Jacob Crowninshield was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 and appointee to the position of U.S. Secretary of the Navy, which he never filled. His brother Benjamin Williams Crowninshield

Benjamin Williams Crowninshield

Benjamin Williams Crowninshield served as the United States Secretary of the Navy between 1815 and 1818, during the administrations of Presidents James Madison and James Monroe.-Biography:...

 did successfully hold the post; the Crowninshield family

Crowninshield family

The Crowninshield family is an American family that has been prominent in seafaring, political and military leadership, and the literary world. The founder of the American family immigrated in the late 17th century from what is now Germany...

 in general was prominent in early American maritime affairs. His ancestor, Johan Casper Richter von Kronenscheldt, immigrated from Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

. He was the grandfather of Arent S. Crowninshield

Arent S. Crowninshield

Arent Schuyler Crowninshield was an rear admiral of the United States Navy. He saw combat during the Civil War, and after the war held high commands both afloat and ashore.-Biography:...

.

Born in Salem, Massachusetts

Salem, Massachusetts

Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...

, he was first a businessman. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in 1798 (to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Dwight Foster) and then served in the Massachusetts State Senate in 1801.

He was tendered the position of U.S. Secretary of the Navy by President Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

, but never entered upon his duties on account of ill health.

He was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the 8th, 9th

9th United States Congress

- Senate :* President: George Clinton * President pro tempore: Samuel Smith - House of Representatives :* Speaker: Nathaniel Macon -Members:This list is arranged by chamber, then by state...

 and 10th Congress

10th United States Congress

- House of Representatives :- Senate :*President: George Clinton *President pro tempore: Samuel Smith , elected April 16, 1808** Stephen R. Bradley , elected December 28, 1808** John Milledge , elected January 30, 1809...

es and served from March 4, 1803, until his death in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, aged 38.

While in the House, in the 9th Congress, he was chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Commerce and Manufactures.

He is buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery

Harmony Grove Cemetery

Harmony Grove Cemetery is a cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts. It was established in 1840 and is located at 30 Grove Street.The cemetery includes the Gothic revival Blake Memorial Chapel of 1905.-Notable burials:...

 in his hometown of Salem. In 1796, Hon. Jacob Crowninshield married Sarah Gardner, daughter of John (a direct descendant of an old planter

Thomas Gardner (planter)

Thomas Gardner was an Overseer of the "old planters" party of the Dorchester Company who landed, in 1624 at Cape Ann, to form a colony at what is now known as Gloucester...

) and Sarah (Derby

Elias Hasket Derby

Elias Hasket Derby was among the wealthiest and most celebrated of post-Revolutionary merchants in Salem, Massachusetts, and owner of the Grand Turk, the first New England vessel to trade directly with China....

 - daughter of Richard (1712–1783)). Their daughter Sarah married the Salem merchant Richard Saltonstall Rogers. After Sarah's death, Rogers married in 1847 Elizabeth Leavitt Pickman, daughter of Salem merchant Dudley Leavitt Pickman

Dudley Leavitt Pickman

Dudley Leavitt Pickman was a Salem, Massachusetts, merchant who built one of the great Salem trading firms during the seaport's ascendancy as a trading power in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Pickman was a partner in the firm Devereux, Pickman & Silsbee and a state senator...

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External links

• Jacob Crowninshield at Find A Grave
  Find A Grave
  Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...