John D. Henley

Captain John Dandridge Henley (February 25, 1781 – May 23, 1835) was an officer of the United States Navy who served in the First Barbary War and the War of 1812.

Early life Henley was born February 25, 1781 at Williamsburg, Virginia, the son of Leonard Henley and Elizabeth Dandridge (b. 1749) and the nephew of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, the wife of George Washington. His younger brother was Robert Henley (1783–1828), also a naval officer. He continued to serve with distinction until May 23, 1835 when he died on board Vandalia at Havana, Cuba.

Personal life On March 31, 1816, he married Elizabeth Denison (1788–1838), the daughter of Gideon Denison (1752–1799), an attorney from Hartford, Connecticut. Together, they had three daughters:

Frances Henley (1818–1873), who married Rev. Edward Y. Higbie (1800–1871), Henrietta Elizabeth Henley, who married Jonathan Bayard Harrison Smith (1810–1889), a Washington D.C. lawyer, the son of Samuel Harrison Smith and Margaret Bayard, in 1842. Eliza Henley (b. 1828), who married Admiral Stephen Bleecker Luce (1827–1917). who married Rebecca Young, Samuel Harrison Smith, who married Alive Hall, and Bayard Thornton Smith (b. 1857), who married Eleanor J. Hyde (the daughter of George Hyde, an early settler and the Alcalde of San Francisco) in 1882.

Through his youngest daughter, he was the grandfather of Caroline Luce (1857-1933), was the wife of Montgomery M. Macomb (1852–1924), a brigadier general in the United States Army.

Lecgacy The destroyer USS John D. Henley (DD-553) was named in his honor. See USS Henley for other ships named after John D. Henley and his brother, Robert Henley.