Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Dana, Stephen Winchester

DANA, Stephen Winchester, clergyman, b. in Canaan, N. Y., 17 Nov., 1840. He was the son of a Congregational clergyman, and descended in the eighth generation from Richard, through Benjamin, the third son. He was graduated at Williams in 1861, taught in Hinsdale, Mass., for two years, and then studied theology in the Union theological seminary, New York city, where he was graduated in 1866. He was pastor of a Presbyterian church in Belvidere, N. J., from November, 1866, till July, 1868, when he was called to the Walnut street church in West Philadelphia, which has steadily grown under his pastoral care and earnest preaching. He has published sermons and religious tracts. — His cousin, William Parsons, artist, b. in Boston, Mass., 18 Feb., 1833, was attracted to a sailor's life, and made several voyages, then decided to study art, went to Paris in 1852, became a pupil of Picot and Le Poitevin and a student in the School of arts, and spent his summers sketching in Normandy and Brittany. He returned to the United States in 1862, was chosen a national academician in 1863, painted in New York city and Newport, and afterward established his studio in Paris, France. His first pictures were marine views, but subsequently he treated genre subjects with success, and has been happy in painting children, horses, and dogs. Some of his principal works are “Chase of the Frigate Constitution”; “Waiting for the Fishing-Boat”; “Low Tide at Yport”; “French Peasant-Girl”; “Maternal Care”; “Heart's-Ease”; “Emby's Admirals”; “Land of Nod”; “English Greyhound”; and “Gathering Seaweed.”