EDWARD RENSHAW, LT, USN

Edward Renshaw '47

Date of birth: 1824

Age: 33

Loss

Edward died on November 23, 1857 in Philadelphia. He was last stationed aboard the receiving ship Union, stationed in Philadelphia.

From “The Papers of Francis Gregory Dallas," a journal of a naval officer:

A friend of mine, Lt. Edward Renshaw, died near my rooms of consumption.

He was living ashore in Philadelphia at the time.

Other Information

From researcher Kathy Franz:

Edward was in Rye, Westchester County, New York, when he received orders in November 1846 to report to the Ohio. In January 1848, he requested that the Navy pay his passage cost of $125 for sailing on Captain John Oliver’s barque Stella. In a separate letter, he assured the Navy that he had forgotten that he owed a Mr. Bustis some debt after three years at sea but would pay him shortly. He then was in Annapolis, took leave to Quincy, Illinois, and in October, reported to the Fredonia.
In 1853 Edward requested to stay on the mail ship Ohio as he was only on board seven months and a circular from the Department stated service would be for 12 months. In 1855 he was detached from the San Jacinto and then lived in Brooklyn. He went to North Conway, New Hampshire, and reported that the mountain air helped him immensely but he still needed shore duty. He was sent to the receiving ship Union. In 1857, he was detached from the Cyane, and returned to New York on March 28 on the steamship Illinois from Aspinwall. In June he resided at Ritchfield Springs, New York, and in October, he felt better and was living in New York City. His physician thought the climate of California would improve his health. On November 21, Edward wrote from Philadelphia that he had another attack and was very ill, and he included a note from his physician. He died two days later. I believe the reason he is buried in the Chauncey mortuary chapel and tomb is that Mary Renshaw married Commodore Isaac Chauncey’s son Peter. He was a reverend at Christ’s Church in Rye for many years. Among their seven children born between 1835 and 1848, their daughter Mary and son James both had the middle name of Renshaw.

He was born in, and appointed to the Naval Academy from, New Jersey. He is buried in New York.

Career

From the Naval History and Heritage Command:

Midshipman, 4 November, 1841. Passed Midshipman, 10 August, 1847. Master, 14 September, 1855. Lieutenant, 15 September, 1855. Died 23 November, 1857.

Memorial Hall Error

Illness is not a criteria for inclusion in Memorial Hall.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.