David Henshaw
14thUnited States Secretary of the Navy
In office July 24, 1843 – February 18, 1844
President	John Tyler
Preceded by	Abel Upshur
Succeeded by	Thomas Gilmer
4th Collector of thePort of Boston
In office 1829–1837
Appointed by	Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn
Succeeded by	George Bancroft
Member of theMassachusetts Senate fromSuffolk County
In office May 31, 1826 – May 30, 1827
Personal details
Born	(1791-04-02)April 2, 1791 Leicester,Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	November 11, 1852(1852-11-11) (aged 61) Leicester,Massachusetts, U.S.
Party	Democratic

David Henshaw (April 2, 1791 – November 11, 1852), son of Captain David Henshaw and Mary Sargent, was the 14thUnited States Secretary of the Navy.

Henshaw was born inLeicester, Massachusetts in 1791 and educated atLeicester Academy. Trained as a druggist, he achieved notable success in that field, then expanded his energies into banking, transportation 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. He was elected to theMassachusetts Senate in 1826 and served as Collector of thePort of Boston from 1827 to 1830. In 1828, he handled a project for running railroad through theBerkshires toAlbany,New York. Though he suffered business reverses during the later 1830s, Henshaw regained his political position as a leader of the Massachusetts Democratic Party within a few years.

In July 1843, PresidentJohn Tyler selected Henshaw asSecretary of the Navy to followAbel P. Upshur. 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. Another accomplishment during his tenure was saving the USS Constitution from the scrap heap. Hisrecess appointment as Secretary failed to receive Congressional confirmation, requiring that he leave office when his successor, Thomas W. Gilmer, was confirmed. (Gilmer was killed, after only nine days in office, by a cannon explosion while firing a salute to a ship passing in review) Henshaw then returned to Massachusetts politics. After he left this post he dominated Democratic affairs in Massachusetts until the slavery issue began to disrupt parties. He died in 1852, buried Pine Grove Cemetery, Leicester, Massachusetts.

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.

USSHenshaw (DD-278) was named in his honor.

• Unsuccessful nominations to the Cabinet of the United States
• 47th Massachusetts General Court (1826–1827)

• Loring, James Spear.The Hundred Boston Orators Appointed by the Municipal Authorities from 1770 to 1852David Henshaw Biographical Chapter - page 564. published 1852, 694 pages.
• "Dictionary of American Biography", Charles Scribner's Sons and "American Secretaries of the Navy", Navy Institute Press.
• "Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans", Johnson, Rossiter, ed.; The Biographical Society, 1904.
• History of Henshaws in Scotland, in England and in America to the Present Time", Edith Henshaw Kuntz, 1956
• "Genealogy of the Denny family in England and America", Denny, Christopher Columbus; Leicester, Massachusetts, 1886.
•  This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNaval History and Heritage Command.

• 1791 births
• 1852 deaths
• Collectors of the Port of Boston
• Leicester Academy alumni
• Massachusetts state senators
• People from Leicester, Massachusetts
• Rejected or withdrawn nominees to the United States Executive Cabinet
• Tyler administration cabinet members
• United States secretaries of the navy
• 19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Naval History & Heritage Command