R.B. Reducing Chronic School Absenteeism. in Highland Park. It had been erected in 1912 by Sarah Negley Mellon to honor her grandparents, Alexander and Anna Maria Burkstresser Negley, who were buried there in unmarked graves along with many other nameless Pittsburgh pioneers. The Mellon bank helped finance the construction of the Ligonier Valley Railroad. Interestingly, though, this home was the only one of the Fricks three residences to be demolished (the other two were preserved as museums). (I certainly remember the unfortunate eviction of Graffiti and the obsessive muckraking and embarrassing divorces of Dickie Scaife). If you're from Pittsburgh, you know the name Mellon. Yet I firmly believe that history serves as a teaching tool in the present, while also providing a sense of identity. Sarah Cordelia Mellon was born on December 2, 1903, the only daughter of Richard Beatty and Jennie King Mellon. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is housed in the former home of industrial magnate Andrew Carnegie. But because Andrew Mellon deliberately disassociated his name from that institution he created (unlike Frick and Carnegie, who kept their names connected to their philanthropic cultural efforts), the nation's wonderful museum is not commonly associated with the Mellon legacy. Or consider how the mental competency of Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon (a Mellon by marriage, she was the second wife of Andrew Mellon's son Paul) was called into question over her support of now-disgraced Senator John Edwards. The home's owner made his money through investment in such prosperous industries as oil, coal, and steel. Matthew, who died last year aged 54,was a businessman who was a chairman of the New York Republican State Committee's finance committee, William L. Mellon (pictured left wearing straw skimmer), was the founder of Gulf Oil and the son of James Ross Mellon. Some of Eagle Rock was saved, however. her own names on this marker. The day after my tour, I was reading a book about art collecting in Pittsburgh during the Gilded Age when I stumbled upon something that, as our columnist Rick Sebak would say, isn't there anymore. courtship in his memoirs: Apparently she was "all right otherwise" because Thomas Mellon decided to pursue Sarah Jane. After Richard Mellon and his wife died in the 1930s, their son Richard King Mellon, lived there briefly before retreating to Ligonier. remember Sarah Jane by. When it was all delivered, Saint Peters had what amounted to a stone quarry in their back yard, together with thirty tons of steel beams, sixty-five oak doors, and all the other innumerable items concomitant with the wrecking of a sixty-five room house. : http://rivista-cdn.pittsburghmagazin.ver=1328293938 Mellon's personal sense of style was exemplified by a hat-rack made of mirrors and buffalo horns and half a taxidermied buffalo head (yes, half), both of which he kept on display as Simple theme. Peggy Hitchcock (daughter of Margaret Mellon Hitchcock, a sister of Matthew and Larry mentioned above) was married for a time to 1960s American counterculture leader Walter Howard Bowart, whom she met through mutual friend and former lover Timothy Leary. James Mellon founded the City Deposit Bank, becoming its president in 1898. She had to, if this anecdote from William Larimer Mellon describing his involvement in ".a parasitical business based on selling the produce of my grandparents' country place" is any indication of what life was like in household filled with entrepreneurially enterprising men and boys: It's tempting to think that through all the bustle of testosterone-driven family life, Sarah Jane remained vastly competent, cool, and collected -- if also emotionally detached and The Mellons built a 6,000-square-foot house on a corner lot in 1883, Old records and a record player left behind at the house. ?, June 19, 1944, Page THREE, Image 3, brought to you by Alaska State Library Historical Collections, and the National Digital Newspaper Program. The church is located along the Allegheny River and is approximately 25 mi (40 km) north-east of the city of Pittsburgh within the Diocese of Greensburg. No admission fee is charged. It was erected to house the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. Is this really a burial ground? She was not playing hard to get. The author didn't say that; There is a mistake in the text of this quote; The quote belongs to another author; As a history-loving adult, I came to understand how ubiquitously present the Mellons were in the development of this city and nation. Federal law was on "Pross" Mellon's side since the federal kidnapping statute specifically exempted