Thomas Mellon

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Thomas Alexander Mellon
Born February 3, 1813(1813-02-03)
Cappagh, Ireland
Died February 3, 1908 (aged 95)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania U.S.
Occupation Lawyer, judge, banker
Spouse Sarah Jane Negley

Thomas Alexander Mellon (February 3, 1813 – February 3, 1908) was an Irish-American entrepreneur, lawyer, and judge, best known as 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, 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, now known as the University of 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 on his birthday, 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. Thomas Mellon and his wife Sarah are buried in Pittsburgh's Allegheny Cemetery.

[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 have 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.

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[edit] References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c Mellon, Thomas, Thomas Mellon and His Times, University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, 1994).
  3. ^ Steele, Bruce. "Thomas Mellon and His Times," University Times, Vol. 27, No. 6, 10 November 1994. University of Pittsburgh
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Mellon, William Larimer and Sparkes, Boyden, Judge Mellon's Sons, 1948.
  5. ^ McCullough, C. Hax Jr. "The World of Thomas Mellon," Allegheny Cemetery, accessed 16 May 2006.

[edit] External links

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 U.S.