Nathan Dane
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nathan Dane (December 29, 1752 – February 15, 1835) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the Continental Congress from 1785 through 1788.
Nathan was born at Ipswich in Essex County, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard in 1778 he taught school and read for the law. He was admitted to the bar and set up a legal practice in Beverly in 1782. That same year he entered elected office in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Dane served in the state House from 1782 to 1785, and the Continental Congress from 1787 to 1788. He was then sent to the Massachusetts State Senate from 1790-1791 and again from 1794-1797. In 1794 he served on a commission that reviewed and codified the laws of Massachusetts, and also is given credit for the Act of Continental Congress which encouraged European-American settlers into the Northwest Territory and formed the basis of the Constitutions of the five states there (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin).
Nathan died at home in Beverly and is buried in the Central Cemetery there. Dane County, Wisconsin was named in his honor.
[edit] Further reading
Andrew Johnson, The Life and Constitutional Thought of Nathan Dane; 1987, Taylor & Francis (publisher), ISBN 0-8240-8277-X
