellon | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 3, 1813 Cappagh, Northern Ireland |
| Died | February 3, 1908 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA |
| Occupation | Lawyer, judge, banker |
| Spouse | Sarah Jane Negley |
Thomas Alexander Mellon (February 3, 1813 – February 3, 1908) was the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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[edit] Early life
Mellon was born to farmers Andrew and Rebecca Wauchob Mellon on February 3, 1813 at Camp Hill Cottage, Lower Castletown, parish of Cappagh, County Tyrone, Province of Ulster, in what is now Northern Ireland. His family had come into Ireland from Scotland around the middle of the seventeenth century. In 1816 his great-grandfather, Archibald Mellon, emigrated to the United States, settling in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Andrew and his family followed two years later.[1]
Mellon wrote in his autobiography that at the age of ten, he had been struck by "wealth and magnificence I had before no conception of" upon viewing the mansion of prominent landowners Jacob and Barbara Ann Negley.[2] At fourteen he read the The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and became inspired by Franklin's rags-to-riches tale.[2] Deciding he would not be a farmer, he enrolled at the Western University of Pennsylvania at Pittsburgh in October 1834, graduating in 1837.
[edit] Career
After graduation, he obtained work in a Pittsburgh law office, and became clerk for the Allegheny County prothonotary. He was himself admitted to the bar on December 15, 1838 and opened his own law firm, focusing on civil cases.[1]
On August 22, 1843 he married Sarah Jane Negley, daughter of Jacob and Barbara and sister of James S. Negley, after a long—and frustrating—courtship.[3] Soon thereafter he embarked on a long and successful legal career in Pittsburgh. In 1859, he was elected assistant Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Allegheny County, and on December 1 began a ten-year judicial career.
Mellon invested the proceeds from his legal work shrewdly, buying up large portions of downtown Pittsburgh real estate. In late 1869 he decided to retire from the bench, and rather than return to the legal profession, "concluded to open a banking house."[2] On January 2, 1870 he opened the T. Mellon & Sons' Bank with his sons Andrew W. and Richard B.[4] Above the cast iron door of the original bank building at 514 Smithfield Street was placed a near life-sized statue of his inspiration, Benjamin Franklin.[4]
He nearly lost his estate in the Panic of 1873—an economic depression in which half of Pittsburgh's ninety organized banks and twelve private banks failed.[5]—but prevailed, and was well placed to prosper when the economy again began to expand. Shrewd investments included real estate holdings in downtown Pittsburgh, coal fields, and a $10,000 loan to Henry Clay Frick in 1871, which would provide the coke for Andrew Carnegie's steel mills.[4]
On January 5, 1882 he retired from day-to-day management of the bank's affairs, handing it to his 27-year old son Andrew. Under A.W. and R.B.'s management, Mellon Bank was by the end of the century the largest banking institution in the country outside of New York.[1] He divested himself of most of the rest of his property on February 3, 1890, leaving it in the hands of his sons.[4]
He died February 3, 1908 at his home in East Liberty.[1]. He was survived by his wife, who lived for about a year after his death, and four children.
[edit] Family and personal life
Mellon was Presbyterian by faith. Though not devoutly religious[4], he was a member and supporter of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church, the land for which had been originally contributed by the Negley family.
He maintained a "country house" at 491 North Negley Avenue in East Liberty, where he indulged a passion for horticulture raising fruit trees and other crops.[4] He also took an interest in the poetry of Robert Burns and in the history of Ireland. He was said to remarked "the only way to settle the Irish question would be to sink the island."[4]
Thomas and Sarah Mellon had eight children, five of whom survived to adulthood:
- Thomas Alexander "Tom" Mellon, born June 26, 1844, married to Mary C. Caldwell, sister of Alexander Caldwell; father of Thomas Alexander Mellon II and Edward Purcell Mellon;
- James Ross "Jim" Mellon, born January 14, 1846, married to Rachel Hughey Larimer, daughter of William Larimer; parents of William Larimer Mellon
- Sarah Emma Mellon (died in childhood)
- Annie Rebecca Mellon (died in childhood)
- Samuel Selwyn Mellon (died 1862, at age 9)
- Andrew W. "A.W." Mellon born March 24, 1855;
- Richard Beatty "R.B." Mellon, born March 19, 1858, married to Jennie King, daughter of Alexander and Cordelia King
- George Negley Mellon, born June 30, 1860, died April 15, 1887.
Mellon entrusted his sons with business ventures from very early ages. By the age of 21, his son Tom had raised, with his son Jim, some $100,000 operating a nursery, lumber yard and construction supply business, and Andrew was managing a theatre at the age of 17.[4]. Well-prepared for business, the Mellon family ranked among the wealthiest and most prominent industrialists in the United States by the time of Judge Mellon's death in 1908.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mellon, Thomas Alexander |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mellon, T.A. |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Founder of Mellon Bank, patriarch of the Mellon family of Pennsylvania. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 3, 1813 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cappagh, County Tyrone, Ulster, Northern Ireland |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 3, 1908 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA |
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Rook, Charles Alexander, et al, eds. Western Pennsylvanians: A Work for Newspaper and Library Reference, Western Pennsylvania Biographical Association (Pittsburgh, 1923), p390.
- ^ a b c Mellon, Thomas, Thomas Mellon and His Times, University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, 1994).
- ^ Steele, Bruce. "Thomas Mellon and His Times," University Times, Vol. 27, No. 6, 10 November 1994. University of Pittsburgh
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mellon, William Larimer and Sparkes, Boyden, Judge Mellon's Sons, 1948.
- ^ McCullough, C. Hax Jr. "The World of Thomas Mellon," Allegheny Cemetery, accessed 16 May 2006.
[edit] External links
- Mellon Homestead, birthplace of Thomas Mellon and part of the Ulster American Folk Park in County Tyrone
