Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (1772-1851)

U.S. Presidential Cabinet Member, U.S. Congressman. He engaged in mercantile pursuits, was a member of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives in 1811 and served in the Massachusetts State Senate in 1812. In 1814, President Madison appointed him the 5th Secretary of the Navy and he was reappointed by President Monroe Secretary of the Navy, serving until 1818. While in office his administrative system built several U.S. Navy ships and he also oversaw the Navy strategy policy for the 2nd Barbary War in 1815. After leaving the Cabinet, he was again a member of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives in 1821, was elected as a Adams-Clay Republican to the Eighteenth Congress, reelected as an Adams candidate to the Nineteenth and Twentieth Congresses and reelected as an Anti-Jacksonian to the Twenty-first Congress, serving (1823-31). After his term, he was again a member of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives, in 1833. He then resumed his former business pursuits until his death at age 78.

Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith