Blog 144: Mel Watt: A Distant Cousin

By Vernon M. Herron

     President Barack Obama has nominated our cousin, the Honorable Mel (Martin Luther) Watt to be the next Secretary of the Federal Housing Finance Authority. He now awaits confirmation. Currently, he serves as the Representative of North Carolina’s 12^th Congressional District.

     Born in 1945 (67) in Dixie, a rural community of Charlotte, NC, Mel received his education at Yale University and the University of North Carolina Law School. He is married to Eulada; they have two children.

     Mel and the writer of this blog are distant cousins. He is of the seventh generation, a great grandson of ancestor Richard Herron,   _(Mel7_{, Graham}6_{, James}5_{, Mary}4_{, Samuel}3_{, Richard}2₎, while Vernon Herron is of the fifth generation- a great grandson of our ancestor, (_Vernon5_{, Samuel}4_{, Lawrence}3_{, Richard}2_).

      His mother Evelyn has a two line relation to the family. Her first husband was the late Graham Watt, (Mel’s father). He was a great grandson of ancestor Richard Herron. Her husband number two is Eddie Herron.  He too is a great grandson of ancestor Richard.

     We all originated in the Dixie community. In his own words, Mel describes his humble beginnings. “I  came from out in the country with a Charlotte, NC address, near the airport in an area known as Dixie, tin roof, holes in the floor, no electricity, no inside plumbing, and a little country church  (Mt. Olive) which adjoined our front yard.”

      The Secretary of the Federal Housing Finance Authority is an honorable and well respected position. According to Wikipedia, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is an independent federal agency. It was created as the successor regulatory agency, resulting from the statutory merger of the Federal Housing Finance Board, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight and the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

     As a governmental-sponsored enterprise mission team, it absorbed the power and regulatory authority to place (GSE’s) into receivership or conservatorship. In its role as regulator, it regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks. It is different from the Federal Housing Authority, which largely provides mortgage insurance.

      Hear ye, hear ye!!!, the conclusion of the whole matter. Congratulations, cousin Mel! We are proud of you. You have our best wishes for confirmation! We pray for your success. Long live Mel Watt, Dixie, the Watt and Herron families.