COLLECTION GUIDES

1654-1950

Guide to the Collection


Collection Summary

Creator: Dana family
Title: Dana family papers
Dates: 1654-1950
Physical Description: 89 document boxes, 293 bound volumes (9 extra tall), and 2 oversize boxes
Call Number: Ms. N-1088
Call Number: Special Colls. Washington Allston sketch books (vols. 177-180 only)
Microfilm Call Number: P-646, 6 reels (microfilm) (vols. 1-25, 39-103 only)
Microfilm Call Number: P-202, 2 reels (microfilm) (Washington Allston papers only)
Repository:
Massachusetts Historical Society
1154 Boylston StreetBoston, MA 02215library@masshist.org

Abstract

This collection consists of the personal and official documents of Francis Dana, Massachusetts revolutionary leader, minister to Russia, and chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; Richard Henry Dana, noted poet and essayist; Richard Henry Dana, Jr., author and United States attorney for Massachusetts during the Civil War; Richard Henry Dana III, civil service reformer; and other family members.

Biographical Sketches

Francis Dana (1743-1811), Massachusetts revolutionary leader, Continental Congressman, unofficial United States minister to the Russia of Catherine the Great, and chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Richard Henry Dana (1787-1879), son of Francis Dana, poet, essayist, literary scholar, and editor of the periodical Idle Man.

Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (1815-1882), anti-slavery lawyer, United States attorney for Massachusetts during the Civil War, and author of Two Years Before the Mast (1840).

Richard Henry Dana III (1851-1931), lawyer, civil service reformer, and author of the Massachusetts Ballot Act of 1888, the first Australian ballot law enacted in the United States.

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Collection Description

The Dana family papers, 1654-1950, consist of 89 boxes, 293 bound volumes, and 2 oversize boxes of 17th, 18th, and 19th century official documents. The collection contains primarily the papers of four generations of the distinguished Dana family: Francis Dana, Richard Henry Dana, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and Richard Henry Dana III. Other family members of importance represented in the collection include: Richard Dana (1700-1772), Edmund Trowbridge (1709-1793), Edmund Dana (1739-1823), Luther Dana (1763-1832), Washington Allston (1779-1843), Edmund Trowbridge Dana (1779-1859), Martha Remington Dana Allston (1784-1862), Elizabeth Ellery Dana (1789-1874), Sarah Ann Dana (1791-1866), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), Ruth Charlotte Dana (1814-1901), Sarah Watson Dana (1814-1907), Edmund Trowbridge Dana, Jr. (1818-1869), Elizabeth Ellery Dana II (1846-1939), Frances Longfellow Dana (1853-1915), Helen Sherwood Ford Mumford Dana (1865-1934), Richard Henry Dana IV (1879-1933), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana (1881-1950), and Edmund Trowbridge Dana III (b. 1886). Also in the collection is a small body of papers of statesman Harrison Gray Otis (1765-1848), a Dana client and friend.

As the Dana papers were acquired over a period of 41 years, the Massachusetts Historical Society has elected to maintain the integrity of each donation by arranging the material into twelve distinct series, organized mostly by family member.

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Acquisition Information

Gift of the Dana family.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

I. Dana family papers I, 1654-1933

This series consists of correspondence, legal documents, miscellaneous notes, lectures, speeches, clippings, and printed material. Subseries A contains general family correspondence. Subseries B-G are arranged by family member.

A. General correspondence, 1654-1933

Box 1 of this subseries contains 17th and 18th century legal documents, including some belonging to Richard Dana and Edmund Trowbridge. Boxes 2-4 contain almost exclusively the correspondence and legal papers of Francis Dana. Among his more notable correspondents were: John Adams (1735-1826), Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), Robert R. Livingston (1746-1813), and Theophilus Parsons (1750-1813). Some Francis Dana material can also be found in boxes 1 and 5.

Boxes 5-15 contain primarily the correspondence of Richard Henry Dana, 1811-1860. His letters are mostly to and from Dana family members, although there is also correspondence with William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), Edward Tyrrel Channing (1790-1856), Caleb Sprague Henry (1804-1884), George Ticknor (1791-1871), and Gulian Crommelin Verplanck (1786-1870). In addition, there are Richard Henry Dana letters in boxes 16-23.

