undemonstrative. Mellon organized the Citizens' Committee on City Plan, which sought to improve Pittsburgh through better urban planning and zoning. We don't know if she, too, found recounting the details of their 1842 wedding "uninteresting." Vitale and Geiffert were behind the planning of this garden. I was afraid to even gaze at a gaudy Tiffany mantle clock for too long for fear my stare alone would cause it to fall to the floor and shatter. 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 Historical Dilettante: May 2015 - Blogger The school noted that "To study, coercive means are not employed, reference is made to the heart as well as the head, and the study of every branch, and the proportion of time given to it, will be subservient and tributary to useful and moral and religious improvement." McMullen, 24 years his junior, rocked the gossip columns in 1912. The Mellon Park Project wanted to create a memorial in memory of Ann Katherine Seamans, who frequented the Walled Garden repeatedly after being introduced to it in kindergarten. After her death, James continued to spend each winter in Palatka. A fountain stands between the garden and the rest of the park. Mellon, along with C.C. 2 DISTINGUISHED DAUGHTERS OF PENNSYLVANIA AWARDS; 3 9 - 4 THE PENNSYLVANIA MANUAL; 4 Harriet Duff Phillips' daughter was similarly honored in 1976: Interestingly, though, this home was the only one of the Fricks three residences to be demolished (the other two were preserved as museums). The comments below have not been moderated. The Estate of Richard P. Mellon, Ligonier 2021-03-25 Auction - 342 to more photos). 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. This family dramatically shaped Pittsburgh's economic and civic character, and its influence extended far beyond the city. So while I'm sad the house is gone, because I could picture it being a breathtaking museum and tourist attraction, there's solace in knowing the land became a park for Pittsburgh, and the stones and wood became a church that to this day gives us a tiny glimpse of what once stood majestically at 6500 Fifth Avenue. "I have been active in horticulture for years, flora of all kinds," he wrote in his. The park is all that's left of Richard B. Mellon's 65 room mansion, built in 1909. 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. Sarah Jane piled on to the scolding that James received from his father. Personalities of Pittsburgh: Sam Reiman learning on a daily basis It was erected to house the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research. came to visit, but it was not her home. The home was built in 1904 for Henry Clay Frick and his family as a summer home in Prides Crossing, Massachusetts. homestead of Alexander Negley, where are interred about fifty early : http://rivista-cdn.pittsburghmagazin.ver=1328293938 After nearly a decade of marriage, Thomas and Sarah Jane built a new home for their growing family on Negley land adjacent to their existing cottage, with an eventual address of 401 Negley Avenue. 5 Copy quote. . We find Sarah Jane under the Mellon listing in a chapter entitled "Women of Wealth": There you have it. 175 Years Later, The Mellons Have Never Been Richer. Thomas devoted an entire memoir chapter to their trip. He had a personal fortune of $1.4billion in his lifetime, mostly through inherited wealth. What I did know, even at age 5, was that a different kind of life was lived by the sorts of folks who had the money and hubris to reproduce their houses in miniature. If we are to take the singular monument in the middle of a city park as testimony to anything, it's this: connections mattered to Sarah Jane Negley Mellon. 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. 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 mementos of his youth in the untamed West. Five years later, the Mellon brothers founded the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research as a memorial to their father. To honour her memory, he built the Larimer Memorial Library (now Larimer Arts Center) and donated it to the city, The introduction of the railroads into North Florida in the 1880s led to an explosion in the winter tourist trade and visitors, such as industrialist James R. Mellon, opted to purchase or erect winter residences rather than be confined to a hotel room, 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. 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. But who was this woman? This much, I knew: Sarah Jane Negley Mellon was an heiress descended from multiple Pittsburgh pioneer families who once owned nearly all of the East End. It likely knew the tread of Sarah Jane's feet when she The house in Palatka, Putnam County, Florida was built byindustrialist and banker James R Mellon in 1883 to get away from the winters of Pennsylvania. Perhaps it did a bit of both. Anna Maria Negley following her husband Alexander's death still exists William Larimer's parents were not believers, and he wrote sympathetically but scathingly in his memoirs about his grandfather's doty adventures with Spiritualism. The B.B. After the Mellon's passed away the mansion became home for the Red Cross. [7] Along with the tennis courts Mellon Park includes a playground, basketball courts, and baseball fields. Dimensions. Conflicting stories exist as to where Sarah Jane's grandparents Alexander and his wife