Dana, Richard Henry (1815-1881)

Dana, Richard Henry

NOVELIST, LAWYER, POLITICIAN (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

BORN 1 Aug 1815, Cambridge, Massachusetts - DIED 7 Jan 1881, Roma, Lazio
GRAVE LOCATION Roma, Lazio: Cimitero Acattolico, Via Caio Cestio 6 (Zona Prima, 10.38 (865))

Richard Henry Dana was the son of the poet and critic Richard Henry Dana senior (1787-1879). He went to school in Cambridge where James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) was a fellow student. In 1825 he entered the private school that was directed by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). In 1831 he went to Harvard College, but he contracted measles and abandoned his studies. In 1834 he enlisted as a seaman and he didn't return to Massachusetts until September 1836. He attended Harvard Law School, where he graduated in 1837. In the same year he published "Two years before the mast".

In 1840 he was admitted to the bar in Boston and he specialised in maritime law. His law book "The Seaman's Friend" was published in 1841. He was an active abolitionist and represented the slave Anthony Burns in Boston in 1854. In 1859 he visited Cuba. He served as a counsel for the U.S. in the trial of Jefferson Davis in 1867-1868. He died in 1882 in Rome afte he had travelled to Europe to prepare a treatise on international law.

His son Richrad Henry Dana III (1851-1931) married Edith Longfellow (1853-1915), the daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882).

Images

The grave of Richard Henry Dana at the Cimitero Acattolico, Rome.
Picture by Androom (27 Feb 2015)