Cumberland County, Maine - Woodbury Kidder Dana
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Biography
Woodbury Kidder Dana
Biographical Review
Cumberland County, Maine
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1896
Page 558-559


Woodbury Kidder Dana, Treasurer and Manager of the Dana warp mills of Westbrook,
one of the leading warp factories in New England, was born in Portland, Me.,
June 7, 1840, son of Luther and Louisa (Kidder) Dana. His grandfather, Richard
Dana, was a resident of Massachusetts all his lifetime.

Luther Dana, who was born in Natick, Mass., in 1792, went to Portland in 1808,
when he was sixteen years of age. A few years later he established himself in a
general mercantile business, which he followed with success throughout his life.
He died in June, 1870, seventy-eight years of age. His wife, whose maiden name
was Louisa Kidder, was a native of Hallowell, Me., and a descendant of one of
the old, established families of that section of Maine. She survived her husband
a number of years. Both were zealous members of the Congregational church. The
fruit of their union was seven sons and two daughters, of whom six are now
living. These are: John A. S. Dana, employed in the Dana warp mills; Mary L.
Dana, living in West Paris, Me.; Luther W. Dana, also a resident of West Paris;
-Frank Jones Dana, the clerk and paymaster of the Dana Warp Mills; Samuel H.
Dana, D.D., a prominent Congregational clergyman of Quincy, Ill.; and Woodbury
Kidder Dana, the subject of this memoir.

Woodbury Kidder Dana acquired his education in the schools of Portland and at
Lewiston Falls Academy of Auburn. He first engaged in warp-making in 1859 in the
town of Gray, Cumberland County, and afterward in Lewiston, where he gained a
more thorough knowledge of the business. While he was in Lewiston the Civil War
broke out; and in August, 1863, he volunteered in the Twenty-ninth Maine Regiment
of Volunteer Infantry. This regiment, as a part of the Nineteenth Army Corps,
served in the Red River campaign, and in the Shenandoah campaign under Sheridan,
taking part in many severe engagements.  During the latter part of his army life
Mr. Dana served as hospital steward. After serving out his term honorably and
creditably, he received his discharge and returned home. In 1866 he started in a
small way at Westbrook manufacturing warps. The demands of trade have steadily
increased with the lapse of time, so that he has been constantly enlarging and
improving his plant. At the start but seven hundred spindles were used. At the
present time there are eight thousand. About seventy bales of cotton are used
weekly, and from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five people
find employment in the mills. They manufacture both white and colored warps,
which are sold principally in the New England States. Three years ago, in
November, 1892, an incorporated company was formed, and Mr. Dana was elected
Treasurer and Manager.

Mr. Dana was married in Auburn, Me., to Miss Mary Little Hale Pickard, a native
of that place. They are the parents of seven children - Louisa W., Hannah
Little, Philip, Ethel M., Helen Pickard, Luther, and Mary H. Louisa W. is at
home; Hannah Little is a student of Wellesley College, Massachusetts; Philip is
attending Bowdoin College, from which he will graduate in the class of 1896.

In politics Mr. Dana is a loyal Republican. He has served two years as an
Alderman of the city. He is a member of Ancient Landmark Lodge, No. 17, A. F. &
A. M.; Mount Vernon Chapter, and St. Albans Commandery. He and Mrs.. Dana  are
prominent members of the Westbrook Congregational church.