David Henshaw

David received a rudimentary education in the Leicester schools, became a druggist's apprentice at age 16, and at 21 he went into business for himself.¹

After making a sizable fortune as a wholesale druggist he branched out into banking, railroads, and politics. Before he was 33 he had acquired means to become a banker and to establish an insurance company. The panic of 1837 forced his Commonwealth Bank into bankruptcy.¹

David was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1826 and served as Collector of the Port of Boston from the late 1820s until 1838.⁵ One of the founders of the Massachusetts Democratic Party in the early 1820's, he led its Boston faction. He represented the town of Leicester in the state legislature in 1839.¹

David obtained President John Tyler's nomination to be Secretary of the Navy and administered the department from July 23, 1843 to Feb. 19, 1844.¹ (David Henshaw was never actually confirmed as Secretary of the Navy by the United States Senate, as were so many of President Tyler's Cabinet nominees).⁶

During his brief term in office, he addressed shipbuilding problems, selected senior officers for important seagoing commands, revised supply arrangements in the Navy Yards and attempted to establish a school for Midshipmen.⁵ Another accomplishment during his tenture was saving the USS Constitution from the scrap heap.⁶ His recess appointment as Secretary failed to receive Congressional confirmation, requiring that he leave office when Thomas W. Gilmer was confirmed to succeed him.⁵ (His successor Secretary of the Navy was killed, after only nine days in office, by a canon explosion while firing a salute to a ship passing in review).^5,6

After he left this post he dominated Democratic affairs in Massachusetts until the slavery issue began to disrupt parties.¹

David is shown in the 1850 census, Leicester, Worcester County, Massachusetts, living with his sister Anna:⁷

David Henshaw died Nov 11 1852, Leicester, Massachusetts; buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Leicester, Massachusetts.^1,2,4,5,8

David was conservative, he was a capitalist, a Mason, an opponent of prohibition and a friend of slaveholders. He read much and possessed a keen knowledge of men. Although he never married, he dispensed a generous hospitality at his country home in Leicester.¹

Photo: David Henshaw Lithograph by Charles Fenderich, 1843; collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society ⁹

Sources

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