Samuel Leighton Shapleigh (1765-1800) was born in Kittery, Maine on July 9, 1765. He was left an orphan when both his parents, Mary Leighton Shapleigh and Tobias Shapleigh, died in 1769. He was subsequently cared for by his uncle and guardian, Major Samuel Leighton. Shapleigh attended Harvard College, entering in 1785 and graduating with the class of 1789. Following graduation he worked briefly as a school keeper for the town of Cambridge. Afterwards he pursued legal studies and received an A.M. from the College in 1792. A hereditary pulmonary illness prevented him from entering into full-time legal practice, and he instead worked at the College for the rest of his life, serving as Butler from 1790 to 1793 and as Librarian from 1793 until his death on April 17, 1800. Shapleigh bequeathed his entire estate, a few legacies excepted, to Harvard and designated that income from the estate be "sacredly appropriated to the purchase of such modern publications as the Corporation, Professors, and Tutors shall judge most proper to improve the students in polite literature; the books to be deposited in the library of the University."
According to Josiah Quincy, Shapleigh's "disposition was amiable, modest, and unobtrusive; his manners gentle and singularly polite and conciliatory, winning the affections of all." He was a staunch advocate for the improvement of the Harvard College Library, and his Cambridge gravestone describes him as "a virtuous son, faithful librarian, and liberal benefactor of Harvard College."
From the guide to the Papers of Samuel Shapleigh, 1739/1740-1800, (Harvard University Archives)
