The Dana family is a Boston Brahmin family that arrived in Cambridge, Massachusetts from England during the later end of the Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640).

Richard Dana, immigrant

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The patriarch, Richard Dana (c.1620—1690) was said to have been born in France. A Huguenot, he would have fled to England as a result of the Edict of Restitution of 1629, and subsequently emigrated to New England, settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts by 1640.[1][2][3] However there is no evidence that any Dana was among the Huguenots that fled to England, and there was a Richard Dana born in Manchester, England in 1617 who is the right age and disappears from English records before Richard Dana arrives in Cambridge.[4]

In Cambridge, he served numerous posts in the local government, including selectman, constable, tythingman, and grand juror.[5] He married Ann Bullard about 1648.[6] The couple had fourteen children, all born in Cambridge:[7]

  • John (1649–1650)
  • Hannah (1651–1728), baptized as Anne, married Samuel Oldham
  • Samuel (1653–1653)
  • Jacob (1654–1698), married Patience Sabin
  • Joseph (1656–1700), married Mary Gobell. Abiah's twin brother.
  • Abiah (1656–1668), Joseph's twin brother.
  • Benjamin (1660–1738), married Mary Buckminster.
  • Elizabeth (1662–1702), married Daniel Woodward. Unlike her siblings, she moved to Connecticut.
  • Daniel (1663–1749), married Naomi Croswell. Most of the famous Danas of Massachusetts come from Daniel Dana.
  • Deliverance (1667–1741), married Samuel Hyde.
  • Sarah (1669–1669)

Notable Danas descended from Richard Dana

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Other notable descendants:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Samuel Atkins Eliot (1913). A History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1913. Cambridge Tribune. p. 189.
  2. ^ Hannah Winthrop Chapter (1907). An Historic Guide to Cambridge. p. 165.
  3. ^ Sprague, W. B. (1866). The Life of Daniel Dana. Boston, MA: J. E. Tilton. pp. 269-273. dana family.
  4. ^ Dana, Elizabeth Ellery (1956). The Dana Family in America. Wright & Potter Printing Company, 32 Derne Street, Boston. pp. 9–37.
  5. ^ Dana, Elizabeth Ellery (1956). The Dana Family in America. Wright & Potter Printing Company, 32 Derne Street, Boston. pp. 44–46.
  6. ^ Clarence Almon Torrey; Elizabeth Petty Bentley (1 January 1985). New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Genealogical Publishing Com. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-8063-1102-9.
  7. ^ Dana, Elizabeth Ellery (1956). The Dana Family in America. Wright & Potter Printing Company, 32 Derne Street, Boston. pp. 48–52.