parents. facebook; twitter; googleplus; You can't mine coal without machine guns. 29 vintage silver prints (9 x 13 inches) mounted to album leaves, printed title-page. Best regard from Belgium. But neither did he join the Union Army. I had no idea that Judge Mellon had prudently created the park in 1878 for the sole purpose of providing a destination to increase profits for his already-existing narrow-gauge railroad. At some point in my childhood, I learned that the Mellon family had established one of my favorite places on earth: Idlewild Park. Eventually even Judge Mellon himself concluded "There's nothing to it" and returned home. The park was established in 1943, on the grounds of the former estate of Richard B. Mellon. In honor of his civic efforts, the Air and Waste Management Association recognizes individuals who have made administrative, legislative, and judicial contributions to the field of pollution abatement with the Richard Beatty Mellon Award. The panel's design makes brilliant use of the reforms brought to glassmaking by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Quiet, pleasant and self-possessed: Sarah Jane Neg What ho, blog writer? Such was the case on Nov. 16, 1927, at the wedding of the daughter of Richard Beatty Mellon who was the niece of Andrew Mellon and the future mother of Richard Mellon Scaife. An avid lover of history, Mr. Mellon was inquisitive and curious, collecting in many areas of the fine and decorative arts, including English Neo-Gothic furniture, sporting art and bronzes. Mellon's philanthropic gifts were primarily church-oriented. 164-20 Highland Ave #3f. Stunned, I started researching the house, asking myself, "You'd remember if you saw that, right? Its amazing how much you can learn from a house. On July 1, 2007, as a result of the merger of Mellon Financial Corporation and the Bank of New York, The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, doing business as BNY Mellon, was formed. Biography . On his deathbed, these were Richard's last words to his brother. The potential trauma inflicted upon their daughters (who were first abducted by their troubled mother after she left a treatment program, then re-abducted a year later at gunpoint by Mellon's employees outside their mother's home in NYC), rivaled that inflicted on Ailsa and Paul Mellon during Andrew Mellon's custody battle at the turn of the century. A fitting setting for a bride with a background in architectural conservation: the cathedral was constructed in the 1940s using salvaged marble, steel, and other materials from the Richard B. Mellon Mansion (as it was being demolished) and features stunning architectural details. To honour her memory, he built the Larimer Memorial Library (now Larimer Arts Center) and donated it to the city. He and his brother, Andrew W. Mellon, another son of Judge Thomas Mellon, were frequent business partners. Unless otherwise indicated, all content is original to author. We then hold some of these same things to be important. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Ukrainian soldier takes out five tanks with Javelin missiles, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Moment teenager crashes into back of lorry after 100mph police race, Do not sell or share my personal information. Here, I thought, perhaps here is something I can actually relate to. As you can see from these photos, Eagle Rock was a beautiful piece of architecture that should have been kept for future generations. murder?). Such effrontery, to even consider the idea: Sarah Jane's infamous detachment has been thrown to the winds in this passage. The marble came from the long-gone Richard B. Mellon mansion in Squirrel Hill. A shy man, he shunned publicity and gave very few interviews so very little is known of his personality and views. In 1957 . Quote: Mistake: Choose. 'On May 7th, 1919, at the age of 73, Rachel Mellon passed away upon arriving home to Pittsburgh. "We can do just that!" Along with being a successful bank and industrialist, he was a philanthropist like the rest of the Mellon family and deeply invested in his community. She didn't turn Thomas away, but then again, neither did she encourage him. Richard Mellon; Found 69 results for. It wasn't. She didn't design or fund the building of mansions or imposing buildings. In 2005, Scaife was number 238 on the Forbes 400, with a personal fortune of $1.2 billion. The gardens were originally designed in 1912 by Alden and Harlow. Growing up surrounded by the Mellon name in Pittsburgh Genealogy for Thomas Alexander Mellon, Sr. (1813 - 1908) family tree on Geni, with over 245 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. undemonstrative. Too bad they couldnt take it all, mourned Father