Capt. William Dana, Jr.

A Patriot of the American Revolution for MASSACHUSETTS with the rank of CAPTAIN. DAR Ancestor #: A029500

• a reader who is interested in an exhaustive history of the Danas is referred to: THE DANA FAMILY by Elizabeth Ellery Dana (Cambridge MA 1956)

• from a family genealogy "Archbold" by Don Lorenzo Stevens (1976)

Captain William Dana b. 9-29-1745 in Little Cambridge(now Brighton) Mass. Sergeant under Col. Artemas Ward at the Battle of Lexington. Later, Captain of artillery from Worcester under General Knox; Fought at Bunker Hill. Under General Knox, he served in several campaigns, including Battles of Kingsbridge and White Plains (New York).

Married Mary Bancroft, Pepperhill, 11/28/1770. Owned a house in Charlestown in 1770/?. WIth his wife and daughter Elizabeth he moved to Worcester where he bought a farm about 1775. In 1778 he sold his farm advantageously but for Continental money. As a result he was impoverished and had to give up his commission, moving with his family to Amherst, New Hampshire, where he rented a farm. He also did carpentry and was a deputy sheriff.

Went to Marietta Ohio in 1788 accompanied by his sons Luther and William, arriving two months after the first pioneers. Settled for a time in Marietta, while his wife and daughter Mary, than an infant, remained in Amherst, He joined the Belpre Associates and drew a good location in the upper settlement. With the aid of his sons, he built a rude hut and opened the forest along the river. He left behind his sons aged 13 and 15 and returned to New Hampshire. In 1789 he set out with his family in an ox cart, leading a cow, and accompanied by his new son-in-law, Joseph Barker, on horseback. Elizabeth Barker accompanied then to Belpre. His property has since been know as the Dana Farm. During the Indian Wars he lived in the "Farmers Castle". He died Belpre 10-30-1809.

• 11 children in all:

1. Elizabeth (1771-1835)
2. Luther (1773-1813)
3. William (1775-1851)
4. Edmund Bancroft (1778-1835)
5. Stephen (1779-1834)
6. John (1780-1817)
7. Charles (1782-1817)
8. Mary (1786-1871)
9. George (1790-1865)
10. Frances White (1793-1812)
11. Augustus (unk.-1872/3)

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GEDCOM Note

!Service: stationed a mile or so from Charlestown at the battle of Bunker Hill, and revieved orders from General Putnam to hasten to the field. But it was too late and he met his countrymen on the Neck on their retreat.
!Life: afer the war, settled at Belpre on the Ohio River, 12 miles below Marietta, the first settlement in the Northwest.