Francis Dana (June 13, 1743 – April 25, 1811) was an American Founding Father, lawyer, jurist, and statesman from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He served as a delegate to the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

in 1777–1778 and 1784. A signer of the

Articles of Confederation The Articles of Confederation, officially the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, was an agreement and early body of law in the Thirteen Colonies, which served as the nation's first Constitution, frame of government during the Ameri ...

, he was secretary to the diplomatic mission that negotiated the end of the American Revolution, and was appointed Minister to Russia. He later served as a member of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts and served as the chief justice for 15 years. Dana's wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Ann Remington and

William Ellery William Ellery (December 22, 1727 – February 15, 1820) was a Founding Father of the United States, one of the 56 signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, and a signer of the Articles of Confederation as a representative of Rho ...

, a signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

. He was also the father-in-law of Washington Allston, a noted painter and poet.

Biography

Francis was born in

Charlestown, Massachusetts Charlestown is the oldest Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Also called Mishawum by the Massachusett, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Bost ...

, the son of lawyer Richard Dana. He was educated at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

where he graduated in 1762, then read law and was admitted to the bar, after which he built a successful legal practice in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Being an opponent of the British colonial policy, he became a leader of the

Sons of Liberty The Sons of Liberty was a loosely organized, clandestine, sometimes violent, political organization active in the Thirteen American Colonies founded to advance the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. It p ...

and was first elected to Massachusetts' provincial (revolutionary) Congress in 1774. In 1775 the Continental Congress dispatched him to England in an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the differences leading to the Revolutionary War. He returned the following year, convinced that a friendly settlement of the dispute was impossible, and was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777, where he signed the Articles of Confederation in 1778. As a member of the latter body, he became chairman in January 1778 of the committee appointed to visit General

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

Valley Forge Valley Forge was the winter encampment of the Continental Army, under the command of George Washington, during the American Revolutionary War. The Valley Forge encampment lasted six months, from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778. It was the t ...

and confer with him concerning the reorganization of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

. This committee spent about three months in camp and assisted Washington in preparing the plan of reorganization which Congress in the main adopted. In this year, he was also a member of a committee to consider Lord North's offer of conciliation, which he vigorously opposed. Dana left the Congress to accompany

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

to Paris as a secretary to the diplomatic delegation. In 1780, he was named as American minister to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, and while he never gained official recognition from

Catherine the Great Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter I ...

, he remained in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

until 1783. After his return, he was again elected to the national Congress in 1784. In 1785, Dana was appointed to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts and served there until 1806 as the chief justice after 1791. An earnest advocate of the adoption of the Federal constitution, he was a member of the state convention which ratified it in 1788 and was one of the most influential advisers of the leaders of the

Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a conservativeMultiple sources: * * * * * * * * and nationalist American political party and the first political party in the United States. It dominated the national government under Alexander Hamilton from 17 ...

, specifically its Essex Junto. In 1792, Dana became a stockholder in a company that was formed to build a bridge to Cambridgeport over the

Charles River The Charles River (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ), sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles, is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, Hopkinton to Boston along a highly me ...

. This became the West Boston Bridge, later the site of the Longfellow Bridge that exists today. The bridge was opened in November 1793. Dana generally retired from public life in 1806. He was a charter member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1780 and actively supported the growth of Harvard University. His son, Richard Henry Dana Sr., was an important poet and literary critic as well as a lawyer. His grandson,

Richard Henry Dana Jr. Richard Henry Dana Jr. (August 1, 1815 – January 6, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of a colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the classic American memoir ''Two Years Before the Mast'' a ...

, was a noted lawyer and author who served as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts and wrote the classic '' Two Years Before the Mast'' (1840).

Death and legacy

Dana died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Massachusetts, on April 25, 1811, and is buried in Cambridge's Old Burying Ground. The former town of Dana, Massachusetts, was named for him. The Belchertown subdivision Dana Hill is, in turn, named for the former town. Six streets in Cambridge, MA are named for Dana or his relatives: Remington St, Kinnaird St, Ellery St, Allston St, Trowbridge St, and Dana St.Cambridge Chronicle 31 January 1920 https://cambridge.dlconsulting.com/?a=d&d=Chronicle19200131-01.2.139&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------

Notes

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dana, Francis 1743 births 1811 deaths Harvard University alumni Continental Congressmen from Massachusetts Signers of the Articles of Confederation Chief justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Massachusetts Federalists People from Charlestown, Boston Ambassadors of the United States to the Russian Empire Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Lawyers from Cambridge, Massachusetts Huguenot participants in the American Revolution People from colonial Boston U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American lawyers Founding Fathers of the United States Burials at Old Burying Ground (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

Biography

Death and legacy

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links