Mary Meigs
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 24 Sep 1733 - Sandwich, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: 1790 - Massachusetts
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Reuben Fish (1737 - 1809) 1
Marriage: 3 Dec 1761
Status:
Children:
1. Reuben Fish (1770-1854) 1
Mercy Meigs
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 11 Dec 1705 - Falmouth, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: 3 Jan 1788 - Falmouth, Massachusetts
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Noah Davis (18 Jul 1707 - 25 Jul 1787)
Marriage: 2 Jun 1733 - Falmouth, Massachusetts
Status:
Children:
1. Mercy Davis (1734- )
Notes
General:
Father: Ebenezer MEIGSMarriage Notes (Noah Davis)
Mother: Mercy WEEKS
Children
Mercy DAVIS b: 24 APR 1734 in Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Hannah DAVIS b: 02 MAY 1736 in Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Susannah DAVIS b: 07 APR 1738 in Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Susannah DAVIS b: 20 FEB 1741/42 in Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts
Francis DAVIS b: ABT 1751 in of Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts
(mewingnut)
Joseph Melcher
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: Est 1734
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Mary Cobb (24 Jun 1737 - 18 May 1825)
Marriage: 1757 2
Status:
Rev John Mellen
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: Est 1760
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Martha Fitch Wendell (Est 1760 - )
Marriage:
Status:
Children:
1. John Wendell Mellen (1794-1829)
John Wendell Mellen
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 11 Sep 1794 - Barnstable, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death: 22 Jul 1829 - New York
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: Rev John Mellen (Est 1760- )
Mother: Martha Fitch Wendell (Est 1760- )
Spouses and Children
1. *Eleanor Bradish Wilde (4 Aug 1798 - 7 Mar 1838)
Marriage: 18 Aug 1818
Status:
Notes
Marriage Notes (Eleanor Bradish Wilde)
Woodlawn Museum, Spring 2004
Two Portraits:
John Wendell Mellen & Eleanor Bradish Wilde Mellen
by Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr.
Visitors who ascend Woodlawn's graceful circular staircase do so under the watchful eyes of several portraits which include George Washington and Henry Knox. Near the top of the stairs hangs a pair of paintings of an engaging early nineteenth century couple, a handsome young man in one and a fashionably dressed young woman and child in the other. Unlike Washington or Knox, John Wendell Mellen, Eleanor Bradish Wilde Mellen, and their son John Wendell Mellen, Jr., are not readily identifiable historical figures. Yet their story deserves our attention, for this young family was well-placed in the New England society of their day.
John Wendell Mellen was born in Barnstable, Massachusetts, on September 11, 1794, while his father, the Reverend John Mellen, was serving as the minister of the First Parish of Barnstable. John was the third of the four children of Reverend Mellen and his wife Martha Fitch Wendell Mellen.
When John Wendell Mellen was six years old, his father left his ministry in Barnstable to relocate the family in Cambridge because of his wife's health. The Mellens settled into a house on Kirkland Street, and Reverend Mellen pursued a varied career of religious, political, and military activities until the loss of his eyesight. Living in Cambridge gave John Wendell Mellen the opportunity to prepare for and attend Harvard College, where he graduated at the age of nineteen in 1814. To his B.A. degree he added an M.A. from Harvard in 1817. He was the third generation of John Mellens to receive a Harvard degree. His father was in the Class of 1770 and his grandfather the Class of 1741.
Instead of following his father and grandfather into the ministry, John Wendell Mellen became a lawyer. In October, 1817, he established his practice in North Yarmouth, Maine. The next year on August 8, 1818, he married Eleanor Bradish Wilde, the daughter of Samuel Sumner Wilde, a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, and Eunice Cobb Wilde. The Mellens moved to Dover, New Hampshire, in December, 1823, where John's brother-in-law John Williams was the superintendent of a textile factory. While on a trip to New York, John Wendell Mellen died suddenly on July 22, 1829, at the age of 34.
His widow, Eleanor Bradish Wilde Mellen, was left with a daughter and two sons, the youngest of whom, John Wendell Mellen, Jr., appears in the portrait with his mother at the age of three. Considering the comfortable circumstances of both her in-laws and her parents, it would be safe to assume that Eleanor and her family were well provided for after the death of her husband. She was the daughter of the prominent lawyer and judge Samuel Sumner Wilde and Eunice Cobb, whose father was General David Cobb, a Revolutionary War soldier, physician, politician, judge, and land developer in Eastern Maine. Eunice Cobb's sister Mary married John Black, who worked with General Cobb on the management and sale of lands in Hancock and Washington Counties. This connection probably explains why the Mellen portraits are at Woodlawn. Eleanor Bradish Wilde Mellen was born on August 4, 1798, in Warren, Maine, while her father was practicing law there. She outlived her husband by eight and a half years, dying in Andover, Massachusetts, on March 7, 1838, at the age of 39.
The two Mellen portraits at Woodlawn are signed by Joseph Greenleaf Cole, and the one of Eleanor Mellen and her son is dated 1828. Given the death of John Wendell Mellen in 1829, one could assume that his picture was painted at the same time as his wife and child's. This is collaborated by a Cole portrait, signed and dated 1828, which was sold at auction in 1995. The pose of the male sitter was identical to Mellen's, looking directly forward with his arm resting on a table.
Born in Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1806, Joseph Greenleaf Cole was a prolific portrait painter from his teens until his death in 1858. His father Moses Dupré Cole and his brothers Lyman Emerson Cole and Charles Octavius Cole were also active portrait painters who worked in Massachusetts and Maine. While Joseph used Boston as his base during much of his career, he is known to have painted in Portland in 1825, 1826, and 1832 as well as in Brunswick in 1826. With their close ties to Cambridge, it is likely that
the Mellens sat for Cole in Boston. There the images of a young family, soon to be severed by the death of a husband and father, were captured by the brush of a talented artist. The results of his efforts now hang at Woodlawn, a poignant reminder of the brevity of life for many in early nineteenth century New England.
Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., DIRECTOR, MAINE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION and STATE HISTORIAN
William M Mellen
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 1830 - Boston, Massachusetts
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Martha A Carter (1855 - )
Marriage: 11 Mar 1875 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts
Status:
Notes
General:
1875 Bible agent, Wellfleet
Eleanor Mellin
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: Nov 1918
Baptism:
Death: in Charlestown, Massachusetts
Burial: 17 Feb 1920 - Wellfleet, Massachusetts 3
Cause of Death: influenza
Notes
Medical:
age 1-3-13 3
Abigail Melville
Sex: F
Individual Information
Birth: 28 May 1702 - Eastham, Massachusetts 4
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: David Melville (Est 1670- )
Mother: Mary Willard (1669-1723) 5
Notes
General:
Abigail was a twin with Elisabeth.
David Melville
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: Est 1670
Baptism:
Death: (Eastham, Massachusetts)
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children
1. *Mary Willard (10 Oct 1669 - 2 Aug 1723) 5
Marriage:
Status:
Children:
1. Mary Melville (1699- )
2. Thomas Melville (1697- )
3. Abigail Melville (1702- )
4. Elisabeth Melville (1702- )
5. David Melville (1704- )
David Melville
Sex: M
Individual Information
Birth: 17 Oct 1704 - Eastham, Massachusetts 6
Baptism:
Death:
Burial:
Cause of Death:
Parents
Father: David Melville (Est 1670- )
Mother: Mary Willard (1669-1723) 5