Boxes 6-23 contain the correspondence of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., with the greatest concentration of his letters in boxes 16-23. His important correspondents included: Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886), Louis Agassiz (1807-1873), George Douglas Campbell, Duke of Argyll (1823-1900), George Bancroft (1800-1891), William Maxwell Evarts (1818-1901), William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894), James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), William Henry Seward (1801-1872), Charles Sumner (1811-1874), and Anthony Trollope (1815-1882).

The papers of Richard Henry Dana III are located in boxes 16-33. The bulk of his letters is concentrated in boxes 25-33 and covers the years 1884-1931. His most notable correspondents were: Charles Francis Adams, Jr. (1835-1915), Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1851-1921), Charles William Eliot (1834-1926), Daniel Chester French (1850-1931), Henry Lee Higginson (1834-1919), William Lawrence (1850-1941), Henry Cabot Lodge (1850-1924), Abbott Lawrence Lowell (1856-1943), and Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919). Roosevelt's letters, 1885-1896, are especially important on the issue of civil service reform.

Box 1
Legal documents, etc., 1654-1769
Box 2
Correspondence, etc., 1770-1782
Box 3
Correspondence, etc., 1783-1795
Box 4
Correspondence, etc., 1796-1808
Box 5
Correspondence, etc., 1809-1824
Box 6
Correspondence, etc., 1825-1834
Box 7
Correspondence, etc., 1835-1840
Box 8
Correspondence, etc., 1841-1842
Box 9
Correspondence, etc., 1843-1844
Box 10
Correspondence, etc., 1845-1848
Box 11
Correspondence, etc., 1849-1850
Box 12
Correspondence, etc., 1851-1852
Box 13
Correspondence, etc., 1853-1854
Box 14
Correspondence, etc., 1855-1856
Box 15
Correspondence, etc., 1857-1860
Box 16
Correspondence, etc., 1861-1864
Box 17
Correspondence, etc., 1865-1867
Box 18
Correspondence, etc., 1868-1870
Box 19
Correspondence, etc., 1871-1872
Box 20
Correspondence, etc., 1873-1875
Box 21
Correspondence, etc., 1876
Box 22
Correspondence, etc., 1877
Box 23
Correspondence, etc., 1878-1879
Box 24
Correspondence, etc., 1880-1883
Box 25
Correspondence, etc., 1884-1890
Box 26
Correspondence, etc., 1891-1900
Box 27
Correspondence, etc., 1901-1909
Box 28
Correspondence, etc., 1910-1914
Box 29
Correspondence, etc., 1915-1918
Box 30
Correspondence, etc., 1919-1923
Box 31
Correspondence, etc., 1924-1926
Box 32
Correspondence, etc., 1927-1929
Box 33
Correspondence, etc., 1930-1933

B. Francis Dana papers, 1749-1810

Box 34
Miscellaneous papers, including an account book, legal notes, writings on Russia, and part of a typescript of the secret journal (1782) of John Jay (1745-1829), 1749-1810

C. Richard Henry Dana papers, 1812-1854

Box 35
Miscellaneous notes on literature and religion, clippings, and letters written between 1840 and 1854 to Henry Reed (1808-1854), 1812-1854
Box 36-37
Handwritten lectures on Shakespeare and typescripts of the lectures, [1839-1840]
Box 38
Miscellaneous notes, clippings, and printed material, n.d.

