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 The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

, and the first to hold that position alone.

Early life

Henshaw was born in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

, and raised in the

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

.Batterson, 138 He attended

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

, graduating in 1808, and spent an additional year at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1809. He converted to the Episcopal Church and Bishop Alexander Griswold made him a lay reader in charge of a church in

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends ...

Ministry

Henshaw was ordained deacon on his 21st birthday in 1813 and for three years later served at St. Ann's Church in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. After ordination as a priest on his 24th birthday in 1816, he became rector of St. Peter's Church in

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, where he served for seventeen years. During his time in Baltimore, Henshaw befriended the Rev.

William Levington William Levington (1793 – May 15, 1836) was an African-American clergyman and teacher. The third African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States, he established the first African-American congregation south o ...

, who had established the first African American Episcopal congregation south of the Mason-Dixon line in 1824. However, Henshaw was twice passed over during elections for bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Maryland The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland forms part of Province 3 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Having been divided twice, it no longer includes all of Maryland and now consists of the central, northern, and western Maryland c ...

. In 1843, the

Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island The Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the state of Rhode Island. It is one of seven New England dioceses that make up Province 1. The former Episcopal seat of the ...

elected Henshaw its bishop, and he became that diocese's first bishop not also responsible for another diocese.Batterson, 139 Consecrated on August 11, 1843, by Bishops

Thomas Church Brownell Thomas Church Brownell (October 19, 1779 – January 13, 1865) was founder of Trinity College (Connecticut), Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Episcopal Ch ...

Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk (July 15, 1791, New York City – April 30, 1861, New York) was the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York from 1830–1861. Early years A member of a prominent Hempstead family, Onderdonk graduated from Colu ...

, and

John Henry Hopkins John Henry Hopkins (January 30, 1792 – January 9, 1868) was the first bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Vermont and the eighth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He was also an artist (in both watercolor and ...

, 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 Grace Church may refer to: Canada * Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto China * Grace Church, Guanghan Poland * Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland United Kingdom United States * Grace Cathedral (disam ...

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

, and managed to pay off its mortgage.

Death and legacy

Henshaw suffered a fit of apoplexy on July 19, 1852, in

Frederick County, Maryland Frederick County is located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick. Frederick County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ...

, while substituting for Bishop

William Whittingham William Whittingham (c. 1524–1579) was an English Puritan, a Marian exile, and a translator of the Geneva Bible. He was well connected to the circles around John Knox, Bullinger, and Calvin, and firmly resisted the continuance of the English li ...

, who was traveling in Europe. He died the following day, and his body was returned to Rhode Island for burial in Grace Church. ''The Episcopate in America''"> ''The Episcopate in America''
/ref> 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, was built as a memorial to him.

Notes

References

External links

Bibliographical listings of Henshaw's works
from

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ho ...

Sermon preached at Henshaw's consecration
by

William Rollinson Whittingham William Rollinson Whittingham (December 2, 1805 – October 17, 1879) was the fourth Episcopal Bishop of Maryland. Early life and career Whittingham was born in New York City, the son of Richard Whittingham and Mary Ann Rollinson Whittingham ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henshaw 1792 births 1852 deaths Anglican lay readers Harvard College alumni Middlebury College alumni 19th-century American Episcopalians Episcopal bishops of Rhode Island 19th-century American clergy