GREANY, WILLIAM FRANCIS
Copyright 2011-2018 John N. Lupia, III
William Francis Greany (1857-1924), was born in October 1857 in California of Irish Catholic immigrants from County Galway : Captain Michael Greany (1831-1902), and Bridget Greany (1842-). His father worked as a hay and grain dealer and was a Knight of St. Patrick, and a Captain of the Jackson Dragoons, the famous Irish cavalry, which he commanded for fourteen years. Greany’s brother is John T. Greany, the assistant district attorney of San Francisco, California.
In 1891, he married Eleanor “Nellie” Frances (1870-1945) and they had a daughter Marion Frances (1899-1989). Greany’s wife Eleanor was celebrated in social circles and served as the Grand Director of the Young Ladies’ Institute of San Francisco.
His residences : 827 Brannan Street, San Francisco, California, Coin, stamps and curiosities dealer who began as a dealer at least by 1881, and published 32 and 24-page catalogs and widely advertised. His debut seems to have been made in the March 1881 issue of Mason's Coin Collectors Herald.
He did business with the Chapman Brothers and some correspondence is in the Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, The Chapman Family Correspondence Archive.
Fig. correspondence with J. E. Drum, Rushville, Ohio, postmarked April 23, 1887. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
Fig. Greany correspondence with J. E. Drum, Rushville, Ohio, postmarked July 27, 1887. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
Fig. Greany correspondence with Thomas P. Martin, Fort Worth, Texas [long before B. Max Mehl], postmarked August 24, 1888, San Francisco, California. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
Fig. Postal Card of Greany to Cuban stamp dealer postmarked January 8, 1890. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
He applied for membership to the ANA in 1892 and is member no. 80.
His name appeared variously as Greaney in the February 1891, March 1892 issue of The Numismatist, in list no. 15, as number 420, and in every issue of 1892.
Greany correspondence with John G. Laidacker postmarked February 13, 1895, San Francisco, California. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library, Special Collection, The Laidacker Family Correspondence Archive.
Fig. Greany's 1895, 6th Edition, hand-stamped showing he moved to 838 Guerrero Street, San Francisco, California, circa 1896. Courtesy Lupia Numismatic Library.
In the August 15, 1914 issue of MeKeel's Weekly Stamp News, page 287, he sold the reprints of the California stamps.
He died on October 9, 1924.
See Bibliography below ad
Bibliography :
1880 U. S. Census
Mason, Coin Collectors' Herald Vol. II, No. 4, March (1881) : 27d; H-III, No. 2, September (1881) : 46b; (Advertisement) Vol. III, No. 4, March (1882) : 68a; C-VI, No. 1, June (1882) : 20A ad page; C-VI, No. 2, September (1882) : 40A ad page; M-I, No. 3, August (1884) : 34; Cited by initials W. F. G., M-I, No. 3, August (1884) : 40; M-I, No. 6, November (1884) : 68; M-I, No. 7, December (1884) : 79;
The Bookmart, December 1, (1884) : 458
Agassiz Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, June (1885) :
Empire State Philatelist, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1885) : inside back cover ad.
The Collector’s Companion, June (1885) : back cover ad.
The Curiosity World, Vol. II, No. 1, November 1 (1887) : front page column 1 ad.
The Halifax Philatelist, Vol. II, No. 7, July (1888) : LVII (ad page 57), LIX inside back cover, LX back cover.
The Collector’s Ledger, An Illustrated Monthly, Vol. IV, No. 10, January (1889) : 152
The Oologist (1889) ad selling stamps.
McClean’s Stamp Collector’s Guide (Boston : W. S. McLean, 1889) : 41
Western Philatelist, December (1889) : inside back cover ad.
“Dealers Directory” The Numismatist, Vol. 3, No. 3 & 4, February (1891) : 18 (ad)
The Numismatist, Vol. 4, No. 3, March (1892) : 40;The Numismatist, Vol. 4, No. 1, January, (1892) : 15; No. 2, February, (1892) ; 24, 29 (ad); No. 3, March (1892) : 45; No. 4, April (1892) : 65; No. 5, May (1892) : 84;
The Post Office, Vol. 2, No. 24, March (1893) : viii ad
The Numismatist, Vol. 4, No. 1, January, (1892) : 17 (ad); Vol. 8 (1895) : Table of Contents 1895, first ad page, column two.
The Philatelic Californian, Vol. 1, No. 3, December (1893) : 51 half-page ad; No. 4, January (1894) : 71 half-page ad
Numisma, Vol. 7, No. 1; The Numismatist, Vol. VII, No. 1, January (1894) : front paper ad top right; The Numismatist, Vol. VII, No. 2, February (1894) : ad front paper after inside front cover,
The Nidologist, Vols. I & 2 (1895) advertising as a stamp dealer and also selling his coin & stamp cayalogue
Crocker-Langley San Francisco Business Directory (1899) : 744
1900 U. S. Census
San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, August 8 (1902) : 9 obit of father Michael Greany
Gnecchi, Ercole and Francesco, eds., Guida Numismatica 4th edition. (Milano : U. Hoepli, 1903. Edition) : 567, No. 5939
1910 U. S. Census
1920 U. S. Census
Metropolitan Philatelist, see biography of Greany. Philatelic Literature Review, Vols. 44-45 (1995) : 113