John Prentiss Kewley Henshaw

John Prentiss Kewley Henshaw (June 13, 1792 – July 20, 1852) was the fourth Bishop of Rhode Island in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first to hold that position alone.

Early life Henshaw was born in Middletown, Connecticut, and raised in the Congregational Church. He attended Middlebury College, graduating in 1808, and spent an additional year at Harvard College in 1809. However, Henshaw was twice passed over during elections for bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

In 1843, the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island elected Henshaw its bishop, and he became that diocese's first bishop not also responsible for another diocese. Consecrated on August 11, 1843, by Bishops Thomas Church Brownell, Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk, and John Henry Hopkins, Rt. Rev. Henshaw became the 41st bishop in the ECUSA. While serving as Rhode Island's bishop, Henshaw was also the rector of Grace Church in Providence, and managed to pay off its mortgage.

Death and legacy Henshaw suffered a fit of apoplexy on July 19, 1852, in Frederick County, Maryland, while substituting for Bishop William Whittingham, who was traveling in Europe. He died the following day, and his body was returned to Rhode Island for burial in Grace Church. Henshaw had married Mary Gorham Henshaw (1791-1881) who survived him, as did six sons and two daughters (two sons dying before their parents). By the end of the century, another church in Providence, All Saints Memorial Church, was built as a memorial to him.