But that's probably as she would have liked it. Saddened, I pressed on in my research, discovering The Punk Priest's blog, where I learned that the house lives on in some small fashion today. He was founder and President of RAM Transit, Inc.,. 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." facebook; twitter; googleplus; You can't mine coal without machine guns. 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. Vitale and Geiffert were behind the planning of this garden. The site, part of a 14-acre parcel of land known as Frick Acres, was donated to the University by Andrew W. Mellon and his brother, Richard B. Mellon. After her death, James continued to spend each winter in Palatka. 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. Keep in mind that the Fricks primary residence at the time, Clayton, had a mere 23 rooms (in comparison). When Richard was on his deathbed, he called his brother over and whispered, "Last tag.". The house in Palatka, Putnam County, Florida was. A Fair in the Park Mellon Park Tennis Center History The park was established in 1943, on the grounds of the former estate of Richard B. Mellon. 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. Thomas had his acknowledged favorites, but we don't know if Sarah had a favorite among her surviving sons. Postcard of bridge spanning Lake Bouquet leading to Flower Island at Idlewild Park. described as, Sarah's daughter, Cordelia Scaife May, scrupulously shunned publicity but left a legacy brimming with gossip. 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. He was also worth around . Whither, Sarah? Overall, I learned so much and I never imagined how much of the Gilded Age existed outside of Newport. A grand jury found that the forcible removal of the girls to Pennsylvania was not subject to prosecution given the previous conflicting custody rulings involving competing jurisdictions of New York and Pennsylvania. On his deathbed, these were Richard's last words to his brother. Stop in to reconnect with the history. 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. 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. "Richard B. Mellon and his brother Andrew played a game of tag that lasted seven decades. Like the earliest Mellons, Alexander originally settled in Westmoreland County. He was the founder of the Rolling Rock Club. I don't know how Sarah Jane would regard the checkered reputations of her descendants, but I certainly think she was proud of her own past. 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. Built in 1910, it included a bowling alley and carriage house. The marble came from the long-gone Richard B. Mellon mansion in Squirrel Hill. Even as I half-remembered old jokes about the haunted grove in the park, I was haunted by other musings. Such was the beginning of my married home Unless otherwise indicated, all content is original to author. No admission fee is charged. The couple moved back in with the widowed Mrs. Negley when Sarah was pregnant with their first child in 1844. It is also home to several recreational facilities. An urban explorer known as Abandoned Southeast took the photos. later write a dry, clinical appraisal of Sarah Jane's charms and their You can find all of of our more than 7,700 grants and program-related investments in our archives. He and his brother Andrew Mellon, sons of Judge Thomas Mellon, were frequent business partners. served from 18991910 as president of the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, renamed the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) in 1907, and was heavily invested in the Pittsburgh Coal Company, today part of CONSOL Energy, where he clashed with John L. Lewis and the United Mine Workers. 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. His dissertation was published as, His brother William Larimer Mellon Jr, gets lost in the gossip despite his astounding humanitarian efforts. Instead, take heed of this: a monument to one woman's love of family, and her desire to honor the past. She was not playing hard to get. Other than these glimpses, the public is left with only the name and limited understanding of the life of Sarah Jane Negley Mellon as filtered through others' experiences. Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, the partners in crime behind the ill-fated Harvard Psilocybin Project, were in bad shape in the summer of 1963 as the Daheim estate sale was being finalized.Earlier that spring, after giving psilocybin to an undergraduate, Alpert became the first Harvard professor in the twentieth century to get fired. 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. The church and a cemetery were established on family property granted by descendants of William Penn in 1792. Congressman and president of the Atlantic & Ohio Telegraph Co., predecessor to Western Union Telegraph Co. Presidential Administrations Arthur A. Hamerschlag, 1903-1922 Richard M. Cyert, 1972-1990 Thomas S. Baker, 1922-1935 Robert Mehrabian, 1990-1997 Robert E. Doherty, 1936-1950 Jared L. Cohon, 1997-2013 "They wanted almost the entire mansion. It is also home to several recreational facilities. To kid-me, a family name such as "Mellon" seemed pretty funny: it conjured up images of posh, well-dressed fleshy fruit. 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. 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 It would be lovely to curl up with those books to see what she collected, to learn what held her interest and curiosity. 1 175 Years Later, The Mellons Have Never Been Richer. Pastor and committee investigated. Somewhere in Highland Park lie the Negleys with their many friends and neighbors. It's all about ME. The young Sarah Jane attended school in a frame building built by her father in 1819, near today's East Liberty Presbyterian Church. Late heiress' anti-immigration efforts live on. Richard Mellon Scaife, the Pittsburgh philanthropist and reclusive heir to the Mellon banking fortune, whose support for right-wing causes laid the foundations for America's modern. 