Northern Ireland can and does take considerable pride in its emigrant sons. Davy Crockett's parents came from Ulster. So did the ancestors of Sam Houston, Horace Greeley and ten U.S. Presidents.* Even so, last week was a special occasion. For a sentimental reunion on the ould sod, some 50 members of what is probably America's richest family gathered at the old family homestead a clay-floored, thatch-roofed cottage near Omagh in County Tyrone.
It was 150 years ago that the parents of Thomas Mellon, then five years old, sailed from Londonderry for the U.S. To celebrate the anniversary, the family gave $250,000...
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