D. Richard Henry Dana, Jr., papers, 1832-1915

Box 39
Miscellaneous papers, including college themes, a typescript of a journal kept aboard the Alert (1836), a dissertation on the "Moral & Literary Character of Bulwer's Novels" (1837), and miscellaneous material relating to a Boston dinner for Charles Dickens (1842) and an 1860 trip to China, 1832-1872
Box 40
Miscellaneous legal papers, including a copy of the indictment in the case of freedom seeker Shadrach Minkins (1851); notes, clippings, and a "recollected journal" of the Anthony Burns case (1854); notes concerning sedition and treason during the Civil War; drafts of prize bills (1864); notes and printed material relating to the Lawrence-Dana controversy (1876); and an inventory and other documents concerning the estate of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., 1851-1908
Box 41
Miscellaneous articles, lectures, and speeches of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., 1841-1891
Box 42
Miscellaneous clippings and printed material concerning the life and writings of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., as well as a diagram of David Glasgow Farragut's entrance into Mobile Bay (1864), 1841-1915

E. Edmund Trowbridge Dana, Jr., papers, 1837-1850

Box 43
Miscellaneous drawings, law notes, and newspaper clippings, 1837-1850

F. Richard Henry Dana III papers, 1862-1931

Box 44
Miscellaneous papers, including biographical notes, drawings, notes on rowing at Harvard (1870-1872), a Harvard Law School paper: "Should a Lawyer Accept the Side of a Case which Appears Wrong?" (1877), a law notebook, an appointment book (1875-1876), reminiscences of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and correspondence and printed material relating to reunions of the Harvard class of 1874, 1862-1905
Box 45
Miscellaneous legal papers, invitations, and printed material, 1877-1931
Box 46
Notes, printed material, and clippings relating to the Associated Charities of Boston, ballot law reform, the Charles River Dam, civil service reform, and other organizations and issues, 1878-1925
Box 47-48
Miscellaneous speeches and writings, including "An American View of the Irish Question" and drafts of Hospitable England in the Seventies, 1902-1921
Box 49-51
Rough drafts of Dana's unpublished autobiography Activities of Seventy Years and Patronage under Eight Presidents, n.d.
Box 52
Part of a draft of Activities of Seventy Years and Patronage under Eight Presidents and drafts of An Autobiographical Sketch: Richard Henry Dana 3d to His Descendants, 1907
Box 53-54
Clippings and copies of articles by or about Richard Henry Dana III, 1872-1920

G. Washington Allston papers, 1801-1929

This subseries contains the correspondence and writings of Washington Allston. Among Allston's correspondents were: John Stevens Cogdell (1778-1847), Richard Henry Dana, James McMurtrie, Samuel Finley Breese Morse (1791-1872), and Francis Bayard Winthrop (1754-1817).

Also on microfilm, P-202.

Box 55
Correspondence, clippings, etc., 1801-1929
Box 56
Miscellaneous writings of Washington Allston and printed material, etc., by or about Allston, n.d.

H. Miscellaneous Dana papers, 1800-1932

Box 57
Miscellaneous Dana family papers, including correspondence, genealogical notes, a bibliography of works published by or about members of the Dana family, notebooks containing family letter indexes compiled by Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and miscellaneous papers of Allston Dana, Edmund Dana, Edmund Trowbridge Dana III, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana, Luther Dana, Martha Remington Dana Allston, Richard Dana, Richard Henry Dana IV, and Sarah Watson Dana, 1800-1907
Box 58-59
Miscellaneous notes and papers concerning the estates of Martha Remington Dana Allston, Thomas Gold Appleton (1812-1884), Ruth Charlotte Dana, Sarah Watson Dana, Sarah Dana Swayne, and others; bills and receipts for the upkeep of Dana property in Cambridge and Manchester, Massachusetts, 1830-1932
Box 60-61
Miscellaneous clippings concerning the careers of Richard Henry Dana, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and Richard Henry Dana III, with some notes and printed material, 1846-1909
Box 62
Mostly undated photographs of Dana family members and property; business cards; postcards, 1866
Box 63
Notes and extracts of legal cases of Edmund Trowbridge, n.d.

