Jennie Florence (Macconnell) Melville- 17 May 1857 - 2 Aug. 1939: Daughter of John B. and Margaret Macconnell born in London, Ontario. Married Frank Melville, Jr. 16 Jan. 1886. They had one child, John Ward Melville. She was a resident of Bayport, NY where Frank Melville, Jr.'s family were summer residents. Jennie Macconnell took art lessons from Francis Melville.

Like her husband she was very active in community projects both in the Three Village area and Brooklyn. She led the campaign to construct the Brooklyn Women's Club believed to have been the first in the United States. An avid gardener she organized the Three Village Garden Club and served as its president. She also bought and restored the Three Village Inn in Stony Brook to be used as a women's exchange at which residents offered home products for sale.

As a memorial to her late husband, she purchased acreage in Setauket around the millpond, and developed the property to a public park consisting of gardens, stone bridge, and a reconstructed mill. The Frank Melville Memorial Park was dedicated in 1937. She was a member of the Caroline Church of Brookhaven.

Dorothy (Bigelow) Melville- 7 Feb. 1894 - 1 Aug. 1989: Dorothy Bigelow was born 7 Feb. 1894 in New York City, the daughter of Charles Emerson and Isabella (Lyall) Bigelow. She graduated from the Bennett School in Milbrook, NY. She married John Ward Melville 30 Apr 1918. They met while Dorothy acted as a chaperone on a trip to Asheville, NC for her cousin Eunice Beecher. They had four children Margaret ("Peggy"), Ruth, Frank III, and David. In the 1920's she and her husband resided at "Wide Water", the couple's home in aid Field, NY.

She was a philanthropist and arts patron who with her husband did much to preserve Long Island's cultural and historic heritage. She served as a volunteer nurse's aid in WWI and worked with the American Red Cross in WWII. She was an active supporter of the Suffolk Museum in Stony Brook and under her leadership (president, member and chairman of the board), and with the support of Melville's philanthropy the institution and its collections grew into what is now The Museums at Stony Brook. The collections reflect these benefactors’ interests in Long Island history, art, and the era of horse drawn transportation.

Since the early 1940's Mrs. Melville also served on the Board of Trustees of the Stony Brook Community Fund, a trust established & led by her husband that was responsible for the welfare of the Stony Brook village center and numerous historic properties which were acquired and restored by Mr. Melville for the public. Upon his death in 1977 she was elected fund director & president of Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Foundation which cares for the millpond & park in Setauket. She was president of the Three Village Garden Club. She and her husband were members of the Caroline Church in Setauket and supported the restoration of the church in 1937. She was a trustee of Bennett College. The family supported numerous LI & national charities & institutions including the Suffolk Co. YMCA and League of Women Voters.

She received many awards and recognition for her work. In 1972 Mr. & Mrs. Melville were elected to the Long Island Association Hall of Fame. She was chosen Woman of the Decade by Three Village Times in 1979. In 1982 she received the Ward Melville Community Award from the Three Village Historical Society. In 1986 the New York State legislature adopted a resolution recognizing her many contributions to her community and to the preservation of Long Island's history.

Francis Melville-28 Dec. 1832 - 2 Aug. 1916: Born in Brooklyn 28 Dec. 1832 the son of Charles William and Frances F. (Tyrell) Melville of Glasgow, Scotland. Married Mary A. Bamman 3 Aug. 1858 (died 1904). They had four children: John, Frank Jr., Maud, and Anna (Nan).

He was an artist in various media including pencil, ink, and charcoal, but was primarily known for his etchings and watercolor studies. In 1849 at the age of 17 Francis Melville and J. Q. A. Ward entered the studio of sculptor H. K. Brown as students. They assisted Brown in completing the statue of George Washington now in Union Square.

He modeled in wax, did chasing, surveying, and in 1855 was appointed teacher of drawing in the public schools where he remained for 45 years. He was the first instructor of drawing in the New York Evening High School for Men where he taught the subject for 33 years. The school was the idea of Thomas Boese & Thomas Hunter. Opening in Oct. 1866 it attracted 1000 students. He resided in Brooklyn and apparently had a home (summer home?) in Bayport, NY where his family was acquainted with the Macconnells. He died 2 Aug. 1916 in Chocorua, NH.

Frank Melville, Jr.- 3 June 1860-25 Feb 1935: Born 3 June 1860 in New York City the son of Francis and Mary (Bamman) Melville. He attended Lockwood's Academy in Brooklyn and Fort Edward Academy in Fort Edward, NY. He married Jennie Macconnell 16 Jan. 1886 in Bayport. He was the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Melville Shoe Corp., John Ward Men's Shoes, Inc., Rival Shoe Co., Thom McAn Shoe Co., R- W Realty Co., and Frank Lee Corp.

Starting as an assistant bookkeeper and later a salesman for a manufacturer of slippers he resigned and went to The Dakota Territory to pursue opportunities in the cattle business. Finding those opportunities non-existent he was a cattle hand, farmer and drove a stage. In the fall of 1885 he left, returning to New York at the urging of his fiancée, and returned to the shoe industry as salesman and manager of shoe stores.

Being involved with both the wholesale and retail ends of the growing business he decided to devote his energies exclusively to retailing. He opened his first store in Manhattan in 1895 named after his uncle John Q. A. Ward one of America's most noted sculptors. With that success he opened Rival Stores in 1901 which sold shoes at lower prices. In 1920 he advanced the idea of distributing good quality shoes at the lowest possible price and the first Thom McAn store opened Oct. 14, 1922. The name, a coined one, was the inspiration of his son Ward, as was the original design for the striking white front store design.

