From an early age, Thomas Mellon entrusted his sons with business ventures. For $200 a year (paid three months in advance) Sarah Jane would have studied reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, composition, geography, astronomy with the use of globes, natural philosophy, chemistry, history, and plain and ornamental needle work. But Sarah remained connected to the goings-on at home. 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. The panel's design makes brilliant use of the reforms brought to glassmaking by Louis Comfort Tiffany. I suppose what with all this moving about of bodies, it's not surprising that a mistaken reburial to East Liberty got attached to this story. A retired manufacturer in the curtain industry he w His children, Sarah Mellon and her younger brother Richard King Mellon, were heirs to the family fortune alongside their cousins Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon-Bruce. She was not playing hard to get. By Stephanie Reed Springer, April 9, 2015. These industrious men then built the monumental Mount St. Peter Church in New Kensington, which still stands and functions to this day from the materials of the Mellon Mansion. You can also learn about the Gilded Age and its extreme wealth gap. But the youngest of his two sons, Seward Prosser Mellon, made headlines in the mid-1970s related to a horrific custody battle with his ex-wife. 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. Postcard of bridge spanning Lake Bouquet leading to Flower Island at Idlewild Park. 'Eager to establish himself before getting married, James Mellon returned home to lease the Osceola Coal Works from his father,' added Abandoned Southeast. tree" is no more. It is unfortunate that such an opportunity has been taken away from us. Sarah might have been the dullest of them all, but we'll never know for sure. MELLON, Richard B. The comments below have not been moderated. Surviving photos reveals a stolid farmhouse, described as white with green shutters. The park is home to the Walled Garden, and holds events throughout the year. The way Thomas describes their courtship is intriguing for the boorish but earnest picture it paints of him, and the enigmatic portrait presented of Sarah Jane. His was the largest mansion in Pittsburgh. Please cite w/ URL attribution. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He was the son of Richard Mellon and Jennie King.He passed away in 1970. The park is all that's left of Richard B. Mellon's 65 room mansion, built in 1909. Source. Mellon estate was located on Pittsburgh's Fifth Avenue. While not as significant as the old post office, city hall or the Wabash terminal, it would be really cool if the Richard B. Mellon mansion were still around. Did Sarah Jane feel "fairly settled"? 164-20 Highland Ave #3f. An urban explorer known as Abandoned Southeast took the photos. The splendor of the Gilded Age couldnt last forever. From Troy Hill, a subsequent closing in 1888 meant the poor souls were re-interred one more time, to the Smithfield East End Cemetery in Squirrel Hill, now maintained by Homewood Cemetery. Mellon estate was located on Pittsburghs Fifth Avenue. He has served as a Trustee of both Foundations since 2005. However, he himself bankrolled an extensive black-market LSD manufacturing and distribution operation from the West Coast. The park is on the list of landmarks recognized by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (PHLF), and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. With opalescent glass alone, the panel presents an evocative scene of rippling water, floating lotus flowers, and a footbridge draped with roses. Avenue. The mansion was built by Italian immigrants from New Kensington, PA, under the direction of Monsignor Nicola Fusco. 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. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. The specifics of Sarah Mellon and Alan Scaife's extravagant 1927 wedding still leave readers slack-jawed in amazement. During World War II, the current Catholic Church building was built by hand by parish members using materials from the dismantled Richard B. Mellon mansion in Pittsburgh. Instead, take heed of this: a monument to one woman's love of family, and her desire to honor the past. In this era when a woman was most known by her husband's 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. The son of Richard B. Mellon, nephew of Andrew W. Mellon, and grandson of Thomas Mellon, he and his sister Sarah Mellon Scaife and cousins Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon-Bruce, were heirs to the Mellon fortune, which included major holdings in Mellon Bank, Gulf Oil, and Alcoa. Nor do we know what she thought of their then-novel honeymoon trip to Niagara Falls, returning by way of Boston, New York City and Philadelphia. Andrew Mellon was the most famous brother, serving as U.S. Treasury . James Mellon founded the City Deposit Bank, becoming its president in 1898. R.B. What was it about this "quiet, pleasant, and self-possessed" woman that set the steely-eyed and practical thirty year old bachelor off course, yet kept him coming back for more? described as, Sarah's daughter, Cordelia Scaife May, scrupulously shunned publicity but left a legacy brimming with gossip. Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, http://www.mellon.com/aboutmellon/history.html, "R. B. Mellon Dies; Noted Industrial Leader of Nation", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_B._Mellon&oldid=1119087475, This page was last edited on 30 October 2022, at 17:07. on Negley Avenue are all long gone. They also made joint philanthropic gifts, notably several large donations to their alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, including creation of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to honor their father, which is now a part of Carnegie Mellon University. Richard B. Mellon. When we see a home, regardless of its age, we connect it to a family and the life that occured inside. [1], R.B. half-hidden in the ivy near a split-level cul-de-sac along Negley Biography . Richard Mellon. Five years later, the Mellon brothers founded the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research as a memorial to their father. As you can see from these photos, Eagle Rock was a beautiful piece of architecture that should have been kept for future generations. The land surrounding the mansion was donated to the city of Pittsburgh and now serves as Mellon Park. 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. jubilated a practical minded committee, upon learning that all they surveyed could be theirs merely for the cost of hauling it away! There are some claims that they were re-interred on the spot beneath the marker in Highland Park, having been moved there. In May 1864, in separate letters both the Judge and Sarah Jane responded to their then-18 year old son's desire to join the Union Army for a 100 day enlistment. The moral of this story is this: Millionaires, don't tear down your 65-room mansions until you give me a chance to walk through them! Overall, I learned so much and I never imagined how much of the Gilded Age existed outside of Newport. And I wondered about what kinds of lives those were -- not simply in terms of material possessions, but about how the world must seem to such people. We are officially open today! Eagel Rock is one of my favorite Gilded Age mansions, and I hate having to write that it no longer exists. On May 7, 1919, at the age of 73, Rachel Mellon passed away upon arriving home to Pittsburgh. Gun, Coal, Machines. (I certainly remember the unfortunate eviction of Graffiti and the obsessive muckraking and embarrassing divorces of Dickie Scaife). Incredible photos show the abandoned remains of a 6,000-square-foot river retreat that once belonged to a hugely successful US banking magnate. You can learn of its residents, and how they made established their wealth. 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. According to contemporary accounts, proud papa Richard B. spent $100,000 to build and decorate a pavilion at his East End mansion for the wedding feast and ball. Richard Mellon Scaife, the billionaire philanthropist whose fortune was almost entirely misapplied, died 82 years too late on Independence Day, July 4, 2014. To kid-me, a family name such as "Mellon" seemed pretty funny: it conjured up images of posh, well-dressed fleshy fruit. That "immense copper beech Silly me, it was more than just Mellon parks and dollhouses. 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. Stop in to reconnect with the history. If you're from Pittsburgh, you know the name Mellon. Over the course of his life, James Mellon became a successful businessman, banker, and philanthropist, The ceiling of the house is in a poor state, along with a dated interior. He died in 2014 aged 82. James and wife Rachael first came to Florida in the early 1880s, to get away from the frigid winters in Pennsylvania. He and his brother Andrew Mellon, sons of Judge Thomas Mellon, were frequent business partners. You become very aware of how gangly and awkward the human body is when you're surrounded by priceless artifacts. Stunned, I started researching the house, asking myself, "You'd remember if you saw that, right? The wedding, which received national news coverage for its ostentatious display of wealth, took place at the estate of Sarah's father, Richard B. Mellon, brother of . emotionally. But neither did he join the Union Army. Was there anything there, the pastor and building committee wondered, that a parish with little money could procure for a new church building? Published: 12:00 GMT, 2 July 2019 | Updated: 19:24 GMT, 12 August 2019. By the end of the century, the Mellon Bank was the largest banking institution in the country outside of New York, An old piano left at the home. The Judge author and descendant James Mellon describes a dark and sturdily decorated Victorian interior. [5] One event that has taken place annually since 1969 is A Fair in the Park put on by the Craftsmen's Guild of Pittsburgh in the month of September. After a heart attack in 1967, he became the "honorary" chairman of Mellon Bank until he died on June 3, 1970. The abandoned remains of a river retreat in north Florida that once belonged to the hugely successful US banking magnate and industrialist James R Mellon, The staircase in the abandoned Mellon river retreat. The modern urban landscape grew up to surround it, but the graveyard was there first. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Five years later, the Mellon brothers founded the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research as a memorial to their father, An abandoned bathroom at the sprawling property. educational venture. 