II. Dana family papers II, 1658-1926

Box 64
Miscellaneous legal documents and correspondence, mostly concerning the legal practice of Edmund Trowbridge, 1658-1759
Box 65
Miscellaneous legal documents and correspondence of Edmund Trowbridge and Francis Dana, 1760-1790
Box 66
Miscellaneous papers of Francis Dana, 1791-1811
Box 67
Miscellaneous legal documents and correspondence of Richard Henry Dana, including a small amount of material of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and Richard Henry Dana III, 1812-1899
Box 68-69
Incoming correspondence of Richard Henry Dana III, 1900-1926

III. Dana family papers III, 1731-1930

Box 70
Miscellaneous correspondence, notes, etc., of Francis Dana, Richard Henry Dana, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Richard Henry Dana III (including his diary of a European voyage, 1875), Edith Longfellow Dana, and others, 1731-1930

IV. Dana family papers IV, 1658-1840

Box 71-72
Miscellaneous legal documents and correspondence, mostly concerning the activities of statesman Harrison Gray Otis, 1658-1840

V. Dana family papers V, 1861-1866

Box 73
Photostats of correspondence between Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and Secretary of State William Henry Seward (originals at the University of Rochester Library), 1861-1866

VI. Bound volumes, 1724-1931

This series contains the Dana bound volumes, originally numbered 1-193 and arranged by individual. Additions to the collection have been placed under the appropriate individual and have been designated by decimal points and additional numerals, e.g. 1.1, 1.2, etc. The bound volumes consist of diaries, journals, letterbooks, notebooks, account books, law minutes, writ books, and assorted other items of Richard Dana, Francis Dana, Richard Henry Dana, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Washington Allston, Richard Henry Dana III, Edmund Trowbridge Dana, Edmund Trowbridge Dana, Jr., and Elizabeth Ellery Dana.

A. Richard Dana volumes, 1724-1785

Vol. 1-2 (XT)
Court account books, 1724-1785

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 1.

Vol. 3-5 (XT)
Writ books, 1733-1768

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 1.

Vol. 6-9
Writ books, 1752-1772

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 1.

Vol. 10-16
Court books, 1734-1772

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 2.

Vol. 17-19
Justice of the Peace records, 1757-1772

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 2.

B. Francis Dana volumes, 1772-1918

Vol. 20
Account book, 1772-1811

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 3.

Vol. 21
Memoranda book -- Spain, 1779-1780

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 3.

Vol. 22
Foreign state papers, 1780-1781

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 3.

Vol. 23
Letterbook, 1780-1781

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 3.

Vol. 23.1
Letterbook -- St. Petersburg, including copies of Dana letters to John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), 1782-1784

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 3.

Vol. 24-25
Official letterbooks, 1781-1784

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 3.

Vol. 26-27
Journals, 1781-1783
Vol. 28-29
Journals and letters of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) and John Jay, 1782
Vol. 30-32 (XT)
Drafts of a commercial treaty with Russia
Vol. 33
Manuscript of a weather system by Eberhard Johann Schrofter, 1782
Vol. 34 (XT)
Correspondence with Count Osterman, 1783
Vol. 35-38
Dana meteorological observations, 1785-1787
Vol. 39
Orders and opinions -- Massachusetts General Court and Supreme Judicial Court, 1785-1791

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 4.

Vol. 40-53
Justices' minute books -- Eastern Circuit, 1787-1806

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 4.

Vol. 54-74
Justices' minute books -- Eastern Circuit, 1789-1804

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 4.

Vol. 75-80
Justices' minute books -- Eastern Circuit, 1792-1803

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 4.

Vol. 81-91
Justices' minute books -- Western Circuit, 1789-1804

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 5.

Vol. 92-93
Justices' minute books -- Southern Circuit, 1793-1805

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 5.

Vol. 94-95
Justices' minute books and circuit books, 1788-1790

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 5.

Vol. 96
Cases ajudged, 1773-1806 (disbound)