Fusco, whose artistic soul revolted at the desecration of priceless stone by a careless wrecking crew. Five years later, the Mellon brothers founded the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research as a memorial to their father. Forget the dollhouses of that other Sarah Mellon, or the myriad Mellon parks, businesses, and mansions built by the Mellon men. The Nome nugget. He was the son of Richard Mellon and Jennie King.He passed away in 1970. They said: 'The introduction of the railroads into North Florida in the 1880s led to an explosion in the winter tourist trade. Sarah Jane piled on to the scolding that James received from his father. His dissertation was published as, His brother William Larimer Mellon Jr, gets lost in the gossip despite his astounding humanitarian efforts. What Pittsburghers do remember about the Mellons are the salacious details. Witness, for example, the obsession of Sarah's son Richard Mellon Scaife with the Clinton family, which went on for decades. The homes owner made his money through investment in such prosperous industries as oil, coal, and steel. This is not surprising for such a self-contained woman, and is to be respected, despite the regrets it engenders for the curious historian! The Marshall property was added in 1944, and the Frew and Darsie properties, east of the Mellon . later write a dry, clinical appraisal of Sarah Jane's charms and their Richard B. Mellon. A gossipy 1888 book entitled The social mirror: a character sketch of the women of Pittsburg and vicinity during the first century of the county's existence alphabetically categorizes the women of the city according to the qualities of beauty, intelligence, musicality and artistry, charity, wealth, moral do-gooding, and positions of social standing that they best exemplify. Did Sarah? In the 1990s, a three-wing conservatory was added to increase his supply of fresh flowers common and exotic. From an early age, Thomas Mellon entrusted his sons with business ventures. The Walking Guide includes: A History of Chatham University Mellon Board Room Eden Hall Farm Campus Chatham Eastside Rachel Carson, Class of 1929 Howe-Childs Gate House . There are some claims that they were re-interred on the spot beneath the marker in Highland Park, having been moved there. [2] In 1926 he established a $15 million pension fund for Presbyterian ministers. Mellon's personal sense of style was exemplified by a hat-rack made of mirrors and buffalo horns and half a taxidermied buffalo head (yes, half), both of which he kept on display as He recalled that ".since marriage, the last important event of my life was consummated, and nothing left to distract my attention from business, I could feel that I was fairly settled." Yet, without the family being in apparent financial strife, the home was torn down in 1941. The case is often cited in discussions of custody conflicts that result in parental child-napping, and eclipses his many good works, including the, Matthew T. Mellon, Sr., grandson of the eldest of the Mellon sons, obtained a PhD in history and was an American Studies professor at University of Freiburg from 1928-1939. Famously private, for the most part Mellons and their kin have kept mostly to themselves in a removed, rarified social sphere. Like the earliest Mellons, Alexander originally settled in Westmoreland County. to more photos). "Everything they could get from the mansion was bought," Calvanese says. But for all that this makes me an unintentional font of Mellon trivia, the family still exists for me in a world apart, one separated from my understanding and experience by more than glass. Mellon Park is a park in the Shadyside and Point Breeze neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, straddling both sides of Fifth Avenue, from approximately Shady Avenue to Penn Avenue, the western corner abutting Pittsburgh Center for the Arts building. On what was described as a stormy and "bleak" November evening in Pittsburgh, Sarah Cordelia Mellon, 24, married Alan Magee Scaife, 27, at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Howard Heinz and Richard B. Mellon found the Pittsburgh Parks and Playground Fund - today it is known as the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Howard Heinz founds the Pittsburgh Planning Association, which today is known as the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission - the region's MPO. The church that Richard B. Mellon built, East Liberty Presbyterian, became one of several targets of protests by the controversial Denominational Ministry Strategy (DMS). Mellon has been recognized as one of the most important private benefactors of environmental causes, achieving his significant stature quietly and humbly. The Mellon Other images show inside the property with a piano and old records left behind, along with old tennis rackets and an American flag. I'll be writing more about that visit later, but one thing I can tell you now is that I could not wrap my brain around what it would be like for Fricks children to grow up in a house that large, which was actually small by the standards of wealth in those days. