making mrs mellon

"Hello and welcome to the Mellon House."

This is a greeting that myself and my wonderful colleagues say a hundred times each day, working in the Mellon Homestead here at the Ulster American Folk Park. I always feel very lucky to be working in such a historic home each day, and living like Rebecca Mellon would have done in 1810, keeping the home nice and tidy, baking over the open fire, and greeting our many visitors from all over the world with fresh bread to our warm hearth. 

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My role as a costumed interpreter is quite difficult to define. It is a role of great variety, and each season brings its own holidays, workshops and tour groups. Living like a housewife in the early 19th century for 7 hours a day is a joy and a privilege, and I never take my amazing job for granted. I know how lucky I am to be part of our amazing team here, delivering the stories, history and facts about people that came before us, and people that decided to leave for a better life in America. 

However, for many years, our narrative was developed and delivered around Rebecca Mellon’s son, the founder of the Mellon Bank, Thomas Mellon. No doubt he is our most important person here at the museum, but when you dig a little bit deeper, research tells us that without the support of his “forward thinking” mother, Thomas could just as easily went down in history as another Ulster-Scots farmer in America. 

Who was Rebecca Mellon?

Rebecca was born in 1789 into a tenant farming family in a townland called Kinkit, in Co. Tyrone. She died in Georgia, May 9th, 1868, aged 78.

She was a prudent, forward-thinking woman, whose vision for her son excelled that of a farmer. She wanted him to become a minister, such was the dream of most Scotch Irish mothers of that time. 

She made sure that Thomas and all her children were educated, using Burns poetry and the Bible as reading material. 

From Thomas's own words:

“My mother had been, from the beginning, let into the secret of my aspirations and shared my hopes and fears. She was always my own confidential advisor. Her moderate counsel neither inflated my hopes or depressed my spirits, but were always prudent and wise, encouraging me when despondent by promising me her assistance in every way she could.”

Her encouragement and affection were the absolute catalyst for Thomas to achieve the success that he did. 

Sharing her story

In 2018, I was invited to speak at the Ulster American Heritage Symposium in Toronto, Canada. I picked “Rebecca Mellon” and conducted an extensive research project on her Wauchob family, her relationship with her son and husband, and the absolute strength she showed during Thomas’s childhood and eventual rise to banker many years later.

I was delighted to be able to present my project in the University of Toronto and the reception was fantastic. I have also been lucky enough to present this project many times since, to history groups and Women’s Institutions and all around Northern Ireland, as well as directly to Rebecca’s descendants that still live locally in the area. 

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With my research, I realised what an extraordinary woman she really was. Suddenly, I found my narrative evolving more around her story when I worked in any of our three Mellon homes. And it was so well received by our visitors, especially with women, who comment regularly that it is refreshing to hear a woman’s story instead of the male dominated stories you normally hear in museums like ours. Rebecca was a very driven woman, whose life revolved around her family and her farm, and I know for certain that every Mellon guide holds her in great esteem and she is now a big part of our stories when you come into the Mellon House.

Interpreting Mrs Mellon

When I work in the original Mellon House, there is a profound sense of pride and “ownership” of the house and the stories of the people that lived there since 1810. For almost 50 years we have existed as a museum, we have greeted millions of visitors from all over, and many presidents and politicians.

As a matter of fact, we still have a few guides that have worked here for almost that whole time. One of the original Mellon guides, Phyllis Jack, has donned the mop cap and welcomed visitors to the Mellon hearth to try her soda bread since 1979. She is so knowledgeable about the Mellon family story, and an absolute credit to our museum, always with a kind word and never shy to share her expert knowledge on all things Mellon. 

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On International Women’s Day, we here at the Ulster American Folk Park are proud to bring Rebecca’s story to life. You will hear all about her Wauchob family, her childhood, her immigration story, her quiet strength and her hopes and dreams for her family, especially her son Thomas. All the guide team here know that this is the catalyst to telling the women’s stories we have here in our houses. Women, like Rebecca, that had hopes and dreams, and achieved great success, but that merely exist behind the men. It’s time for “Herstory” as well as “History”. And that movement begins with International Women’s Day, where we tell the story of Rebecca Mellon: mother to a banking dynasty.