Fun Facts Friday: Richard Henry Dana Jr

Man of la BookAugust 1, 2025Post a Comment

Richard Henry Dana Jr. (1 August, 1815 – 6 January, 1882) was a lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He gained fame with his classic memoir Two Years Before the Mast.

Books by Richard Henry Dana Jr.*

Fun Facts about Richard Henry Dana Jr.:

Richard Henry Dana Jr. was born in Cambridge, MA. His father, Richard Henry Dana Sr. was a poet and critic.
The Danas could trace their roots to colonial America, about two centuries before Dana Jr. was born. One of their ancestors was famous poet Ann Bradstreet.
Future American romantic poet James Russell Lowell was a classmate of the young man.
In 1825 Mr. Dana Jr. enrolled in a private school overseen by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The young pupil thought Emerson to be a good teacher, but not much of a disciplinarian.
In 1831 he enrolled in Harvard, during his junior year he contracted measles which let to inflammation of the eyes. Instead of going on a European tour, as was the custom for his social class, Dana Jr. decided to enlist in the merchant marines.
He left Boston in 1834, and came back two years later after experiencing the life of a sailor. He found the journey incredible, but dangerous. He saw the harsh lives of sailors, and the treatment of Hawaiians who worked alongside him and vowed to make a difference.
As he returned to MA Dana Jr. enrolled in laws school specializing in maritime law. By 1841 he published The Seaman’s Friend which quickly became the standard for the legal rights of sailors, many of which he defended in court.
That same year, 1841, Richard Henry Dana Jr. married Sarah Watson from Wethersfield, CT. The couple had six children. His namesake, Richard Heronry Dana III married Edith Longfellow, daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
His memoir Two Years Before the Mast, based on a diary he kept of his voyages, was published in 1840 and because highly sought after as it was one of the few sources on California during the Gold Rush.
He served as a US Attorney during the American Civil War and successfully argued before the Supreme Court that the President had a right to blockade Confederate ports. He resigned after the war as a protest of President Johnson’s Reconstruction policy.