Cases adjudged by Francis Dana include (in alphabetical order): Amory vs. Gilman (1806); Commonwealth vs. Lord (1792); Hooper vs. Pagan (1792-1793); King vs. Munson (1803); Larken vs. Sisson (1801); Leavit vs. Goold (1799); Libby vs. Johnson, Swett, et al. (1801-1804); Libby vs. Marshall (1792); Livermore vs. Newburyport (1804); Lock vs. Maine Fire and Marine Insurance (1803); McIntire vs. Parker (1791); Mandel vs. Rowe (1773); Masurey vs. Putnam (1791); May vs. Calder (1806); Mendon vs. Wrentham (1791); Montgomery vs. Partridge (1786-1788); Morgan vs. Westfield (1793); Otis vs. Otis and will of Job Otis (1805); Palmer vs. Donner (1799); Parsons vs. Lovejoy (1795); Parsons vs. McMasters (1794-1796); Payson vs. Payson (1804); Pomeroy vs. Crocker (1793); Pond vs. Metcalf (1802); Porter vs. Bussey (1803-1804); Prince vs. Prince (1791); Ray vs. Ensliss (1799); Robertson vs. Ker (1793); Rogers vs. Winslow (1799); Rollins vs. Emery (1799); Ross vs. Bailey (1796); Waite vs. Brigham (1788); Willard vs. Brigham (1797); Laws of Inheritance (n.d.)

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 5.

Vol. 97
Court cases, A-L (disbound)

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 6.

Vol. 98
Court cases, M-Z (disbound)

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 6.

Vol. 99-103
Charges to the grand jury, 1792-1798

Also on microfilm, P-646, reel 6.

Vol. 104
Miscellaneous law minutes
Vol. 105
Map of the United Provinces, 1793
Vol. 106-108
Miscellaneous notebooks
Vol. 108.1
Catalogue of books
Vol. 109
Francis Dana estate, 1811
Vol. 110
Francis Dana estate, 1811-1918

C. Richard Henry Dana volumes, 1821-1863

Vol. 111
Commonplace book
Vol. 112-113
Commonplace books
Vol. 114-121
Lectures on literature
Vol. 122-129
Lectures on English drama
Vol. 130-141
Literary compositions
Vol. 142
Letters and poems, 1821-1847
Vol. 143
Journal, 1844-1845
Vol. 144-146
Journals, 1845-1863
Vol. 146.1
Notes on Washington Allston

D. Richard Henry Dana, Jr., volumes, 1840-1882

Note: This collection also contains six volumes of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., that were not included in the original arrangement and description of the Dana family papers. They are shelved at the end of the collection. See the Appendix for a description of these six additional volumes.

Vol. 147-148
Docket books, including prize ships, 1856-1865
Vol. 149
Docket book, 1841-1855
Vol. 150
Journal, 1842-1843
Vol. 151-152
Journals, 1843-1853
Vol. 153
Journal, 1853-1859
Vol. 154
Journal, 1859-1860
Vol. 155-156
Journal of a European trip, 1856
Vol. 157
Italian journal, 1880-1881
Vol. 158
Diary, 1851-1858
Vol. 159
Diary, 1859-1865
Vol. 160
Diary, 1866-1872
Vol. 161-162
Diary, 1877-1878
Vol. 162.1
Diary, 1873
Vol. 162.2
Diary, 1875
Vol. 162.3
Diary, 1877
Vol. 163
Drafts of letters, 1853-1880
Vol. 164-166
Letterbooks, 1861-1882
Vol. 167-168
Account books, 1840-1847
Vol. 169
Account book, 1861-1878
Vol. 170
Draft of The Seaman's Friend, 1841
Vol. 171
Draft of To Cuba and Back, 1859
Vol. 172
Draft of "Twenty-Four Years After" chapter to 1869 edition of Two Years Before the Mast, 1869
Vol. 173-175
Notebooks concerning the ship Waverly's case, 1866
Vol. 175.1
Notebook of legal cases, 1856-1858
Vol. 175.2
Notebook concerning William Beach Lawrence vs. Richard Henry Dana, et al., 1879
Vol. 175.3
Printed volume concerning Lawrence vs. Dana, et al., containing the argument for the respondent, 1868
Vol. 175.4
Printed volume concerning Lawrence vs. Dana, et al., containing Lawrence's closing argument, 1868
Vol. 175.5
Typewritten volume containing the master's report on Lawrence vs. Dana, et al., 1868
Vol. 175.6-8
Scrapbooks of printed briefs and arguments, speeches, etc., 1850-1856
Vol. 175.9-10
Scrapbooks of printed briefs and arguments, 1858-1878
Vol. 175.11
Scrapbook of literary and miscellaneous pamphlets, 1852-1855
Vol. 175.12-16
Scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, 1843-1881
Vol. 176
Scrapbook of clippings concerning Dana's failed appointment as minister to England, 1876

E. Washington Allston volumes, 1818-1842

Also on microfilm, P-202.