01 Grants. With the Depression, and these other societal changes, many of the mansions built during this era were destroyed. 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. The line history becomes attainable couldnt be more true. Father Bob Lubik, who coincidentally is an old friend of mine and the wildest priest you will ever meet, has a complete history on the Mount Saint Peter Church in New Kensington on his blog, including this taken from the December 1995 issue of The Barque of Peter: At that time the Mellon mansion, in suburban Pittsburgh, fifteen miles distant, was being razed and its furnishings sold. She sounds like any other mother lighting into her son for what she thinks is a bad idea. The Foundation has awarded more than 7,700 grants and program-related investments to more than 1,800 organizations since its founding. The park is all that's left of Richard B. Mellon's 65 room mansion, built in 1909. Richard E Mellon, age 54. marital woes brought him a lifetime of embarrassment. 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). I vividly recall being 5 years old and placing my chin on a walnut handrail after clambering up a marble step to peer into display cases at the Carnegie Museum. 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. She would "do." Mellon-Stuart Company. After the Mellon's passed away the mansion became home for the Red Cross. 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. 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. Negley Mansion, Edgeworth Ladies' Boarding School, and the Mellon "country home" After Richard Mellon and his wife died in the 1930s, their son Richard King Mellon, lived there briefly before retreating to Ligonier. The park is home to the Walled Garden, and holds events throughout the year. managed to slide under the media radar. And thus history becomes attainable, not a scholarly discipline, but a simle human story. The mansion was built by Italian immigrants from New Kensington, PA, under the direction of Monsignor Nicola Fusco. These mansions are beautiful and marvelous and it was a shame that they were torn down. 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. I soon recognized that these Mellons were omnipresent. Julia Rocchi explains that old buildings help communities retain a sense of permanancy and heritage. Buildings help us remember the human side of the past. Janet Zweig, an artist chosen by the project team, turned the floor of the garden into an exact replica of the sky in Pittsburgh on the day Ann was born. Was it love at first sight? Married life of Sarah Mellon 1 This is a photo of John M. Phillips' children on the front lawn of his mansion "Impton" at 2236 Brownsville Road with Richard B. Mellon, Richard King Mellon and Sara Mellon. Here, I thought, perhaps here is something I can actually relate to. According to the blog Beyond the Gilded Age, the 104-room mansion was designed by Little and Browne. Published: 12:00 GMT, 2 July 2019 | Updated: 19:24 GMT, 12 August 2019. Mellon Bank, then Pennsylvania's largest banking institution, dis-invested in the Pittsburgh region during its time of need in the early 1980s. Richard Mellon; Found 69 results for. And even fewer managed to hold onto their money and influence the way the Mellons have. He had a personal fortune of $1.4billion in his lifetime, mostly through inherited wealth. Multimillionaire Richard B. Mellon and his brother Andrew had a game of Tag going. For me, a childhood of passing familiarity has led to a lifetime of fascination. When Richard was on his deathbed, he called his . View Details. 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. the character of this community in its struggling and formative period. came to visit, but it was not her home. 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. The Romanesque-style church was completed in 1944, using many items from the Richard B. Mellon mansion, which was in what is now Mellon Park in Shadyside and was torn down in 1941. In it he mentions his wife twice, book-ending the chapter with comments about her at beginning and end. As you can see from these photos, Eagle Rock was a beautiful piece of architecture that should have been kept for future generations. Macdonald, assumed control of Idlewild Park in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. 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." The Mellon private family archives contain private written material and memorabilia which no doubt shed more light on Sarah Jane's personality -- including the scrapbooks which so infuriated her husband when they were courting. Adherence to Law. Did she sympathize with the Judge's quest to connect with their lost children? Mount St. Peter Roman Catholic Church was founded in the early 1900s by Italian immigrants. 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. His brother, Andrew William Mellon, right, was the US Ambassador to Britain and the US treasury secretary, Matthew Mellon, pictured with his ex-wife British-born Tamara Mellon (left and right). The property later became known as Mellon Park. He died in 2014 aged 82. society of to-day, Song of Haiti: The Lives of Dr. Larimer and Gwen Mellon, Pittsburgh's Colcom Foundation plays major role in immigration-control debate. 