Benjamin W. Crowninshield

Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (March 12, 1837–January 16, 1892) was an American historian, businessman, and Union Army officer during the American Civil War.

Life A member of the Boston Brahmin Crowninshield family, Benjamin Williams Crowninshield was born in Boston, the son of Francis Boardman Crowninshield (1809–1877) and Sarah Putnam (1810–1880). He attended Harvard College, graduating in 1858, along with classmates Henry Hobson Richardson and Henry Adams.

At Harvard, Crowninshield kept a daily diary through his junior and senior years, which was published in 1941 by his son Francis, under the title A Private Journal, 1856–1858. It records that he was captain of the rowing team; handled most of his classes with ease, with the exception of Logic which he called "that cursed nonsense"; was president, Learoyd Director, and Abercrombie Treasurer of the Glee Club; was a member of the Porcellian Club and Pierian Sodality; was treasurer of the Hasty Pudding; sang in the choir; and played the 'cello. He resided, in 1856, at Number 9 Hollis Hall. His diary records many activities, from visiting old friends through attending drawing courses and music lessons; going to dances, theatres, and concerts; playing billiards at Ripley's; and spending the evening in Parker's Restaurant; to spending a whole day making a model boat.

Other people that he befriended at Harvard, according to his diary, include Robert Gould Shaw, whom Crowninshield first met when Shaw was a freshman who was hoping to become a member of the Pierian Sodality, and William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, son of Robert E. Lee. His diary entry for November 19, 1856, for example, records him playing whist "till the sociable (Lee's) was ready at L. Erving's room". (The "sociable" was a party.) Its entry for June 24, 1857 records him going "into town to a supper at Parker's given in honor of Lee, Jones, Lowndes all of whom are going to leave the class". and military history. He wrote his History of the First Massachusetts Cavalry (see further reading) in 1891.

After the War, Crowninshield married and moved to New York, where he was a member of New York drygoods merchants Sprague, Colburn, and Company. In 1868 he moved to Boston to join a different drygood merchants, Wheelwright, Anderson, and Company. He was later president of the Realty Company.

His health began to fail in 1891, and he died January 16, 1892, at age 54, in Rome, having travelled to Europe for a rest. His oldest son was boat designer Bowdoin B. Crowninshield (1867–1948).

Family tree