William Francis Ganong

Ganong, William Francis

William Francis Ganong, regional historian, cartographer, botanist, linguist (b at Carleton, NB 19 Feb 1864; d at Saint John 7 Sept 1941). A passionate lover of New Brunswick, Ganong devoted his life to its study. After attending the University of New Brunswick (BA, 1884; MA, 1886), Harvard (BA, 1887) and Munich (PhD, 1894), he taught botany at Smith College, Northampton, Mass, a position he held until his appointment as professor emeritus on his retirement in 1932. His summers were spent canoeing through NB, mapping the province's waterways and recording the stories of the Micmac and Maliseet, whose language he learned. He published over 150 papers and standard texts, and worked to revitalize the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, to which he donated his papers. Honours included life membership in the Natural History Society of New Brunswick (1915), the Royal Society of Canada's Tyrrell Medal (1931), and a PhD (1898) and LLD (1920) from UNB. From 1918 to 1939 he was an active director of Ganong Bros, Ltd, the family-owned confectionery firm founded by his father, James Harvey Ganong, and his uncle, Gilbert White GANONG.