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.
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.
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
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