Jacob Crowninshield

Jacob Crowninshield (March 31, 1770 – April 15, 1808) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and appointee to the position of U.S. Secretary of the Navy, which he never filled. His brother Benjamin Williams Crowninshield did successfully hold the post; the Crowninshield family in general was prominent in early American maritime affairs. His ancestor, Johann Casper Richter von Kronenscheldt, immigrated from Leipzig. He was the grandfather of Arent S. Crowninshield.

Jacob Crowninshield
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 2nd district
In office
March 4, 1803 – April 15, 1808
Preceded byWilliam Shepard
Succeeded byJoseph Story
Member of the Massachusetts Senate
In office
1801
Personal details
BornMarch 31, 1770
Salem, Massachusetts
DiedApril 15, 1808 (aged 38)
Washington, D.C.
Resting placeHarmony Grove Cemetery, Salem, Massachusetts
Political partyDemocratic-Republican
RelationsBenjamin Williams Crowninshield, Arent S. Crowninshield
ChildrenSarah Crowninshield

Biography

Jacob Crowninshield was born March 31, 1770, in Salem, Massachusetts. As a young man Crowninshield went in partnership with three of his brothers commanding trade ships between the United States and India.[1]

In 1796, Crowninshield married Sarah Gardner, daughter of John (a direct descendant of an old planter) and Sarah (Derby, daughter of Richard (1712–1783)). Their daughter Sarah married the Salem merchant Richard Saltonstall Rogers.[2]

Crowninshield was an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in 1798 (to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dwight Foster), but was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate in 1801. While in the House, in the 9th Congress, he was chairman of the United States House Committee on Commerce and Manufactures.

In November 1802, Crowninshield was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the 8th, 9th and 10th Congresses and served from March 4, 1803, until his death from tuberculosis in Washington, D.C. on April 15, 1808. Crowninshield was 38 years old at the time of his death.

Immediately before his death, Crowninshield was offered the position of U.S. Secretary of the Navy by President Thomas Jefferson, but he was unable to assume his duties due to ill health.[1]

Crowninshield is buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery in his hometown of Salem.

See also

Footnotes
  1. "Jacob Crowninshield", National Cyclopaedia of American Biography: Volume 3. New York: James T. White & Co., 1893; p. 7.
  2. History of Essex County, Massachusetts, Duane Hamilton Hurd, Printed by J. & W. Lewis Co., Philadelphia, Penn., 1888.
  • United States Congress. "Jacob Crowninshield (id: C000947)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
  • Jacob Crowninshield at Miller Center of Public Affairs
  • Jacob Crowninshield at Find A Grave
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
William Shepard		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district
March 4, 1803 – April 15, 1808		 Succeeded by
Joseph Story
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