Dana (Richard Henry Jr.) is born in Cambridge.

The son of Richard Henry and Charlotte (Smith) Dana, Richard Henry Dana Jr. drops out of Harvard College due to weak eyesight, goes to sea in 1834,* and returns two years and writes an account of his experiences that is published in 1840.* He then graduates from Harvard, studies law, practices marine law and becomes an ardent abolitionist. Dana is appointed U.S. attorney for Massachusetts in 1861 and elected to the Massachusetts legislature in 1866.* He lives at 43 Chestnut Street from 1872 to 1875. Dana dies in Rome on January 6, 1882, and is buried in the Protestant Cemetery there.