1922

Twenty-two's sorrowful loss of John GrosvenorDana prompts these notes supplementing his obituary. John was the scion of a distinguished heritage in a privileged environment, a town of 2,337 people in the year 1900, depicted by Peter S. Jennison in his History of Woodstock, Vermont, 1890-1983. Derivations:

"Woodstock had men of wit, wisdom and taste."

"The good people of Woodstock have less incentive than others to yearn for heaven." —U.S. Senator Jacob Collamer, Dartmouth honorary LL.D., 1855.

"We must not forget what nature has done for Woodstock without our help." Henry Swan Dana in his 1889 History ofWoodstock.

"A homogeneous and self-sufficient community from the start (1761), Woodstock exerted extraordinary influence in the affairs of Vermont and the nation. . .

"In such a village .. . one might have found ingrown, narrow-minded attitudes. But Woodstock bred people with unusual breadth of vision, ability and ambition, qualities that flowed, in part, because the classical education provided by Dartmouth College was so handy.

"... the Williams and Dana families . .. shared national prominence in the law, engineering, medicine and librarianship."

Cursory review finds about 40 Danas— not all from Woodstock, of course—who have been in Dartmouth classes 1786 to 1987, including five before 1800.

The Dana home on Elm Street now houses "the prestigious Woodstock Historical Society— a shrine for ... historical and antiquarian value."

Dartmouth, Woodstock, and the Danas, a classic congruity.

11 Brockway Road, Hanover, NH 03755