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Thomas Mellon and His Times (Paperback, New Ed)
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Thomas Mellon and His Times (Paperback, New Ed)
Series: Calvin Centre
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A vastly engrossing 19th-century rags-to-riches autobiography by
the somewhat priggish, but shrewd and observant, founder of the
Mellon family fortune. Thomas Mellon (1813 - 1908) wrote this 1885
memoir solely as a "memento of affection" for his descendants,
anticipating "that it will not be for sale in bookstores, nor any
new edition published." Mellon was born in Ireland to farmers of
modest means who emigrated to Poverty Point, near Pittsburgh, when
he was five years old. He recounts a happy, if Spartan, upbringing
there on his father's farm. A visit to Pittsburgh impressed the
nine-year-old Mellon with the magnificence of the city, and at the
age of 17, deciding against farming in favor of getting an
education, Mellon suddenly stopped his father from purchasing a
farm for him. Interspersing college attendance with teaching and
farm chores, Mellon attended Western University in Pittsburgh, read
law with a prominent Pittsburgh attorney, and became a member of
the bar in 1838. He married in 1843 and had eight children; became
an eminent lawyer and judge and a successful investor; and founded
a predecessor of the Mellon Bank in 1870. Mellon's narrative of his
happy family life and prominent, though not terribly eventful,
career forms the backdrop for a wide variety of opinions and
observations, sage and otherwise: on the importance of marrying for
discretion rather than love; on the heavy responsibilities of a
judge; on the Great Panic of 1873; on the declining work ethic and
increased crime rate Mellon saw around him in newly industrialized
America; and on the (not always positive) transformative effects of
new inventions created in his lifetime. A charming memoir with some
surprisingly meditative reflections, by an entrepreneurial leader
of the time, on the bewildering changes wrought by 19th-century
industrialism. (Kirkus Reviews)
'In 1885 Thomas Mellon presented his engrossing autobiography to
family members and selected friends with the instructions that it
not be for widespread distribution. A delightfully well-written
narrative, the book is now published in a second edition for all to
read... and extraordinary treasure.'Choice
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