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Richard Henry Dana, II

Male 1815 - 1882  (66 years)


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  • Name Richard Henry Dana 
    Suffix II 
    Born 1 Aug 1815  Cambridge, MA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 1882  Rome. Italy Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I09784  Sorensen-Remington Family Tree
    Last Modified 7 Aug 2018 

    Father Richard Henry Dana, I,   b. 15 Nov 1787, Cambridge, MA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Ruth Charlotte Smith,   b. Abt 1787, Taunton, MA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F03828  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Sarah Watson 
    Married 25 Aug 1841 
    Children 
     1. Sarah Watson Dana,   b. 12 Jun 1842, Roxbury, MA Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. Ruth Charlotte Dana,   b. 30 Jun 1844, Cambridge, MA Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Elizabeth Ellery Dana,   b. 3 Apr 1846, Boston, MA Find all individuals with events at this location
     4. Mary Rosamond Dana,   b. 1 Sep 1848, Cambridge, MA Find all individuals with events at this location
     5. Richard Henry Dana, III,   b. 3 Jan 1851, Cambridge, MA Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 16 Dec 1931, Cambridge, MA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 80 years)
     6. Angela Henrietta Channing Dana,   b. 22 Feb 1857, Boston, MA Find all individuals with events at this location
    Last Modified 7 Aug 2018 
    Family ID F03829  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • From "The Dana Family in America" p. 526:
      "He entered Harvard in 1831, but in 1834, having trouble with his eyes, he had to leave college. Compelled to give up all literary work he shipped before the mast as a seaman on the brig 'Pilgrim,' sailing around the Horn to California. After two years he returned on the 'Alert,' arriving in Boston, Sept. 19, 1836. He then re-entered Harvard College, graduating in 1837; LL.B. Harvard, 1839; admitted to the bar in 1840; honorary degrees; D.C.L., Hobart College, 1853; LL.D., Harvard, 1866.
      He was also very prominent in the protection of fugitive slaves, risking his life and career in their behalf.
      In 1840 he published "Two Years Before the Mast," an account of his voyage, which became famous. An author's edition was brought out in 1868 with a concluding chapter, "Twenty-Four Years After." He published many books and articles, among them "The Seaman's Friend," 1841, a London edition of which appeared in 1856. "To Cuba and Back" appeared in 1859.
      He was a member of the Constitutional Convention from Manchester, 1853, and a Representative from Cambridge to the General Court, 1867-68. He was an overseer of Harvard College, 1865-77. He was an Episcopalian, member of St. Paul's Church, Boston, became one of the founders of the Church of the Advent, Boston, 1843; a vestryman of that parish, 1843-81; and a trustee of St. Paul's School, Concord, N.H., 1866-82. He was considered a brilliant lecturer on judicial and political subjects.
      During his lifetime he made many trips abroad, visiting the Duke of Argyll at Inveraray, Scotland, in 1856, and making a tour of the world in 1859. He was a Fellow of the American Academy and a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. A biography of him was written by Hon. Charles Francis Adams in two volumes, 1890.