Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Dana, Judah

DANA, Judah, senator, b. in Pomfret, Conn., 25 April, 1772; d. in Fryeburg, Me., 27 Dec., 1845. His mother was the eldest daughter of Gen. Israel Putnam. His father, John Winchester, and the Rev. Joseph, of Ipswich, were both grandsons of Benjamin, the third son of Richard. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1795, studied law, and began practice, in 1798, in Fryeburg, then in Massachusetts. He was government attorney for Oxford county in 1805-'11, judge of probate in 1811-'22, judge of the court of common pleas from 1811 till 1823, judge of the circuit court, a delegate to the convention that framed, the state constitution of Maine in 1819, and in 1833 was elected a member of the executive council, he was an adherent of the democratic party, and, on the resignation of Ether Shepley, was appointed U. S. senator, serving from 21 Dec., 1836, till 3 March, 1837. — His son, John Winchester, governor of Maine, b. in Fryeburg. Me., 21 Jan., 1808; d. near Rosario, New Grenada, 22 Dec., 1867. He was for many years an active democratic politician in Maine, and from 1847 till 1850 was governor of the state. In 1853 he went to Bolivia as chargé d'affaires, was commissioned minister resident on 29 June, 1854, and held that post till 10 March, 1859. In 1861 he was again a candidate for governor of Maine, but was defeated. Soon afterward he went to South America, where he resided at the time of his death.