LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



in Utica, February 12, 1813. The father died in 1860, 

 at the age of eighty; the mother lived till 1870. 



Everything in the home life at Utica was wholesome 

 and invigorating. The parents were alike characterized 

 by thrift, integrity, and good sense. Both of them were 

 of strong religious convictions, based upon the moderate 

 Calvinistic doctrines of the Congregational Church, to 

 which they belonged. The mother is described as a 

 sweet singer, with a low voice and gentle manner, from 

 whom her eldest son may have inherited his musical 

 tastes. She exercised complete control over her large 

 family. James appears to have been particularly intimate 

 with her, even after he left home, and in early and later 

 years he constantly wrote to her in confidential and affec- 

 tionate terms. On his father's uprightness, sagacity in 

 business affairs, and good judgment the son placed com- 

 plete reliance. " Honesty, virtue, and industry seem 

 almost to be our natural inheritance " are the words with 

 which in middle life he expressed his estimate of his 

 parents. 



There are not many glimpses of the boyhood of James 

 Dwight Dana, but one of his aunts, an early companion 

 and playmate, who still lives (1899), at the age of eighty- 

 four, has written that " he was a merry boy, always 

 ready for a game of romps," of which, she says, " with 

 George, John, and Harriet, we had a great many, in barn 

 and in garden, and even in the house." 



" In the evenings," she goes on to say, " we played 

 various quieter games in the big, bright kitchen, with its 

 wood fire. I remember James was an adept at making 

 what we called ' witches,' not the Salem kind, but the 

 pith of corn-stalks, with a face of ink or paint, and a lead 

 crown that made her stand on her head however often we 

 put her upright. I presume it was the philosophical 

 character of this toy that made its attraction for James. 

 He began very early studying the elements of Mother 

 Earth and collecting specimens. I think he had quite 



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