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 . Is this really a burial ground? It's in plain sight but bland and usually overlooked.. Rather like Andrew Mellon, actually. But the chapter is all about their itinerary, not their intimacy. Reflecting upon the Mellon monies and a life of privilege, Larry Mellon once stated ", Western Pennsylvania music lovers have never gotten over the closing of the. 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. 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. These two banks, along with the Mellon Bank, became the three greatest banks in America under a single management. It was erected to house the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. Only a comment following a frightening adventure on the Pennsylvania Canal when their boat almost plummeted over a dam on the Juniata River near Harrisburg reflects the experiences of his new wife: "In this crisis I first noticed my wife's entire command of her feelings in the suppression of every sign of fear or alarm.". When Richard was on his deathbed, he called his brother over and whispered, "Last tag.". From the early stages, the Mellons preferred a classical style of architecture. Only the stone gateposts remain from the Mellon home, 'In 1867, Mellon sold the Coal Works. All this, while my mother smoked and rested for what seemed like an eternity. These are priceless artifacts we will never get back, and now we must rely on people like you to educate us on what used to be. In the 1990s, a three-wing conservatory was added to increase his supply of fresh flowers common and exotic. Privately produced photograph album to mark the occasion of the marriage of Sarah Mellon (1903-1965) and Alan Scaife (1900-1958). [7] Along with the tennis courts Mellon Park includes a playground, basketball courts, and baseball fields. [2] There are 150 stars, and each is a light in the ground and includes an inscription about it. It's hard to tell whether Sarah Jane's preternatural self-possession unnerved or impressed him. The newlyweds moved in with Sarah's mother and some Negley siblings who'd remained in the family home. Given that few descendants even carry the Mellon name today, genealogical clarity and historical perspective are that much more difficult to achieve. Such was the beginning of my married home Did she want to say "told you so" when all was said and done? 2 DISTINGUISHED DAUGHTERS OF PENNSYLVANIA AWARDS; 3 9 - 4 THE PENNSYLVANIA MANUAL; 4 Harriet Duff Phillips' daughter was similarly honored in 1976: Being quiet, pleasant, and self-possessed would do. The Mellons welcomed many famous guests into their home, including Billy Sunday, a former National League baseball player turned evangelist. He was president of the board of trustees of East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Richard Mellon Scaife (; July 3, 1932 - July 4, 2014) was an American billionaire, a principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune, and the owner and publisher of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Richard Beatty Mellon (March 19, 1858 - December 1, 1933), sometimes R.B., part of the Mellon family, was a banker, industrialist, and philanthropist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . They are not instantly recognizable the way other local tycoons like Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie are. He died on December 1, 1933, before the new building was completed. The four who survived became famous men, two of whom - Andrew W. Mellon - and Richard B. Mellon - attained worldwide fame in banking, business, government, philanthropy and the arts. Insulated by innocent pleasure, I was grateful to them for that. 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. James and his eldest brother Thomas agreed to pool their business interests together, becoming dealers in coal, lumber, and other building materials which were in high demand at the time in Pittsburgh. in Highland Park. Thomas Mellon assures us in his memoir chapter entitled "Courtship and Marriage" that Sarah Jane's attitude was not born of coquetry. A direct line of correlation can be drawn from kid-me peering through windows into a miniature Mellon world in 1969, to adult-me reading articles and biographies about the family. Richard King Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; inherited wealth: Alcoa, Gulf Oil, Mellon Bank, etc. Richard Mellon Scaife is the best-known living member of Pittsburgh's storied Mellon clan, whose eponymous bank made the family a 19th-century fortune, which grew steadily with diversified . marital woes brought him a lifetime of embarrassment. 'The institution helped finance the construction of the Ligonier Valley Railroad. Andrew Mellon's cuckolding, and his subsequent very public divorce from Nora of astounding history she orchestrated by providing a serene life But who was this woman? But in fact, it's not unusual for rural communities like old Negleytown to have had their own burial grounds. After Richard Mellon and his wife died in the 1930s, their son Richard King Mellon, lived there briefly before retreating to Ligonier. 