Dana, Sylvester, 1769-1849

Sylvester Dana was born in Ashford, Conn., on October 14, 1769, the seventh child of Anderson and Susanna Huntington Dana. When Dana was still very young, the family moved to the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, where they intended to farm. However, when Anderson Dana was killed in the Wyoming massacre of 1778, the family returned to Connecticut, and Sylvester and his brothers were forced to seek work wherever they could find it to help support the family. In April, 1786, he and his next older brother moved back to their property near Wilkesbarre, which the family had never sold, and made enough of a success at farming that Sylvester was able to return to Connecticut and begin preparations to enter college.

After studying with Rev. Nehemiah Prudden of Enfield, Dana was accepted at Yale into the class of 1797. During his sophomore year, he was moved to become a full member of the Congregational church, and immediately after graduation, he entered into theological studies under Rev. Charles Backus, and was licensed to preach by the Tolland County (Conn.) Ministerial Association in June, 1798.

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