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. James Mellon donated land for the Mellon School, which later became Putnam High School. He persisted in the face of little if any enthusiasm from Sarah Jane, whom he saw as polite and conversational, but distant and discouraging of intimacy. Interestingly, Thomas Mellon heaps unreserved praise upon his new mother-in-law, whom he found to be ".agreeable and pleasanta kind mother possessed of superior qualities and sound, practical good sense." He would later claim that never was there ".the slightest unpleasantness or misunderstanding ever occurred between us" throughout their lives. James and wife Rachael first came to Florida in the early 1880s, to get away from the frigid winters in Pennsylvania. Did Sarah Jane feel "fairly settled"? If not, would she have dared to tell him, to scoff at him? His was the largest mansion in Pittsburgh. Richard Beatty Mellon's mansion, built in 1910, sat on 11 acres and boasted 65 bedrooms, two large flower gardens, a garage and a carriage house. It was a stones throw from the current Pittsburgh Center for the Arts on Fifth Ave. Here's a link to a pic. Other images show inside the property with a piano and old records left behind, along with old tennis rackets and an American flag. View Details. The Richard King Mellon Foundation's $30 million commitment in advanced and additive manufacturing at CMU builds on its previous philanthropic supportin this area and allows the university to expand its work through the Manufacturing Futures Institute (MFI). A number of . The education and supervision of chores for their five surviving boys seems to have been left to Thomas's oversight. Take the wealthiest Mellon, Andrew, a Gilded Age venture capitalist who became the longest-serving Secretary of the Treasury and eventually President Hoover's economic scapegoat in the lead-up to the Great Depression (rightly or wrongly depending upon your read of history). 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. She was lovely, and her family adored her, and she had a nice big tree and a fancy house. 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. 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. One NorthShore Center Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania U.S.A. (412) 323-4600. By 2013, Scaife had dropped to number 371 . Eagle Rock was torn down in 1963. This was a woman who had the means to do anything she wanted, and then some. "We can do just that!" The estates gardens and ornate wrought-iron gate remain as traces of the lands former use. In The Judge, grandson William Larimer Mellon described his grandmother, our Sarah Jane: Sarah eventually acquired a sizable staff to supervise. It's in plain sight but bland and usually overlooked.. Rather like Andrew Mellon, actually. 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. 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. Richard Mellon Scaife (pictured right in 1973) the great-nephew of Andrew Mellon and JJames R Mellon. In suburban Philadelphia, art and industry are joined in a residence commissioned in 1901. 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. 'Eager to establish himself before getting married, James Mellon returned home to lease the Osceola Coal Works from his father,' added Abandoned Southeast. Poor Andrew remained "It" for four years until he died. 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. Mellon, along with C.C. She seems instead to have been one who naturally kept her own counsel and was always emotionally reserved. MELLON, Richard B. 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 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. I occasionally took myself to Mellon Park in Shadyside. Mellon Residence in Shadyside Within the East End is Shadyside, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh that boomed in the second half of the 1800s. [1], R.B. The other day as I was walking in Highland Park I came across a memorial. 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. half-hidden in the ivy near a split-level cul-de-sac along Negley The 65-room R.B. 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. Incredible photos show the abandoned remains of a 6,000-square-foot river retreat that once belonged to a hugely successful US banking magnate. On July 4, 1944, the church was dedicated. When we see a home, regardless of its age, we connect it to a family and the life that occured inside. homestead of Alexander Negley, where are interred about fifty early Silly me, it was more than just Mellon parks and dollhouses. We are also left with very little in the way of physical artifacts to Stunned, I started researching the house, asking myself, "You'd remember if you saw that, right? I sat there stunned anew. Richard King Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; inherited wealth: Alcoa, Gulf Oil, Mellon Bank, etc. There are some claims that they were re-interred on the spot beneath the marker in Highland Park, having been moved there. courtship in his memoirs: Apparently she was "all right otherwise" because Thomas Mellon decided to pursue Sarah Jane. Heinz History Center, Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs. She didn't design or fund the building of mansions or imposing buildings. 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. on Negley Avenue are all long gone. Even the venerable institutions associated with the family make news when scandal hits. The land surrounding the mansion was donated to the city of Pittsburgh and now serves as Mellon Park. Dimensions. Other Mellons have became punchline-famous because of their associations with the moral failings and political machinations of characters on the national stage. 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 . 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 . : http://rivista-cdn.pittsburghmagazin.ver=1328293938 Privately produced photograph album to mark the occasion of the marriage of Sarah Mellon (1903-1965) and Alan Scaife (1900-1958). 2 DISTINGUISHED DAUGHTERS OF PENNSYLVANIA AWARDS; 3 9 - 4 THE PENNSYLVANIA MANUAL; 4 Harriet Duff Phillips' daughter was similarly honored in 1976: 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. 