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. Address review: Street Light Condition Street Light Out Associated persons: Khalid O Abbasi, Mushtak U Ahmed, Happy Aktar, Kimberly T Alexander, Debbie Ali, Mir L Ali. William Larimer's parents were not believers, and he wrote sympathetically but scathingly in his memoirs about his grandfather's doty adventures with Spiritualism. Clearly that house isn't there anymore.". It is sort of a bittersweet ending to this blog to hear about all the beautiful mansions we will never be able to see again. Richard B. Mellon's mansion is believed to have had 60-65 rooms, the caretaker of 10 years said he never counted the rooms to know the exact number! I nevertheless felt a vague sense of loss when the races were shut down in 1982. Peggy Hitchcock participated in Leary's early psychedelic experiments. There area lot of them. Edgeworth Ladies' Boarding School, Braddocksfield near Pittsburgh, How Sarah Mellon Scaife and Family Helped Transform the Museum of Art, The social mirror: a character sketch of the women of Pittsburg and vicinity during the first century of the county's existence. Like the earliest Mellons, Alexander originally settled in Westmoreland County. One of Sarah and Thomas' grandsons, William Larimer Mellon, essentially grew up in the house from 1868 on. The Marshall property was added in 1944, and the Frew and Darsie properties, east of the Mellon . She didn't turn Thomas away, but then again, neither did she encourage him. Federal law was on "Pross" Mellon's side since the federal kidnapping statute specifically exempted parents. His family had it demolished in 1941. Keep in mind that the Fricks primary residence at the time, Clayton, had a mere 23 rooms (in comparison). The park also contains the Phipps Garden Center and Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. These lovely statues which grace the Broderie Room at Phipps Conservatory in Oakland once stood in the mansion's gardens. The B.B. Yet it was not really a farm but a country home." Details. 'Shortly after, James and Rachel were married. Now, striking pictures show the white-panel exterior of the large house, the ornate tiled pathway leading to the front door and the slightly overgrown garden that features palm trees. 'During their years in Florida the Mellons were very involved in the community and supported the education system. Richard B. Mellon Partner: Triple R Farms Cotton Farm: 6227 Old Highway 80, Bolton, MS 39041 PO Box 40, Bolton, MS 39041 Highway 80, Bolton, MS 39041 (601) 866-7168: Richard Mellon Director: Canterbury Village Condominium Association, Inc Membership Organization: 5495 Bryson Dr, Naples, FL 34109 She and her older brother, Richard King Mellon, grew up at their parents' 60-room Fifth Avenue mansion (apparently at the time the largest house in Pittsburgh) in what became the city's wonderful Mellon Park after the house was . Richard was born in 1899. Negley Mansion, Edgeworth Ladies' Boarding School, and the Mellon "country home" The owner's first Tiffany window glass, now installed in a powder room, depicts peonies and steps and is a panel from a larger landscape window made about 1908 to 1912 for the Pittsburgh mansion of Richard B. Mellon. By the end of his six months a'wooing, Thomas Mellon no doubt wryly ruminated over the observations of his close friend Richard Beatty, who had passed over Sarah Jane for a younger Negley sister because Sarah was ".too independent for him, had no elasticity in her composition, and did not seem to appreciate gentlemen's attentions." It is also home to several recreational facilities. Preserving history and historic buildings is important. R.B. Richard Beatty Mellon (March 19, 1858 - December 1933), sometimes R.B., was a banker, industrialist, and philanthropist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (adjusted wealth $103 billion). came to visit, but it was not her home. Mellon, a member of the influential banking family, built the sixty-room house in 1908-9. 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. 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. Richard Beatty Mellon Mansion The 65-room R.B. I think this is a very important thing to consider when people try and tear down historic sites. After her death, James continued to spend each winter in Palatka. The Mellon family Ubiquitous Mellons The gates surrounding Eagle Rock were also transported to Clayton and now border the parking lot. It is also home to several recreational facilities. the character of this community in its struggling and formative period. 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. That's a shame considering the century's worth The park was reopened on June 12, 2010. Growing up surrounded by the Mellon name in Pittsburgh View Details. It is sad to know there are buildings and pieces of history we will never see. Unless otherwise indicated, all content is original to author. undemonstrative. 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 In 1913, James and his brothers founded the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research in memory of their father who passed away in February 1908. 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 At some point in my childhood, I learned that the Mellon family had established one of my favorite places on earth: Idlewild Park. Such effrontery, to even consider the idea: Sarah Jane's infamous detachment has been thrown to the winds in this passage. 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.
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