William Whitwell Greenough

William Whitwell Greenough (June 25, 1818 – June 17, 1899) was an American merchant who served as president of the Boston Public Library from 1868 to 1888. Early life Greenough was born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 25, 1818. He was the only son of prominent Boston merchant William Greenough (1792–1882) and Sarah ( Gardner) Greenough (1798–1882). His paternal grandfather was the Rev. William Greenough, pastor of the church in Newton, Massachusetts. His maternal grandparents were John Gardner and Elisabeth ( Greenleaf) Gardner (a daughter of Gen. William Greenleaf and Sarah Quincy, herself a daughter of Edmund Quincy and sister to Dorothy Quincy, wife of John Hancock). Greenough was educated at the Boston Latin School and at the private school of F. P. Leverette before entering Harvard University with the freshman class in 1833. He took courses at Andover and, reportedly, wanted to an Oriental scholar but, instead, joined his father's hardware firm at 14 Merchants Row in 1838.