Existing comment:
Friendship Hill Continues to Make History After Gallatin:
Albin Mellier was the first person to own Friendship Hill after Gallatin. A Swiss immigrant, like Gallatin, he became a local businessman and entrepreneur. Mellier involved himself in commercial and manufacturing enterprises as well as steamboat building and the saw mill trade. It is during this period that the first illustration of the home is produced. In 1841, Sherman Day, an artist and Pennsylvania historian, came to Friendship Hill and sketched what greeted him. The north side of the house dominated by the 1821-1923 stone addition is portrayed in what Day entitled, Mr. Gallatin's Mansion. This is the first known illustration of Friendship Hill and gives a reliable vision of the home at the conclusion of the [sic] Gallatin's ownership. Mellier died in 1841 from yellow fever. His heirs finally sold Friendship Hill on July 8, 1859 to John Littleton Dawson of Brownsville, Pennsylvania for $5,000. Dawson also purchased what was known as the Clare tract on August 20, 1860 for $3,500 making the total of Friendship Hill 597-3/4 acres. |