Thomas Mellon (1813-1908)
Judge Thomas Mellon, of Pittsburgh; Founder of the Mellon Bank
He was born in Northern Ireland at the Mellon Homestead near Omagh, Co. Tyrone. In 1818, his father took the family to Pennsylvania joining other members of the Mellon family. Inspired by the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas decided against farming and after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh he was admitted to the bar in 1838. He opened his own legal practice and shrewdly invested his profits in real estate in downtown Pittsburgh. In 1859, he was elevated to the bench as Assistant Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Allegheny County. He retired from his legal career in 1869 and in the following year, with his sons Andrew and Richard, he opened T. Mellon & Sons, Bankers. They scraped through the Financial Panic of 1873 and soon prospered through a combination of shrewd investments, notably a $10,000 loan to Henry Clay Frick which allowed him to provide the coke for Carnegie's steel factories. Thomas retired in favor of his sons in 1882 and by the end of the century the Mellon Bank was the largest banking institution in the country outside of New York. He died at his country home, 401 North Negley Avenue in East Liberty, Pennsylvania. In 1843, he married Sarah Jane Negley and they were survived by 3-sons.
