Thomas Mellon Evans (September 8, 1910 – July 17, 1997) was an American

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

who was one of the country's early

corporate raid In business, a corporate raid is the process of buying a large stake in a corporation and then using shareholder voting rights to require the company to undertake novel measures designed to increase the share value, generally in opposition to t ...

ers, as well as a philanthropist and

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse owner and breeder who won the 1981

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

and

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

Pioneer takeover specialist

Born James Evans in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, to Thomas Mellon Evans and Martha Jarnagin, his mother had his name changed to honor his recently deceased father in 1913. Evans's great-grandmother Elinor was the sister of

Thomas Mellon Thomas Mellon (February 3, 1813 – February 3, 1908) was an American entrepreneur, lawyer, and judge, best known as the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh. Early life Mellon was born to farmers Andrew Mell ...

, the father of the wealthy financier,

Andrew W. Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

. Orphaned as a young boy, Thomas was sent to stay with his mother's relatives in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

before returning to

to live with his mother's sister. She and her husband were affluent enough to provide Thomas with a quality education and he graduated from the

Shady Side Academy } Shady Side Academy is an independent preparatory school located in the Borough of Fox Chapel (suburban Pittsburgh), and in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883 as an all-male night school in the Shadyside ...

private school in 1927 and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1931. For a few years after finishing university, Thomas Evans held a clerical job at

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

, owned at the time by the

Mellon family The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential Americans, American family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family includes Andrew Mellon, one of the longest-serving U.S. Treasury Secretaries, along with prominent members in the judicial, bankin ...

. Ambitious, he saved as much money as he could from his salary and together with a small inheritance, set out on his own. In 1939, he was able to purchase the bankrupt H.K. Porter, Inc., a manufacturer of light-duty railroad locomotives that he would diversify into the steel, hardware, and construction material business before converting the company into a holding corporation that would, during Evans time, take over more than eighty United States companies. Among his major acquisitions was the 1959 takeover of

Crane Co. Crane Holdings, Co. is an American industrial products company based in Stamford, Connecticut. Founded by Richard Teller Crane in 1855, it became one of the leading manufacturers of bathroom fixtures in the United States, until 1990, when tha ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, then a large valve and plumbing fixture manufacturer. In April 1959 Evans was appointed

Chairman of the Board The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and

Chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the company. As of the end of 2011, his son Robert is Chairman of the Board of Crane Co. and remains the largest individual shareholder in the company. The July 23, 2000, edition of the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' said that Thomas Mellon Evans was "arguably one of the seminal figures of 20th-century business." Evans' story was told by

Diana B. Henriques Diana Blackmon Henriques (born December 1948) is an American financial journalist and author working in New York City. Since 1989, she has been a reporter on the staff of ''The New York Times'' working on staff until December 2011 and under contrac ...

in her book ''The White Sharks of Wall Street: Thomas Mellon Evans and the Original Corporate Raiders'' published by Scribner in 2000 ( – Library of Congress Online Catalog).

Buckland Farm

In 1956, Evans bought a 495-acre cattle farm in

Gainesville, Virginia Gainesville is a census-designated place (CDP) in western Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 17,287 in the 2020 census. History Gainesville was once a changing point for stagecoach horses on the Fauquier & Alexan ...

, and converted it to a Thoroughbred breeding operation under the name Buckland Farm. The farm was managed and directed by Don M. Robertson, General Manager of the farm and a Vice President of its incorporation. Robertson, a Central Kentucky native whose family heritage consisted of a long line of excellent Thoroughbred horsemen, chose the matches between stallions and mares for Buckland Farm. It was Robertson who produced the winning bloodlines for the farm, including Pleasant Colony. During Evans' years in racing,

trainers Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used f ...

who conditioned his horses included John Campo, Ángel Cordero Jr.,

LeRoy Jolley LeRoy S. Jolley (January 14, 1938 – December 18, 2017) was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse trainer. The son of horse trainer Moody Jolley, LeRoy Jolley had been around horses all his life and at age nineteen received a New York State ...

, Ross Pearce, and Christopher Speckert. In addition to

Pleasant Colony Pleasant Colony (May 4, 1978 – December 31, 2002) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and was named the 1981 American Champion Three-Year-Old. Background A big, gangly horse stan ...

, Thomas Evans owned a number of stakes winners including Pleasant Stage, winner of the 1991 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and

American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly The American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both t ...

, plus the 1992

American Champion Older Male Horse The title of American Champion Older Dirt Male Horse is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a stallion or gelding, four years old and up, for performances on dirt and main track racing surfaces. In 1971, it became part of ...

Pleasant Tap {{Infobox racehorse , horsename = Pleasant Tap , image = , caption = , sire = Pleasant Colony , grandsire = His Majesty , dam = Never Knock , damsire = Stage Door Johnny , sex = Stallion , foaled = 1987 , country = United States , ...

. Thomas Evans was a member of the Board of Directors of the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

and a member of

The Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in the United States and Canada. It is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and fulfills that mandate by serving many segments of the industry through its s ...

, the

Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association {{short description, Organization for Thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders The American Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) based in Lexington, Kentucky is a trade organization for Thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeder ...

, and the Virginia Thoroughbred Association. In 1993, he was inducted into the Virginia Thoroughbred Association Hall of Fame. Sons Edward and Robert became significant owners and/or breeders of Thoroughbred racehorses, with Robert owning the

2014 Belmont Stakes The 2014 Belmont Stakes was the 146th running of the Belmont Stakes. It was run on June 7, 2014, and was televised on NBC. California Chrome had a chance to complete the third leg of the Triple Crown after his victories in the 2014 Kentucky Derby ...

winner

Tonalist Tonalist (foaled February 11, 2011) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2014 Belmont Stakes, beating the favored California Chrome, who was attempting to win the Triple Crown. Tonalist won the Peter Pan Stakes in ...

, a grandson of Pleasant Colony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Thomas Mellon 1910 births 1997 deaths Yale University alumni American billionaires American racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Kentucky Derby winners Owners of Preakness Stakes winners American chief executives of financial services companies American financiers American investors American philanthropists Corporate raiders Mellon family Businesspeople from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Republicans Virginia Republicans New York (state) Republicans Shady Side Academy alumni People from Gainesville, Virginia