JL Dana

#6 John Lockwood Dana 1874

John Lockwood Dana, son of Joseph Dana and Alcy Lockwood, was born near New Haven, Huron county, Ohio, March 2, 1826. He spent his boyhood on a farm near Fremont Ohio. He attended Oberlin College, law school at Cincinnati, and was admitted to the bar in October 1854. Mr. Dana was married at Fostoria, Ohio, February 16, 1854 to Harriet Augusta Davis, daughter of Rev. John Davis and Harriet Straughan. In the fall of the same year they moved to Iowa, locating first at Sigourney in Keokuk County. About a year later they moved to Marshalltown, and on April 1 he located finally at Nevada.

He early gained recognition in this pioneer community, and in the election of 1857 he was elected to the general assembly as representative for the counties of Story, Hardin and Grundy. In the session that followed the state located its ''Agricultural Farm,'' in this county, and from this beginning there has developed the Iowa State College. Mr. Dana was mayor of Nevada and a school board member.

Having a young family, Mr. Dana did not go into active duty when the Union called but instead became captain of a "home guard." He prospered in his law practice and enjoyed the patronage of Union veterans as a pension attorney. He served as mayor of Nevada in 1874.

John Lockwood Dana died on June 5, 1906 in Nevada, Story County, Iowa. He was survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.