Richard Dana

Richard Dana (June 26, 1700 – May 17, 1772) was a prominent lawyer and politician in colonial Massachusetts, and member of the Dana family.

Early life

Dana was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on June 26, 1700. He was the son of Daniel Dana (1664–1749) and Naomi (née Croswell) Dana (1670–1751). The Dana family was prominent in colonial Massachusetts and their family's coat of arms was three stags separated by a chevron, with a fox at the crest.

Career Dana became a prominent lawyer and during the early stages of the Revolution, the city of Boston depended on his legal advice, serving as a member of the committee that investigated the Boston Massacre in 1770. He served one term in the Massachusetts Assembly, representing Marblehead in 1738. Henry Dana (b. 1741) Francis Dana (1743–1811), a delegate to the Continental Congress who signed the Articles of Confederation and later served as Ambassador to Russia. and the great-grandfather of Edmund Trowbridge Dana (1818–1869) and Richard Henry Dana Jr. (1815–1882), also a noted lawyer and author who served as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts and wrote the classic Two Years Before the Mast.