Vol. 177-180
Sketch booksThese volumes are stored in E187 Allston.
Vol. 181
Color book

Letters and poems, 1818-1842

Vol. 182
Volume 182

Correspondence from Washington Allston to Charles R. Leslie in Volume 182 includes letters dated: 23 Aug. [1818]; 15 Nov. 1819; 31 May 1820; 20 May 1821; 7 Sep. 1821; 13 Nov. 1821; 8 May 1822; 23 July 1822; 7 Feb. 1823; 25 Mar. 1823; 28 July 1823; 29 Sep. 1824; 6 June 1825; 9 Nov. 1826; 12 Aug. 1827; 6 Nov. 1833; and 11 Oct. 1842.

Note: Volume 182 has been disbound and moved to a separate folder.

Vol. 183
Volume 183
Vol. 184
Lectures on art
Vol. 185
Miscellaneous papers

F. Richard Henry Dana III volumes, 1865-1931

Vol. 186-187
Autobiographical notes
Vol. 188
Notes on Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Vol. 188.1
Address book, n.d.
Vol. 188.2
Account book, 1870-1874
Vol. 188.3
Log of the Harvard University crew, 1873
Vol. 188.4
Diary of trip to England, 1876
Vol. 188.5
Appointment book, 1888
Vol. 188.6
Appointment book, 1893
Vol. 188.7
Appointment book, 1905
Vol. 188.8-9
Appointment books, 1909
Vol. 188.10-11
Appointment books, 1910
Vol. 188.12-13
Appointment books, 1911
Vol. 188.14-20
Appointment books, 1912-1918
Vol. 188.21-32
Small appointment books, Jan.-Dec. 1918
Vol. 188.33-39
Appointment books, 1919-1925
Vol. 188.40-43
Appointment books, 1926-1929
Vol. 188.44
Journal of Richard Henry Dana III and Edith Longfellow Dana, volume I, 1865-1881
Vol. 188.45
Journal of Richard Henry Dana III and Edith Longfellow Dana, volume II, 1880-1913
Vol. 188.46
Journal of Richard Henry Dana III and Edith Longfellow Dana, volume III, 1913-1917
Vol. 188.47
Journal of Richard Henry Dana III and Edith Longfellow Dana, volume IV, 1918-1922
Vol. 188.48
Journal of Richard Henry Dana III and Helen Sherwood Ford Mumford Dana, volume V, 1922-1930
Vol. 188.49
Journal of Richard Henry Dana III and Helen Sherwood Ford Mumford Dana, 1930-1931
Vol. 188.50-51
European journals, 1875-1876
Vol. 188.52
Account book for the Sarah Ann Dana trust, 1911-1926
Vol. 188.53
Scrapbook of clippings of articles by or about Richard Henry Dana III, 1887-1923
Vol. 188.54
Scrapbook containing most of the printed publications of Richard Henry Dana III
Vol. 188.55
Scrapbook on civil service reform, 1880-1890
Vol. 188.56
Scrapbook on tariff reform, 1885-1892
Vol. 188.57
Scrapbook on ballot law reform (Australian ballot), containing notes, ballots, etc., 1888

Note: This volume has been disbound and moved to Box OS 2 in Series XII (Oversize items).

Vol. 188.58
Scrapbook on politics, 1890-1911
Vol. 188.59
Scrapbook of miscellany, 1901-1905
Vol. 188.60
Scrapbook, 1923-1924

G. Edmund Trowbridge Dana volumes, 1813-1822

Vol. 189-190
Notebooks
Vol. 191
Account book, 1813-1822

H. Edmund Trowbridge Dana, Jr., volumes

Vol. 191.1
Notebook believed to have belonged to Edmund Trowbridge Dana, Jr.