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Married life of Sarah Mellon He and his brother Andrew had a little game of tag going for about seven decades. Richard Beatty Mellon (March 19, 1858 - December 1933), sometimes R.B., was a banker, industrialist, and philanthropist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (adjusted wealth $103 billion). Other seasonal visitors, such as industrialist James R. Mellon, opted to purchase or erect winter residences rather than be confined to a hotel room. Mellon's mansion was at the time the largest in Pittsburgh and was built in 1910. The home was built in 1904 for Henry Clay Frick and his family as a summer home in Prides Crossing, Massachusetts. We are officially open today! By Stephanie Reed Springer, April 9, 2015. 63 years old, died in the Veterans Administration Medical Center, West Roxbury, on June 23, 2009 after a long battle with cancer. Sunday was an incredibly popular supporter of Prohibition, and his preaching likely played a significant role in the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment in 1919, James Ross Mellon, pictured left, was the son of Judge Thomas Mellon, the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the wealthy and influential family. You become very aware of how gangly and awkward the human body is when you're surrounded by priceless artifacts. After the Mellon's passed away the mansion became home for the Red Cross. In suburban Philadelphia, art and industry are joined in a residence commissioned in 1901. The grand staircase is the altar. Even Sarah Jane's small talk seemed to get on Thomas' nerves, for he notes in his memoirs: Apparently the Negleys didn't pay extra for those music lessons at the Edgeworth Ladies' Boarding School. Yet it was not really a farm but a country home." Nora McMullen Mellon by James Jebusa Shannon, 1910, Heinz History Center Detre Library and Archives, largest single gift of land ever made to the nation in 1990, The social mirror: a character sketch of the women of Pittsburg and vicinity during the first century of the county's existence. Indeed, there was much here that had ecclesiastical potentialities. [6], The Mellon Park Tennis Center is a year-round facility that offers classes for younger children ages 47 and other age groups up to adults. Oblong folio. By necessity she would have become removed from day-today housework once she and Thomas became pillars of their community and she gravitated to a prominent social role outside the home. Richard was born in 1899. His uncle Richard B. Mellon (1858-1933) was Andrew's business partner. The house in Palatka, Putnam County, Florida was. Private Company Incorporated: December 31, 1917 Employees: 1500 Sales: $949.5 million One of the oldest construction companies in the United States, the Mellon-Stuart Company is involved in general contracting; construction management; and industrial, mining, heavy and highway construction. Although there are four distinct branches descending from the legendary Judge Thomas Mellon, I'm unsure how many Pittsburghers know (or care) which Mellon is which. The 1994 book Architecture after Richardson reports that the house was torn down in 1941 for no reason that I have found as of yet. He served as president of Western Pennsylvania Hospital and the Allegheny County Juvenile Court Farm. On January 2, 1870, he opened the T. Mellon & Sons' Bank with his sons Andrew W. and Richard B.Mellon, William Larimer and Sparkes, Boyden, , 1948. The other day as I was walking in Highland Park I came across a memorial. He also served as a trustee for the Athalia Daly Home for Working Girls. Ten . Mrs. Negley would in fact live out her final days with Thomas and Sarah Jane, bequeathing the bulk of her considerable real estate holdings to Sarah Jane and other descendants (thereby providing the foundation for lucrative Mellon real estate development in the East End). It was a stones throw from the current Pittsburgh Center for the Arts on Fifth Ave. Here's a link to a pic. Keep in mind that the Fricks primary residence at the time, Clayton, had a mere 23 rooms (in comparison). William Larimer's parents were not believers, and he wrote sympathetically but scathingly in his memoirs about his grandfather's doty adventures with Spiritualism.