were buried. The park was reopened on June 12, 2010. Mount Saint Peter Church is a Roman Catholic Church at 100 Freeport Road in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. (I certainly remember the unfortunate eviction of Graffiti and the obsessive muckraking and embarrassing divorces of Dickie Scaife). This game of Tag lasted for nearly seven decades. settlers of the East Liberty Valley. Historic Pittsburgh Mansions of the Golden Age - Arcadia Publishing First of all, I loved reading your blog, because even though Im an engineering major history has always fascinated me! [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. How Sarah Mellon Scaife and Family Helped Transform the Museum of Art The education and supervision of chores for their five surviving boys seems to have been left to Thomas's oversight. But Sarah Jane's private letters, scrapbooks and travel journal, those few documents we know she left, remain within the control and interpretation of her descendants. 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. Pastor and committee investigated. Even the venerable institutions associated with the family make news when scandal hits. Thomas Mellon - Interesting stories about famous people, biographies Richard Mellon Obituary (2009) - Taunton, MA - Boston Globe Quiet, pleasant and self-possessed: Sarah Jane Neg What ho, blog writer? And an exposed steel beam bears the stamp of the Carnegie Steel Company. His dissertation was published as, His brother William Larimer Mellon Jr, gets lost in the gossip despite his astounding humanitarian efforts. Silly me, it was more than just Mellon parks and dollhouses. But in fact, it's not unusual for rural communities like old Negleytown to have had their own burial grounds. 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. If you're from Pittsburgh, you know the name Mellon. Federal law was on "Pross" Mellon's side since the federal kidnapping statute specifically exempted parents. 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." By Stephanie Reed Springer, April 9, 2015. Avenue. [2] In 1926 he established a $15 million pension fund for Presbyterian ministers. 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. She didn't seem to collect much beyond platitudes, trivia and memories in her scrapbooks -- nothing like the grand homes or art that her offspring would acquire. Heinz History Center, Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs. Then again, Judge Mellon was no prize. Only a few other families could influence urban or national destinies to such an extent in the modern era. His His brother remained "it" until he died four years later." "Last tag." - Banker Richard B. Mellon (1858-1933) 2 whyIsUsermanTaken 1 yr. ago I appreciate you you letting us know what is was. And then there was the Great Depression, the event that eliminated much of the remaining wealth of the Robber Barons. We are - BLEND Bar with Davidoff Cigars- Pittsburgh | Facebook View Details. 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. "Richard B. Mellon and his brother Andrew played a game of tag that lasted seven decades. The park also contains the Phipps Garden Center and Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. '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. 'In 1899, the Union Trust Company of Pittsburgh was organized by the Mellon family, to be followed by the Union Savings Bank. The grand too often eclipses the ordinary, usually to the detriment of our historical and human understanding. 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 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. Whenever I encountered something fancy in my hometown, be it a staggeringly grand bank, college, building, or parks, it more often than not bore the Mellon name. [volume] (Nome, Alaska) 1938-??? A number of public buses serve the area. the character of this community in its struggling and formative period. Didnt he know how badly I would want to walk through it? Peggy Hitchcock participated in Leary's early psychedelic experiments. The 65-room R.B. James Mellon donated land for the Mellon School, which later became Putnam High School, A mattress was spotted in the living room of the house, suggesting squatters had taken up residence there. It is also home to several recreational facilities. John D. Rockefeller Jr. . In addition to diaries and valuable historical documents, the collection includes two hand-written letters from Sarah Jane, plus the title pages from school books that once belonged to each of his parents (see above for Sarah's). wife was herself a good cook and not in the least averse to work.we Several other architects added their own touch to the landscape, including the Olmsted Brothers and some seventeen years after the garden began, Vitale and Geiffert. Sarah Jane Negley Mellon (1817-1909) - Find a Grave Memorial Privately produced photograph album to mark the occasion of the marriage of Sarah Mellon (1903-1965) and Alan Scaife (1900-1958). She devoted herself to church and community. Like the earliest Mellons, Alexander originally settled in Westmoreland County. Sarah Cordelia Mellon was born on December 2, 1903, the only daughter of Richard Beatty and Jennie King Mellon. It's not that Sarah isn't present throughout--he makes consistent use of first person plural pronouns when describing their travels.