I. Elizabeth Ellery Dana volumes, 1847-1867

Vol. 192
Account book, 1847-1867

J. Miscellany

Vol. 193
Notebook, author unknown

VII. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana papers, 1947-1950

Box 74
Chronology of the life of Washington Allston and correspondence between Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana and Helen Ingersoll Tetlow (1877-1976) relating to Washington Allston, Charles Dickens, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and other literary subjects, 1947-1950

VIII. Richard Henry Dana papers

Box 75
Handwritten essays of Richard Henry Dana on such subjects as "spiritual freedom," "man an amenable being," and "man insufficient to himself," n.d.

IX. Richard Henry Dana, Jr., papers, 1834-1895

A. Legal papers, 1847-1892

This subseries consists primarily of the legal papers of Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (boxes 76-78), and Richard Henry Dana III (boxes 77-80). Also included in this subseries are papers concerning civil service reform and galley proofs of Charles Francis Adams' Life of Richard Henry Dana.

Box 76
Research notes, drafts of remarks, partial briefs, trial transcripts, and newspaper clippings pertaining to the legal practices of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and Richard Henry Dana III, including notes on the will of John Quincy Adams, 1847-1879
Box 77
Research notes, briefs, clippings, etc., pertaining to the legal practices of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and Richard Henry Dana III, 1880-1881
Box 78
Notes, briefs, etc. of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and Richard Henry Dana III relating to a suit of the French brig Cananore against the East Boston Dry Dock Company, 1881-1885
Box 79
Notes, briefs, etc. of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and Richard Henry Dana III, mostly from the files of Richard Henry Dana III, including papers concerning the incorporation of the Boston Young Men's Christian Association (1885), 1882-1889
Box 80
Miscellaneous notes, briefs, etc. of Richard Henry Dana III, including bills and receipts for the Civil Service Chronicle (1889-1892) and other material relating to civil service reform, as well as galley proofs of Charles Francis Adams' Life of Richard Henry Dana (1890), 1889-1892

B. Personal correspondence, 1834-1895

Box 81
Personal correspondence of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., 1834-1881, and correspondence of Elizabeth Ellery Dana II with Charles Francis Adams, Jr., and Theodore Frelinghuysen Dwight (1846-1917), 1889-1895, relating to Adams' biography of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., 1834-1895

C. Official correspondence, 1863-1865

Box 82
Correspondence of Richard Henry Dana, Jr., concerning his service as United States attorney and the Civil War prize ships cases, 1863-1865

X. Printed material, 1812-1878

Box 83
Printed material relating to the prize ships and other admiralty cases, 1862-1878
Box 84
Printed material pertaining to the Lawrence-Dana plagiarism controversy, 1866-1869
Box 85
Printed material relating to Richard Henry Dana, Jr.'s work as counsel for the United States before the Fisheries Commission at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and legal pamphlets written by Richard Henry Dana, Jr., on habeas corpus and other matters, 1857-1877
Box 86
Miscellaneous printed material, including Statutes and Laws of Harvard College, 1862-1875
Box 87
Miscellaneous printed material, including A Dissertation on the Bite of a Rabid Animal, by James Gillman (1812), An Address delivered at the opening of the Tenth Exhibition of the American Academy of the Fine Arts, by Gulian C. Verplanck (1824), The Spirit of the Pilgrims (March 1828), and various items in German and Italian, 1812-1828

XI. Addenda, 1806-1875

This series contains printed volumes, framed letters, and index cards which belonged to the Dana family, including two volumes of Idle Man, edited by Richard Henry Dana, and some copies of his Poems and Prose Writings.

