Col. George H. Dana Biography from History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire
From: Betsy Webber - betsy@megalink.net

Surname: DANA
Source:  History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens
          by Charles A. Hazlett, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill., 1915

Page 1141

     COL. GEORGE H. DANA, a retired East India merchant residing in
Newport, N. H., was born in Boston, Mass., September 2, 1837. Son of the
late Francis Dana, Jr., M. D., for many years a practicing physician in Bos-
ton and Cambridge, he comes of old and honored Colonial stock, being a
member of the Massachusetts family of this name that has given to the coun-
try so many citizens of worth and distinction. In an article recently pub-
1ished in Munsey's Magazine it is well stated that "of all American families
there are few that can compare, in number of men eminent in various spheres,
with the Danas." Its founder was Richard Dana, who settled at Cambridge,
Mass., about 1640. Continuing the quotation: "The lives and records of 
those of his progeny who have perpetuated the family name are interwoven
with the very life of the nation. They were soldiers and statesmen: hands
that helped to lay the corner-stone of the republic; patriots who rallied at
Bunker Hill, who responded again to the call of freedom in 1812, and who
in our Civil War hastened to attest their right to the family Dame by a dis-
play of the heroic spirit of their sires."
     Daniel Dana, the fourth son of Richard, owned at one time the greater
part of Cambridge. This possession was divided among his children. Rich-
ard, the son of Daniel, was a prominent jurist and patriot. He died in 1772.
His son, Francis, Sr., was the first chief justice of Massachusetts, and was
first United States minister to Russia. He married Elizabeth, daughter of
William Ellery, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He had three
children -- Francis, Edmund, and Richard Henry. The latter was one of the
founders of the North American Review and author of the "Buccaneer," etc.

Page 1142 

The eldest son, Francis, was a merchant, and spent many years in Russia
and Hamburg. He married Sophia, daughter of President Willard of Har-
vard College, whose wife was Mary, daughter of Jacob Sheafe of Ports-
mouth, N. H., and had by her four children-Sophia (afterward wife of
George Ripley, literary editor of the New York Tribune), Mary Elizabeth,
Francis, and Joseph.
     Francis Dana, Jr., the father of the Colonel, graduated from Harvard
College, as did his father before him. He took up the study of medicine at
the Harvard Medical School, and became a physician of high rank in Boston
and Cambridge. He married Isabella, daughter of Moses Hazen White, and
granddaughter of Dr. John Frink, of Rutland, Mass. In religion he was an
Episcopalian. He lived to the age of 66 years. Of his four children Francis
and William died young. The others are: Isabella; who resides in Boston,
and George H.
     Before the war of the Rebellion George H. Dana was engaged in mer-
cantile pursuits in the East Indies. He returned to his native land in 1861
to join the Northern forces. enlisting in the Thirty-second Massachusetts
Regiment as second lieutenant. During the war he engaged in twenty-seven
battles, and was seriously wounded in the arm at the battle of Gettysburg.
For one year he was on detailed duty, and during a part of that time served
on the staff of his cousin, General N. J. T. Dana, who was commander of
the department of West Mississippi. He was made lieutenant-colonel for his
meritorious conduct and bravery in battle, and his military record is an honor
to himself and to his noble lineage. At the close of the war he resumed his
business relations with his partners in the East Indies, and remained there
until 187O. Returning to the United States, he took up his residence in New-
port, N. H., spending his summers at Lake Sunapee, where he has large real
estate interests.
     Colonel Dana was married in 1865 to Frances Matson Burke. daughter
of Edmund Burke, of Newport. Her father was an eminent lawyer, a mem-
ber of Congress, and a political writer of national importance. He was com-
missioner of patents under the administration of President Polk. To Colonel
and Mrs. Dana one son has been born, the fifth Francis. He is a graduate
of the Harvard Law School and a member of the Suffolk County bar.   After
two years spent in the practice of his profession he accepted a professorship
at St. Paul's School at Concord. He is a man of brilliant literary attain-
ments, and has already published many well-received stories and poems. His
first novel, Leonora of the Yawmish, was published in 1897 by Harper
Brothers.
     Col. Dana's residence is in Portsmouth for the present, and the fact that
he is the great great grandson of Jacob Sheafe entitles him to a place in this
record of Rockingham County.

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