Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (1772 - 1851)

Born 27 Dec 1772 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Boardman) Crowninshield — married about 1 Jan 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 3 Feb 1851 at age 78 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA

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Biography

Preceded by 4th Secretary William Jones

Benjamin Williams Crowninshield 5th United States Secretary of the Navy 1815—1818

Succeeded by 6th Secretary Smith Thompson

Hon. Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, Esq. was born on December 27, 1772, in Salem, Massachusetts to Capt. George Crowninshield and Mary Derby. He married Mary Boardman on January 1, 1804, in his hometown. They had six children in 12 years. He died on February 3, 1851, in Boston, Massachusetts, having lived a long life of 78 years, and was buried in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

During his long life, he had a very notable career in the Massachusetts House of Representative, Massachusetts State Senate, United States House of Representatives and as the 5th Secretary of the Navy.

• 5th Secretary of the Navy, 16 January 1815 - 30 September 1818

Benjamin Williams Crowninshield was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on 27 December 1772. Son of a sea captain and merchant, he worked in the family shipping business, served at sea, and was also active in politics. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1811 and the state Senate in 1812.

Crowninshield became Secretary of the Navy in January 1815, at the end of the War of 1812, and managed the transition to a peacetime force. This included implementation of the new Board of Commissioners administrative system and the building of several ships of the line, the backbone of a much enhanced Navy. He also oversaw strategy and naval policy for the brief, and very successful war with Algiers in 1815.

After leaving Navy office, Crowninshield returned to business and political affairs in Massachusetts, prospering in both. In addition to serving two more terms in the Massachusetts House, he was also elected to four terms the United States Congress during the 1820s. Benjamin Crowninshield died on 3 February 1851.

USS Crowninshield (DD-134), 1919-1940, was named in honor of Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Crowninshield.^[1]

Birth

• Hon. Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, Esq. was born on December 27, 1772, in Salem, Massachusetts, to Mary Derby, age 35, and Capt. George Crowninshield, age 38.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Marriage

• Benjamin married Mary Boardman in Salem, Massachusetts, on January 1, 1804, when he was 31 years old.^[8][9][6][7]

Offices Held

• Benjamin was elected in 1811 to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.^[3][4][7]
• Benjamin served in the Massachusetts State Senate from1812 to 1813.^[3][4][7]
• Benjamin was Secretary of the Navy from 16 January 1815 to 30 September 1818.^[3][4][5][7]
• Benjamin was member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 2d District of Massachusetts from 4 March 1823 to 5 March 1831.^[3][4][5][7]

Death

• Hon. Benjamin Williams Crowninshield, Esq. died on February 3, 1851, in Boston, Massachusetts, when he was 78 years old, after a long notable career.^{[2][3][10][6][7]}

Burial

• Benjamin is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.^[2][3][7]

Research Notes

1. Note: Secretary of the Navy under Madison and Monroe. Had 5 brothers: John, Jacob, Richard, Edward, George. George build Cleopatra's Barge. Richard made a poor marriage and their son, Richard murdered William White in what is now the Pingree House, Salem. He hanged himself in the Salem Jail. During war of 1812 the brothers became famous as privateers in yacht America.
2. He obtained letters of marquee in the War of 1812, and was the owner of several privateers in connection with his father and brothers. The armed ship, "America," owned by Geo. Crowninshield & Sons carrying twenty-one guns and 150 men was the fastest privateer in the War of 1812 and captured and brought into port twenty-six prizes valued at overt $1,000,000 besides many others burned and sunk. This family has long been famous in the ship building and trans-Atlantic carrying trade.
3. Benjamin Williams Crowninshield accepted this cabinet position and held it from 1814-18 after a career as Massachusetts congressman. He later became US Representative of Massachusetts (1823-31). His main activity though was banking, as he headed the Merchants Bank of Salem for many years. He married Mary Boardman in 1804 and within fourteen years they had nine children : Elizabeth Boardman (m. Reverend William Mountford), Mary (m. Dr Charles Mifflin) , Benjamin Varnum, Francis Boardman, George Casper, Lucia, Anstis Williams, Edward Augustus and Lucy Ann (m. Dr J. Mason Warren). A later Francis Boardman Crowninshield married Louisa Evelina Du Pont de Nemours, the daughter of Delaware senator Henry Algernon Du Pont and member of America's richest family in the 20th century. The Crowninshields rose to social prominence in Nahant, the upper class summer resort on Boston's North Shore, where they had a series of cottages.

Sources

1. ↑ http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-c/b-crwnsd.htm
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 04 September 2020), memorial page for Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (27 Dec 1772–3 Feb 1851), Find a Grave Memorial no. 6844018, citing Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave .
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6} Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1949: The Continental Congress September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788 and The Congress of the United States From the First to the Eightieth Congress March 4, 1789 to January 3, 1949, Inclusive. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1950. Page 1039,
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} Johnson, Rossiter, ed.. Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Vol. I-X. Boston, MA, USA: The Biographical Society, 1904.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Herringshaw, Thomas William. Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century. Chicago, IL, USA: American Publishers Association, 1902.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2} Familypedia, Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (1772-1851); https://familypedia.wikia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Williams_Crowninshield_(1772-1851)
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7} Wikipedia contributors, "Benjamin Williams Crowninshield," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Benjamin_Williams_Crowninshield&oldid=968054560 (accessed September 4, 2020).
8. ↑ American Antiquarian Society. Index to Marriages in Massachusetts Centinel and Columbian Centinel, 1784-1840, Vol. 1 A-D. Boston, MA, USA: G.K. Hall, 1961.
9. ↑ Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Film # 0761210.
10. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records, 1840–1911. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.

• Naval History and Heritage Command, "5th Secretary of the Navy, 16 January 1815 - 30 September 1818 (1772-1851)", https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-people/c/crowninshield-benjamin-w.html
• United States. Congress. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2005.
• "Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N7F1-T8D : 10 March 2018), George Crowninshield in entry for Benjamin William Crosninshield, 03 Feb 1851; citing Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, v 59 p 8, State Archives, Boston; FHL microfilm 959,814.
• Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850.
• Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).
• Ancestry.com. U.S., Newspaper Extractions from the Northeast, 1704-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Newspapers and Periodicals. American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Acknowledgments

• WikiTree profile Crowninshield-15 created through the import of Quinn-Bradlee_2012-11-07 copy.ged on Nov 16, 2012 by Quinn Bradlee. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Quinn and others.