William Dana (1745 - 1809)

Born 29 Sep 1745 in Little Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Colonial America

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Bancroft) Dana — married 28 Nov 1770 in Pepperell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Colonial America

Descendants

Died 30 Oct 1809 at age 64 in Belpre Township, Washington County, Ohio, United States of America

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Terri Rick [send private message] and Bob Fields [send private message]

THIS PROFILE IS ASSOCIATION WITH THE SOUTHERN COLONY PROJECT

FOUNDER OF BELPRE, WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO

Biography

Captain William Dana served with Massachusetts during the American Revolution.

William Dana is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A029500.

William Dana is the son of William Dana and Mary Greene as evidenced by the Town Records for Cambridge in Middlesex County of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Birth record appears on page 31.

William Dana was paid by the town of Worcester for transporting a cannon from Boston to Dorchester in Oct. 1774. He was a Sergeant in Capt. Timothy Bigelow's Co, of Minutemen, Col. Artemas Ward's regiment, which marched to Cambridge on the Lexington alarm, April 19, 1775. Later in the same month he was commissioned Lieutenant in the artillery company of Capt. Edward Crafts, and on June 26, 1775, recommended to the Provincial Congress to be Captain-lieutenant in Col. Richard Gridley's Reg. He served in the siege of Boston in Gen. Henry Knox's Reg. of artillery from Dec. 10, 1775 to Dec 1776, taking part in the engagements at White Plains and King's Bridge in 1776. From May 1776 for a year he lived on a farm which he leased in Sutton, returning to Worcester in the spring of 1778, where he was chosen a member of the committee of correspondence, and was re-elected in 1779. In 1780, having met with financial loss on account of the depreciation of the Continental currency, he removed to Amherst, NH, and was a resident there for about nine years, and was deputy Sheriff. He was chosen a member of the Amherst committee to enlist soldiers fro the Continental Army in 1782.

Marriage 1 Mary Bancroft b: 19 NOV 1752 in Pepperell, Middlesex, MA. died December 31, 1831 in Belpre, Washington Co., OH Married: 28 NOV 1770 in Pepperell, Middlesex, MA

Children

1. Elizabeth Dana b: 09 OCT 1770 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony died 1835 in Belpre Township, Washington County, Ohio

2. Luther Dana b: 22 SEP 1773 in Worcester, Worcester, MA. died December 22, 1813 in Newport Ohio. He married Grace Stone March 17, 1799 in Belpre, Ohio

3. William Dana b: 16 AUG 1775 in Worcester, Worcester, MA. died June 24, 1851 in Newport, Ohio.

4. Edmund Bancroft Dana b: 1778 in Worcester, Worcester, MA. died December 12, 1835 in Rainbow, Washington Co., Ohio

5. Stephen Dana b: NOV 1779 in Worcester, Worcester, MA. died June 06, 1834 in Newport, Ohio. He married Betsey Marietta Foster April 14, 1807 in Mass

6. John Dana b: 1781 in Amherst, Hampshire, MA. died Bef. 1827. He married Catherine Walton 1810.

Dana removed himself and his wife to Charleston then moved to Worchester shortly before the Battle of Lexington. He joined the army as a captain selling his property for Continental currency. The South having lost the war, devalued his currency to noting forcing him to not re-enlist. He took up a job as a farmhand in Amherst New Hampshire while also plying his skills as a carpenter. ^[1]

7. Charles Dana b: 1785 in Hillsboro, Hillsborough, NH. died February 19, 1819.Burial: Belpre, Washington Co., Ohio

8. Mary Dana b: 18 SEP 1786 in Amherst, Hampshire, MA. died March 21, 1871 in Marietta, Washington Co., Ohio. She married Caleb Emerson July 29, 1810 in Marietta, Ohio

Dana left his family in New Hampshire when he accompanied his two oldest sons to Ohio is 1788. He was the first man to make brick in Marietta.

In May of 1788 Capt. Dana removed to the new territory owned by the Ohio Land Company intending to be a settler. He established his home in Farmers Castle located in Belpre and his family joined him in 1789. He is considered a Pioneer settler of Marietta, OH.^[2][3]

9. George Dana b: 18 MAR 1790 in Belpre, Washington, OH. died April 06, 1865 in Belpre, Washington Co., Ohio. He married Deborah Ames Fisher September 22, 1816 in Belpre, Washington Co., Ohio

In 1792 There were 13 families considered permanent with substantial heads of families that settled in Farmers Castle (Belpre). William Dana is listed with Captain John Leavens. Listed with William are is wife and eight of his children, those being: Edmond, Stephen, John, Charles and Augustus; Betsy, Mary and Fanny.^[4]

10. Frances White Dana b: 1792 in OH. died 1813. She married Charles Shipman November 12, 1811

11. Augustus Dana b: 1798 in Belpre, Washington, OH. died March 22, 1873 in Clinton, Missouri. He married Polly Burch. Augustus Dana was a river pilot and captain, a genial and friendly man. He removed to Missouri in 1835. He was a staunch Union man when his neighbors took the side of the Confederacy.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Page 500, Williams
2. ↑ Page 32, Dickenson
3. ↑ Page 52, Williams
4. ↑ Page 23, Dickinson
5. ↑ Entered by Bob Fields.

• http://www.newportohiohistory.com/subpage137.html

• "The Dana Family in America" by Elizabeth Ellery Dana, Cambridge, Massachusetts, unknown pub. 1956

• Find A Grave: Memorial #6267197 memorial page for Capt William Dana (29 Sep 1745–30 Oct 1809), Find a Grave Memorial ID 6267197, citing Cedarville Cemetery, Washington County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by Tonya Toothman (contributor 46525845) .

• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=giovo-bodigoi&id=I23026

• Dickinson, C. E., and Samuel P. Hildreth. A History of Belpre, Washington County, Ohio,. Parkersburg: Pub. for the Author by Globe Print. & Binding, 1920. Print.

• No. 612, pg 195-197 - Hollister Family of America compiled by Lafayette Wallace Case, MD 1886 - https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=5eNUAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA1

• 1788-1881: History of Washington County, Ohio: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. Apollo: H. Z. Williams, 1881, 1992. 500. Reprint.

• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHQG-7Q5 : 13 July 2016), William Dana and Mary Bancroft, 28 Nov 1770; citing Marriage, Pepperell, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 763,904.

• "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4JK-JVD : 13 July 2016), William Dana, 29 Sep 1745; citing Birth, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 893,860.

• Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 24 May 2022), "Record of William Dana", Ancestor # A029500.