| Thomas Mellon Born: 3-Feb-1813
Birthplace: Ulster, Northern Ireland
Died: 3-Feb-1908
Location of death: Pittsburgh, PA
Cause of death: Natural Causes
Remains: Buried, Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, PA
Gender: Male
Religion: Presbyterian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Business
Party Affiliation: Republican Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Patriarch of the Mellon dynasty Thomas Mellon was the son of a farmer, and worked his way through law school to become a lawyer specializing in debt foreclosures. He became a wealthy man when he married Sarah Jane Negley, daughter of John Jacob Negley (1766-1827), who had himself married into wealth. With his wife's funds he purchased substantial Pittsburgh area real estate holdings, and later he served ten years as a county judge with a reputation for issuing stern punishments. With two of his sons he established the family business, T. Mellon & Sons Bank, in 1869, which financed railroads, funded the first oil gushers in Texas, and underwrote the new wonder metal, aluminum.
By the time Mellon retired, he was one of America's wealthiest men, and at his death he was reportedly worth more than $125M. His descendants took the family fortune into the billions running such corporate giants as Alcoa, Gulf Oil, and Westinghouse, and established what is now Carnegie Mellon University. The family bank has evolved into Mellon Financial, one of the world's largest money management firms, which owns a breathtaking array of well-known banks and corporations.
Father: Andrew Mellon (farmer, b. 1785, d. 1856)
Mother: Rebecca Wauchob Mellon (b. circa 1790, m. 12-Apr-1812)
Sister: Eleanor Mellon (b. 1819)
Sister: Eliza Mellon (b. circa 1820)
Brother: Samuel Mellon (b. 1825)
Wife: Sarah Jane Negley Mellon (b. 3-Feb-1817, m. 22-Aug-1843, d. 19-Jan-1909)
Son: Thomas Alexander Mellon (b. 26-Jun-1844, d. 24-Jan-1899)
Son: James Ross Mellon (banker, b. 14-Jan-1846, d. Oct-1934)
Daughter: Sarah Emma Mellon (d. childhood)
Daughter: Annie Rebecca Mellon (d. childhood)
Son: Samuel Selwyn Mellon (b. 1853, d. childhood)
Son: Andrew William Mellon (lumber and banking baron, b. 24-Mar-1855, d. 27-Aug-1937)
Son: Richard Beatty Mellon ("RB", President of Alcoa, b. 19-Mar-1858, d. Dec-1933)
Son: George Negley Mellon (b. 30-Jun-1860, d. 15-Apr-1887)
High School: Westmoreland Academy, Pittsburgh, PA
University: BA, University of Pittsburgh (1837)
Mellon Financial Founder & President, T. Mellon & Sons Bank (1869-82)
Pittsburgh City Council 20th (1877-86)
Pennsylvania State Official Allegheny County Court Judge (1859-69)
American Bar Association
Naturalized US Citizen
Irish Ancestry
Scottish Ancestry
Mellon Family
Author of books:
Thomas Mellon and His Times (1885, autobiography)
Dear Sons: Letters from Thomas Mellon, 1882-1886 (2005, posthumous)
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