He and his family came to Old Field, NY in 1900. There he purchased the old Mills place as a summer residence, remodeling it and calling it "Red Roof'. In 1918 he built the family home "Sunwood" in Stony Brook, NY designed by his wife.

He took an active role in the local community, a tradition continued by the other members of the family. He was governor of St. George's Golf and Country Club in Stony Brook, member of the Long Island Chamber of Commerce, Smithtown Hunt, and North Shore Horse Show committee. He was active in the development of Old Field including founding the Old Field Association and Old Field Club and assisted in building Old Field Country Day School. His real-estate interests included developing the area known as Old Field South. To protect the rustic charm of the area woodland he joined with other prominent residents in purchasing considerable real estate in the area and worked to protect local harbors against dredging. Other projects included assisting in building the Stony Brook School for Boys, Stony Brook Yacht Club, Three Village Tea House (a project in which his wife Jennie was very involved), & the new clubhouse of St. George’s Golf Club.

John Ward Melville- 5 Jan. 1887 - 5 June 1977: Ward Melville is the man whose foresight, faith and financial support played a major role in the rehabilitation of post war Stony Brook. He transformed the Three Village's into a community where past and present could coexist.

Born John Ward Melville (commonly referred to as "Ward") 5 Jan. 1887 in Brooklyn, NY, the only child of Frank, Jr. and Jennie (Macconnell) Melville. Through his father Ward traced his ancestry back three generations through Francis Melville a well-regarded etcher, sculptor, and teacher; Charles William Melville, who emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland, to New York in 1828, to Francis Melville, born 1767 in Glasgow Scotland. On his mother's side, Ward was a descendent of distinguished Canadian Statesman and politicians. Ward was named for John Quincy Adams Ward, a notable sculptor, relative (married his great aunt), and longtime friend and colleague of the namesake's grandfather.

After graduation from Columbia University in 1909 he began his business career with Melville Shoe Corporation. Founded by his father in 1892 he served as vice-president, president (1930-1956) and Chairman of the Board (1956-1977). He revolutionized the retail shoe business by initiating the concept of display windows. The company became the parent company of Thom McAn, CVS, Bob's Stores, Kay-Bee Toys, Marshals, Linens 'n Things, Foot Action and Wilson's. His other business interests included Director of J. F. McElwain Co. (manufacturer of Thom McAn men's and boy's shoes), director of R. H. Macy & W. T. Grant Companies, Bankers Trust, and Trustee Bowery Savings Bank.

Ward and his father and mother took an active role in the women's suffrage movement. Active in the Men's League for Women's Suffrage, Ward and Frank participated in the May 1913 parade in New York City. They were active in organizing the parade, hosting meetings and other events at Frank & Jennie's home in Brooklyn. The goal was to attract support for a referendum on the Nov. ballot.

Although he always emphasized that all he did was the result of community efforts, it was his vision and his work that produced the restoration of Stony Brook begun in the early 1940's. Expanding on the idea of a simple colonial-style village, which his father, Frank, had originated decades before, he persuaded the merchants of Stony Brook to cooperate in a plan to rebuild the shopping area of town. All shopkeepers and residents agreed to his comprehensive plan of relocating almost every building. With the help of architect Richard Haviland Smythe and longtime resident Bayles Minuse, he built what today is the Federal Style shopping center forming a crescent around the Village Green.

With the project completed he donated the land to the community and ensured its preservation with the formation of the Stony Brook Community Fund. Through the years he purchased and restored various historic properties and sites giving them to the trust. These properties included the Museums at Stony Brook, Mount House, Stony Brook Grist Mill, Alonzo Hawkins House, Dogwood Hollow, Stony Brook Mill Pond Park, Thompson & Brewster Houses in Setauket.

Active in the Three Village School System for 20 years, as School Board President he was influential in the merger of the Setauket and Stony Brook districts. He supported a 21 million dollar program for 5 new buildings. The Board of Education named Ward Melville High School in his honor. He donated 478 acres for the University of New York at Stony Brook and gave the University Sunwood, his parents' home. The University Library is named for Frank Melville.

Melville's concern for conservation and the environment brought him to the forefront of a fight against insecticides and a donation of land by the Three Village Garden Club for a bird sanctuary. He served as Mayor of the Village of Old Field, Trustee of the Museums at Stony Brook, Chairman Suffolk County Industrial Commission, Chairman of Council of the State University at Stony Brook. The annual North Shore Horse Show was started through Melville as a project to raise money for charity. He supported a major restoration of the sanctuary of the Caroline Church. Participant in the "Greening of 25A" project. Served briefly quartermaster general's office W.W.I. Donated land for YMCA campgrounds. In 1972 the Mr. and Mrs. Ward Melville were elected to LI Association Hall of Fame.

Charles L. Sachs: In 1978 Charles L. Sachs, an independent consultant, was hired to inventory the papers of Ward Melville while still in the possession of the family. His survey included the papers at the Melville home "Wide Water" in Old Field, NY and other depositories, corporate and historical, including the Stony Brook Community Fund. Mr. Sachs produced handwritten inventories of the collection and a report entitled Ward Melville Exhibit/Archive Project: Preliminary Report and Recommendations. He also produced a chronological card file of the Melville family with excerpts from various sources.