William Whitwell Greenough (1818-1899)

He was born at Boston and was educated at the Boston Latin School and Harvard University. He took further courses at Andover and would have liked to have become an Oriental scholar but was instead persuaded to join his father's hardware firm in 1838. From 1852, he was made agent to the Boston Gaslight Company becoming Treasurer the following year. He continued his interest in Oriental studies as a member of the American Oriental Society and Le Société Orientale of Paris. His interest in history led him to become a member of the Historical Societies of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He was elected President of the Boston Public Library and was a Trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts.

He often travelled to Europe but lived predominantly between his townhouse in Boston and his country estate at Quincy. In 1841, he married Catherine Scollay Curtis, daughter of Charles Pelham Curtis and a first cousin of Daniel Sargent Curtis who presided over the famous Palazzo Barbaro in Venice. They had six children, of whom four (listed above) survived infancy. Their only daughter married Harvard Professor Barrett Wendell.