Samuel Whittlesey Dana (February 13, 1760July 21, 1830) was an American lawyer and politician from Middletown, Connecticut. He represented

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

Biography

Born in Wallingford in the Connecticut Colony, Dana matriculated

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1771 at age 11, and graduated in 1775 at age 15. He studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1778, and practiced in Middletown, Connecticut.

Family

His father was the clergyman James Dana (1735–1812), who was a nephew of Richard Dana (1699–1772), a lawyer, who was in turn a descendant through Caleb, second son of Daniel, who was the youngest son of Richard Dana, who came from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, settled in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

in 1640, and died there about 1695. According to the family tradition, this last Richard was the son of a French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

that settled in England in 1629. On July 13, 1821 Dana married Mary (or Maria) Pomeroy Alsop, the widow of the poet Richard Alsop (1761-1815). Maria was the daughter of Eleazer Wheelock Pomeroy (1739-1793) and Mary Wyllys (1742-1783). Her brother Samuel Wyllys Pomeroy was the founder of the town of Pomeroy Ohio, developed with the help of his son-in-law Valentine Baxter Horton (1802-1888), who married Clara Alsop Pomeroy, who was a niece-by-marriage of Mr. Dana. The bimetalist Samuel Dana Horton (1844-1895) was named after Mr. Dana, who was Valentine Baxter Horton's law tutor. Samuel Dana Horton

Career

Dana was a member of the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

from 1789 to 1796. Afterward he was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

Uriah Tracy Uriah Tracy (February 2, 1755July 19, 1807) was an American lawyer and politician from Connecticut. He served in the US House of Representatives (1793 to 1796) and the US Senate (1796 to 1807). From May to November 1800, Tracy served as Preside ...

, and served from January 3, 1797 to May 10, 1810. There he was chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Elections, and was one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1798 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against

William Blount William Blount (March 26, 1749March 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, statesman, farmer and land speculator who signed the United States Constitution. He was a member of the North Carolina delegation at the Constitutional Convention o ...

, a Senator from Tennessee. Dana was elected as a Federalist in 1810 to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

James Hillhouse James Hillhouse (October 20, 1754 – December 29, 1832) was an American lawyer, real estate developer, and politician from New Haven, Connecticut. He represented the state in both chambers of the US Congress. From February to March 1801, Hill ...

. He was reelected in 1814 and served from December 4, 1810, to March 3, 1821. He was one of the 13 Senators who voted against war with Britain on June 17, 1812, but 19 Senators voted for war. In 1814, Dana was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society i ...

. Dana was mayor of Middletown from 1822 until his death in 1830. He was also the presiding judge of the

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

County Court from 1825 until his death.

Death

Dana died in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut, July 21, 1830 (age 70 years, 158 days). He is interred at Washington Street Cemetery, Middletown.''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress''
/ref>

References

External links

American National Biography The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Le ...

Dictionary of American Biography The ''Dictionary of American Biography'' was published in New York City by Charles Scribner's Sons under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). History The dictionary was first proposed to the Council in 1920 by hi ...

* Dana, Samuel Whittlesey resumed author ''A Specimen of Republican Institutions''. Philadelphia: James Humphreys, 1802. * * * *
Govtrack US Congress

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dana, Samuel W. 1760 births 1830 deaths People from Wallingford, Connecticut United States senators from Connecticut Federalist Party United States senators Mayors of Middletown, Connecticut Yale College alumni Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut Members of the American Antiquarian Society People of colonial Connecticut American people of English descent House impeachment managers