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).
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. 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.
In Cambridge, he served numerous posts in the local government, including selectman, constable, tythingman, and grand juror. He married Ann Bullard about 1648. The couple had eleven children, all born in Cambridge:
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)
Charles A. Dana (philanthropist) (1881–1975): businessman, politician, philanthropist, founder of the Dana Foundation and Dana Holding Corporation
Charles Anderson Dana (1819–1897): journalist, author, assistant Secretary of War (1864-1866)
Charles R. Dana (1802–1868): Mormon leader and politician
Charles S. Dana (1862–1939): Speaker of the Vermont House of Representatives
Daniel Dana (1771–1859): president of Dartmouth College
Edmund Trowbridge Dana (1818–1869): jurist
Edward Salisbury Dana (1849–1935): mineralogist, physicist
Francis Dana (1743–1811): member of the Continental Congress, signer of the Articles of Confederation
James Dana (clergyman) (1735–1812): pastor of the First Church in New Haven
James Dana (mayor) (1811–1890): mayor of Charlestown, Massachusetts
James Dwight Dana (1813–1895): geologist, mineralogist, zoologist, volcanologist
John Cotton Dana (1856–1929): librarian and museum director
John W. Dana (1808–1867): Governor of Maine
Joseph Dana (1742–1827): clergyman
Judah Dana (1772–1845): US Senator
Lowell Dana (1891–1937): college football coach
Napoleon J.T. Dana (1822–1905): American general during the Civil War and the Spanish–American War
Paul Dana (journalist) (1852–1930): journalist
Richard Dana (lawyer) (1699–1772): colonial Boston politician, a founder of the Sons of Liberty
Richard Henry Dana, Sr. (1787–1879): lawyer, poet, critic
Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (1815–1882): lawyer, politician, author (Two Years Before the Mast)
Richard Henry Dana III (1851–1931): lawyer, civil service reformer, husband of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's daughter
Samuel Dana (1767–1835): US Representative
Samuel Dana (clergyman) (1739–1798): clergyman, judge, politician
Samuel Luther Dana (1795–1868): chemist
Samuel W. Dana (1760–1830): US Senator and US Representative
Other notable descendants:
Charles Dana Gibson (1867–1944): graphic artist, created the "Gibson Girl"
Samuel Dana Bell (1798–1868): politician and judge
Samuel Newell Bell (1829–1889): US Representative
William Dana Ewart (1851-1908): Inventor of the Link Belt and founder of the Link-Belt Construction Equipment Company
