Daniel Denison

Major-General Daniel Denison (September 20, 1682) was an English-born military officer and politician who spent the majority of his life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Early life

He was the son of William Denison, an early settler of Roxbury, Massachusetts. He arrived in Roxbury with his parents in 1631, likely with the "apostle" Puritan Minister John Eliot, on the ship Lyon. Daniel Denison moved away in 1633 to become one of the first settlers of Cambridge. He married Patience Dudley, the daughter of Massachusetts Governor Thomas Dudley. He became a freeman of Cambridge on April 1, 1634, and served on the first Constable's committee to execute land allocation in the establishment of Cambridge (so ordered Feb. 3, 1634). He moved to Ipswich in 1635 to take up leadership responsibilities in the defense of the colony, and to develop a career in governance.

Career

In Ipswich he was elected deputy to the Massachusetts General Court in 1635–1637 and from 1640 to 1652. He was elected speaker of the General Court in 1649, 1651 and 1652. In 1643 the town of Ipswich granted him 200 acres of land.

He was captain of the first train band (militia company) of Ipswich in 1636. In 1644 he was chosen as the commander of the Essex Regiment of the Massachusetts Militia with the rank of sergeant major (equivalent to the modern rank of major). In 1653 he was appointed as sergeant major general (equivalent to the modern rank of major general) in command of the Massachusetts Militia.

In 1654 he was elected as one of the assistants on the Governor's Council and held that office until his death.

In May 1658 he was chosen by the General Court to codify the laws of the colony. As payment for this effort, he was granted one quarter of Block Island (now a part of Rhode Island).

In 1660 he was elected as a member of the Artillery Company of Massachusetts. He was elected for a one-year term as the Company's captain in June of the same year.

During King Philip's War in 1675 he was the commander of the Massachusetts Militia but was unable to serve in the field due to illness. Major Thomas Savage commanded the militia in his place.

He died in Ipswich on September 20, 1682, and is buried in the High Street Burial Ground in that town.