Francis DANA, Congress, MA (1743-1811)

DANA, Francis, a Delegate from Massachusetts; born in Charlestown, Mass., June 13, 1743; was graduated from Harvard College in 1762; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Boston in 1767; delegate to the Provincial Congress in 1774; spent two years in England endeavoring to adjust differences between Great Britain and the American Colonies; State councilor 1776-1780; Member of the Continental Congress 1777-1778, and was one of the signers of the Articles of Confederation July 9, 1778; elected September 28, 1779, secretary to accompany John Adams, who was appointed a commissioner to negotiate a treaty of peace with Great Britain and a treaty of commerce with Holland; appointed December 19, 1780, Minister Resident to Russia, but was never received as such; again a Member of the Continental Congress in 1784; judge of the supreme court of Massachusetts 1785-1791; appointed chief justice November 29, 1791, and served for fifteen years; member of the State convention which adopted the Federal Constitution in 1788; a founder of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; died in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Mass., April 25, 1811; interment in Old Cambridge Cemetery.

Bibliography

Cresson, William Penn. Francis Dana. [Baltimore: n.p.], 1930.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present