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In her autobiography, Rachael Hughey Larimer Mellon wrote that she wanted to be an artist as a child. Opportunity never came. From Proverbs she took a life motto instead:
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart… and He shall direct thy paths.”
When she entered society, she supported the arts as a philanthropist and Carnegie Museum of Art women’s committee member, but biographies and obituaries describe music, volunteering, and giving—not her own practice as an artist.
This Florida Memory photograph shows Mrs. Mellon sitting on the poarch on the grounds of their winter home in Palatka with Lily Anderson, Jessie Davis, and Margaret Anderson.
Rachael H.L. Mellon
“My ambition in girlhood was to be an artist, but lack of opportunity at that time prevented my indulging this taste.”
Born on January 3, 1847, on Penn Avenue in Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh, Rachel Hughey Larimer Mellon was a child of both frontier grit and industrial promise.
As a young girl, Rachel had ambition to be an artist. However, the harsh realities of frontier life and the lacks of the era intervened. She prayed for the wisdom to accept her circumstances, learning to trust that all things would eventually be made right.
Rachel possessed an intense dislike for the bitter Pennsylvania winters, which prompted her husband, James Ross Mellon, to seek a warmer winter haven. In 1883, they began traveling to the resort town of Palatka, Florida, an active river port experiencing a major tourism boom from newly completed railroad connections.
They built a 6,000-square-foot Eastlake house on the corner of Emmett and Kirkland Streets—white clapboard, palms, a black-and-white tiled walk to the front door. They kept it for more than thirty winters. She and James were known in town as winter residents who put money into schools and church work. She was Presbyterian, active in church enterprises, described after her death as unassuming, with a “beautiful Christian character.” The Palatka paper that covered James’s 1917 gift of $10,000 (plus a $3,000 advance) for a new school site treated the Mellons as part of the civic landscape. That school became Mellon High School / Putnam High School, on land west of the courthouse; it stood until the 1960s.
Happy Home
The tranquility of her Florida parlor proved highly conducive to her intellectual pursuits as an amateur historian. It was in this Florida parlor that she completed significant portions of her genealogical magnum opus. In her book’s preface, she fondly recalled “happy readings” in her Palatka parlor with her close winter companions, Mrs. Maria Dean and Mrs. Mary Webb.
Devoted Stewardship
Rachel’s genealogical work was closely tied to her prominent status in the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.). She was a charter member of the Pittsburgh chapter, the very first chartered nationally. By 1901, she rose to become the D.A.R. Vice-President-General for Pennsylvania.
Rachael’s family’s genealogy book was her historical scholarship made visible. She carefully compiled Bibles, wills, deeds, and state papers to trace the Larimer, Hughey, McMasters, Sheakley, McCurdy, Creighton, Irwin, King, and McLaughlin lines. Her research uncovered that her ancestors were descended from the covenanters, dissenters, and the reformed church of the Huguenots, who had originally fled to Pennsylvania to escape religious persecution.
In addition to her D.A.R. work, she served as a charter member and the first treasurer of Pittsburgh’s Twentieth Century Club for five years
Love of Learning and the Arts
In early May 1919, Rachel and James left their Palatka home to return to Pittsburgh. Just days after their arrival, on the night of May 7, 1919, Rachel suffered a sudden and fatal stroke of paralysis. News of her death shocked the Palatka community, where she was deeply beloved for her unassuming manner, active Presbyterian devotion, and Christian character. She was laid to rest in the private Mellon mausoleum at Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh.
Love Letter in Stone
James kept coming south every winter. In 1929–30 he spent about $100,000 on a limestone library at 216 Reid Street, designed by Jacksonville architect Henry John Klutho in a classical mass with Art Deco ornament.
Enduring Legacy
A plaque inside reads: “Erected to the memory of Rachel Hughey Larimer, wife of James Ross Mellon, 1930.” Dedication in April 1930 drew thousands; the presidents of the University of Florida, Florida Southern, Stetson, and the Florida State College for Women spoke.
Monumental Influence
The building later became the Larimer Arts Center and was listed on the National Register in 2008. The Emmett Street house still stands, long neglected. This library serves not just as a monument to her memory but as an enduring continuation of her role as a civic leader and historian.
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Call Us: (386) 227-6559
Email: larimer.palatka@gmail.com
Location & Address
Public Performance and Gathering Space
Downtown Palatka Historic District
291 Reid Street
Palatka, Florida 32177
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