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Descriptive Summary

Repository: Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
Location: b
Call No.: MS Am 2097
Creator: Dana family.
Title: Dana family financial records,
Date(s): 1757-1929 (inclusive) 1767-1811 (bulk).
Quantity: 1 box (.5 linear ft.)
Abstract: Primarily invoices and receipts of Francis Dana, member of the Continental Congress and Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court.

Processing Information:

Acquisition Information:

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Preferred Citation for Publication:

Historical Note

The Dana family was prominent in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Francis Dana (1743-1811), son of Richard Dana, was a Massachusetts revolutionary leader, member of the Continental Congress, unofficial United States Minister to Russia, and Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. Edmund Trowbridge was Francis Dana's brother in law. Francis Dana's son, Richard Henry Dana (1787-1879) was a literary scholar and edited the periodical, Idle Man. Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (1815-1882) was the United States Attorney for Massachusetts during the Civil War and author of Two years before the mast. Richard Henry Dana III, (1851-1931) was a lawyer and civil service reformer.

Arrangement

Organized into two series:

• I. Dana family papers
  • A. Financial records
  • B. Letters
• II. Other papers
  • A. Financial records
  • B. Letters

Scope and Content

The collection primarily contains invoices and receipts of Francis Dana and other Dana family members as well as invoices and receipts of Francis Dana's contemporaries including Israel Thorndike. There is correspondence of the Dana family members including letters from William Cullen Bryant to Richard Henry Dana as well as correspondence between Richard Henry Dana III and William Penn Cresson about the latter's biography, Francis Dana, a Puritan in the court of Catherine the Great. Finally, there is a small amount of correspondence and other materials received with the collection whose relationship to the Dana family is unclear.

Container List

• Series: I. Dana family papers.
  • A. Financial Records.
    • (1) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1767-1768. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Miles Greenwood and Mary Hordec.
    • (2) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1773-1777. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Ezra Eames, Reuben Eames, Benjamin Frothingham, and William How [?].
    • (3) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1781-1789. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Ezra Eames, Reuben Eames, John Edmands, Richard Everett, Eben Frothingham, Benjamin Lincoln, and William McCarthy.
    • (4) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1791-1799. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Samuel Bradstreet, [ ] Drake, Ezra Eames, Moses Eames, Ebenezer Eaton, Edmund Eaton, Thom Edmunds, John Fowle, [ ] French, Walter Frost, Charles Frothingham, Richard Frothingham, Stephen Goddard, William Godding, Samuel Gore, John Hobby, Abel Perry, and Joshua Stickney.
    • (5) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1784-1789. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Samuel Eliot, William Fox, and William McCarthy.
    • (6) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1801-1803. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Samuel Eliot, James N. Foster, Walter Frost, Nathaniel Frothingham, Samuel Gore, Moses Grant, Fuller V. Lyon [?], Robert Runey, and Nathan Shed.
    • (7) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1804-1805. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Walter Frost, Nathaniel Frothingham, Oliver Fuller, Moses Grant, Zachary Green, Richard Gridley, and Arnold Runey.
    • (8) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1806. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Ebenezer Bridge, Moses Grant, Zachary Green, Richard Gridley, Benjamin Grover, and Edward Hastings.
    • (9) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1807-1809. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with James Dennis, Samuel P.P. Fay, Jonathan Foster, William Frost, Mitch Ganning, Richard Gridley, Benjamin Grover, Aaron Parker, John Putnam, and Israel Thorndike.
    • (10) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Invoices and receipts, 1810-1811. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts from Nathan Barker, Ebenezer Bridge, Joseph Dana, David L. Eaton, [Ephm?] L. Eliot, Ellis & Green, Samuell P. P. Fay, Walter Frost, Nathan Cutter Kimball, William Smith, Israel Thorndike, and John Palmer Wiswall.
    • (11) Dana, Richard, 1700-1772. Invoices, 1768-1772. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices with Moses Gill and Scott & Gill.
    • (12) Trowbridge, Edmund. Invoices and receipts, 1777-1806. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Elizabeth Bisco, Samuel Blanchard, Joseph Dunn, Ezra Eames, Thomas Kidder, and Aaron Parker.
  • B. Letters.
    • (13) Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878. Letters to Richard Henry Dana, 1826-1840. 1 folder.
    • (14) Dana, Francis, 1743-1811. Letter to Nathaniel Bowditch, 1805. 1 folder.
    • (15) Dana, Richard Henry, 1851-1931. Letters to W. P. (William Penn) Cresson, 1927-1929. 1 folder.
      Letters are about Cresson's biography of Francis Dana, Francis Dana, a Puritan diplomat at the court of Catherine the Great.
    • (16) Hayes, Augustus Allen, 1806-1882. Letter to Richard Henry Dana, 1848. 1 folder.
    • (17) Knox, Henry, 1750-1806. Letters to Francis Dana [?], 1802. 1 folder.
    • (18) Livingston, Robert R., 1746-1813. Letter to Richard Henry Dana, 1783. 1 folder.

• Series: II. Other papers.
  • A. Financial records.
    • (19) Dunn, James. Invoices and receipts, 1769-1801 and undated. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Accott Balithar, Samuel Dunn, John Griffin, William Holmes, [ ] Getney, John Godfrey, John MacLean, John Marthis, William North, and Thomas Simonton.
    • (20) Mayo, Eben. Invoices and receipts, 1778-1790. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with Nathaniel Frost and Simon Mayo.
    • (21) Pool & Clarke. Invoices and receipts, 1764-1769. 1 folder.
      Includes invoices and receipts with John Newell, John Nikerson, Joseph Payson, William Phillips, Joshua Pico, Robert Pierpont, Post Office at Boston, David Rogers, and Thomas Russell.
    • (22) Miscellaneous invoices and receipts, 1793-1807. 1 folder.
      Includes:

      • Bridge, [Ebenezer?]. Notes.
      • [Comp?] Institute. Invoice to [ ].
      • Fosdick, Nathanel. Promissory note with John Milliken and William Myrick.
      • Gilkey, John. Receipt with John Patterson.
      • Hobby, Jonathan. Note.
      • Hubbs, William. Receipt with John Robbins.
      • Keith, Scot. Invoice from Israel Keith.
      • Longfellow, Stephen. Writ orderingDudley Perkins to remit on his debts.
      • Merrill, Moses. Invoice from Samuel Parkman.
      • Perkins, Dudley. Invoice from John Watson.
  • B. Letters.
    • (23) Bromfield, Henry, 1727-1820. Letter to Daniel Rogers, 1820. 1 folder.
    • (24) Castillo, Jose del. Form letter, 1835. 1 folder.
      Letter explaining that Castillo is relinquishing his interests in Castillo & Nephew to his nephews.
    • (25) Pearson, Sarah. Letter to Henry Bromfield, 1828. 1 folder.
    • (26) Priest, John. Letter to Phineas Fairbanks, 1757. 1 folder.
      With note "a copy of what we delivered to Phineas Faribanks the church which afterward was lain before the Council in Harvard, Sept. 6 1757."