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. Thomas devoted an entire memoir chapter to their trip. The Mellons welcomed many famous guests into their home, including Billy Sunday, a former National League baseball player turned evangelist. He and his brother, Andrew W. Mellon, another son of Judge Thomas Mellon, were frequent business partners. Perhaps it did a bit of both. It likely knew the tread of Sarah Jane's feet when she He was fined and received a suspended sentence for his efforts after providing crucial testimony against some partners. The rotting remains of a staircase in the winter retreat. But who was this woman? The grand too often eclipses the ordinary, usually to the detriment of our historical and human understanding. You can also learn about the Gilded Age and its extreme wealth gap. 164-20 Highland Ave #3f. Ubiquitous Mellons Let's assume that these items were rendered less conspicuous by decorators who I can now extemporaneously follow various Mellon lineages, dissect Mellon accomplishments and scandals, and marvel at how this one family has disseminated its reputed $12 billion wealth and influence. From an early age, Thomas Mellon entrusted his sons with business ventures. Simple theme. The comments below have not been moderated. She certainly didn't adopt any coquettish airs once they were engaged, either: No record exists as to how Sarah Jane Negley characterized her husband, the man who described their marriage as a "transaction" that was "consummated." In 2005, Scaife was number 238 on the Forbes 400, with a personal fortune of $1.2 billion. Honoring family and accomplishments mattered. to more photos). ?, June 19, 1944, Page THREE, Image 3, brought to you by Alaska State Library Historical Collections, and the National Digital Newspaper Program. Mellon has been recognized as one of the most important private benefactors of environmental causes, achieving his significant stature quietly and humbly. Mellon residence photo from Allegheny County, PA archives. Yet it was not really a farm but a country home." The site previously was the location of the mansion of James K. Moorhead, a U.S. This was a relationship which appears to have been based on mutually calculated, emotionally-detached appraisals. Indeed, there was much here that had ecclesiastical potentialities. Music, drawing and painting, and French cost extra. [2] Later, he was instrumental in forming Mellbank Corporation, a bank holding company, which helped the affiliated banks weather the Great Depression.[3]. In the 1990s, a three-wing conservatory was added to increase his supply of fresh flowers common and exotic. 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. (1592-1673), who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635. Please cite w/ URL attribution. Cordelia characterized her mother as, Three of the four adopted children of Richard King Mellon (son of Richard B.) Being quiet, pleasant, and self-possessed would do. Facing Shady Avenue is the Tudor revival house once home to the Scaife family and donated in 1943. Richard Beatty Mellon (March 19, 1858 - December 1933), sometimes R.B., was a banker, industrialist, and philanthropist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (adjusted wealth $103 billion). The Mellon bank helped finance the construction of the Ligonier Valley Railroad. Richard K. Mellon remained an outdoorsman and grew the family retreat in Ligonier into a grand estate. The grand staircase is the altar. These lovely statues which grace the Broderie Room at Phipps Conservatory in Oakland once stood in the mansion's gardens. murder?). And to the Mellon parents, enlistment in May 1864 was indeed a very bad idea. The garden's fourth wall was part of the Mellon mansion before its demolition in the 1940s. 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. 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. 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. ', During their years in Florida the Mellons were very involved in the community and supported the education system. write a sentence using the following word: beech; louise verneuil the voice; fda breakthrough device designation list 2021; best clear face masks for speech therapy He was president of the board of trustees of East Liberty Presbyterian Church. As a history-loving adult, I came to understand how ubiquitously present the Mellons were in the development of this city and nation. 'On May 7th, 1919, at the age of 73, Rachel Mellon passed away upon arriving home to Pittsburgh. Mount Saint Peter Church is a Roman Catholic Church at 100 Freeport Road in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. 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! He served as president of Western Pennsylvania Hospital and the Allegheny County Juvenile Court Farm. The house was razed in 1940 after the City of Pittsburgh refused to forgive the taxes owed on the structure. 5 Copy quote. Witness, for example, the obsession of Sarah's son Richard Mellon Scaife with the Clinton family, which went on for decades. 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. Stirred on by patriotism and inspired by a recruitment lecture, the impressionable young man assumed that parental consent for his enlistment would be a given. life.". I have to suspect that the Mellons' history is not well known because they like it that way. What Remains Behind Been waiting for this to open, congratulations #MarkHolden of Blend Cigar Bar There area lot of them. If you're on the look-out, you might spy his name on this bench that surrounds a fountain on a traffic island at 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, between the west wing of the National Gallery and the former Newseum. Everything was velvety, expensive, plush, posh, polished, hand-painted and eminently BREAKABLE. Even writing in retrospect what stood out for Thomas Mellon was that, all things considered, this 27 year old heiress was a good catch. You couldn't live in Pittsburgh without knowing that. Planning for the MI building began in 1927. 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. James Ross Mellon was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 14, 1846, son of Judge Thomas Mellon who is better known for being the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the wealthy and influential Mellon family.