Francis Calley Gray

Francis Calley Gray (September 19, 1790 – December 29, 1856) was a politician from Massachusetts, United States. The son of Elizabeth and William Gray, he graduated Harvard University (1809) and went on to be John Quincy Adams's private secretary, a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and president of the Boston Athenæum. Gray was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1819,[1] and a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1820.[2] When he died, he left many gifts to Harvard, including his collection of 3,000 engravings and $50,000 (equivalent to $1,628,519 today) to be put towards a museum of comparative zoology.[3]

Mount Auburn Cemetery, Francis Calley Gray

Francis Calley Gray, portrait by Francis Alexander

He died in 1856 and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery, his tomb guarded by a sleeping dog.