Vol. 194-195
Idle Man, by Richard Henry Dana, 1821-1822 (2 copies)
Vol. 196
Poems and Prose Writings, volume I, by Richard Henry Dana, 1849
Vol. 197-198
Poems and Prose Writings, volume II, by Richard Henry Dana, 1849 (2 copies)
Vol. 199
Oration at Lexington, April 19, 1875, by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Vol. 200
An Improved History and Description of the Tower of London..., 1815
Vol. 201
The Federalist, 1842 edition
Vol. 202
A Sermon: Preached at the Church of the Advent..., by C. S. Henry, 1846
Vol. 203
Public School Education, by Sir J. T. Coleridge, 1861
Box 88
Framed letters of Francis Dana (Apr. 17, 1807) and William Ellery (Oct. 11, 1806)
Box 89
Obsolete index cards to the Dana papers

XII. Oversize items, 1683-1875

This series consists of some oversize legal and official documents of Edmund Trowbridge and Francis Dana.

Box OS 1
Deeds and other documents, most of which relate to the legal practices of Edmund Trowbridge and Francis Dana, taken from the Dana family II papers, 1683-1875

Included are four documents of Francis Dana, previously framed: his appointment as Middlesex County Justice of the Peace (1779), his appointment as United States minister to St. Petersburg (1780), his selection as a Presidential Elector (1792), and his appointment as United States Minister Plenipotentiary to the French Republic (1797).

Box OS 2
Scrapbook on ballot law reform (Australian ballot), 1888

Note: This scrapbook, previously bound as Vol. 188.57 and located in Series VI.F. (Richard Henry Dana III volumes), has been disbound and is shelved here.

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Appendix

The following seven volumes were not included in the original arrangement and description of the Dana family papers. Six of the volumes belonged to Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and one belonged to Rev. Samuel Dana (1778-1864). They are shelved at the end of the collection.

Richard Henry Dana, Jr., volumes

Vol. 1a
Index Rerum, by Rev. John Todd (Northampton, 1836).

This is a printed volume with blank pages for a subject index. It is filled in by Dana with legal terms.

Vol. 2a
Vangerow's Vortraege uber die Pandecten im Wintersemester, 1848-1849
Vol. 3a
Commonplace book with quotations
Vol. 4a
Docket book, Sep. 1840-Oct. 1847
Vol. 5a
Casebook, including newspaper clippings and commentary concerning various cases, ca. 1856
Vol. 6a
Casebook, including newspaper clippings and commentary concerning various cases, ca. 1857
Vol. 7a
Rev. Samuel Dana memorandum book, 1849
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Preferred Citation

Dana family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

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Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Adams, Charles Francis, 1807-1886.
Adams, Charles Francis, 1835-1915.
Adams, John, 1735-1826.
Allston, Washington, 1779-1843.
Bonaparte, Charles J. (Charles Joseph), 1851-1921.
Bryant, William Cullen, 1794-1878.
Dana, Edmund Trowbridge, 1779-1859.
Dana, Edmund Trowbridge, 1818-1869.
Dana, Edmund, 1739-1823.
Dana, Elizabeth Ellery, 1789-1874.
Dana, Elizabeth Ellery, b. 1846.
Dana, Frances Longfellow, 1853-1915.
Dana, Francis, 1743-1811.
Dana, Helen Sherwood Ford Mumford, 1865-1934.
Dana, Richard Henry, 1787-1879.
Dana, Richard Henry, 1815-1882.
Dana, Richard Henry, 1851-1931.
Dana, Richard, 1700-1772.
Dana, Ruth Charlotte, 1814-1901.
Dana, Sarah Ann, 1791-1866.
Evarts, William Maxwell, 1818-1901.
Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814.
Lodge, Henry Cabot, 1850-1924.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882.
Ripley, Sophia Willard Dana, 1803-1861.
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874.
Trowbridge, Edmund, 1709-1793.

Organizations:

Brook Farm Phalanx (West Roxbury, Boston, Mass.).
Massachusetts--Supreme Judicial Court.

Subjects:

Civil service--United States.
Massachusetts--History--1775-1865.
Massachusetts--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Massachusetts--Politics and government--1775-1865.
Massachusetts--Politics and government--1865-1950.
Russia--History--Catherine II, 1762-1796.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.
United States--Politics and government--1783-1865.
United States--Politics and government--1865-1933.

Collection processed by Richard H. Gentile and Nancy R. Hyndman, July 1982.

Revised 25 Jan. 2021

Encoded by Susan Martin, August 2006