Joseph Dane was a United States Representative from Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

. He was born in Beverly, Massachusetts

Beverly, Massachusetts

Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...

 on October 25, 1778. He received his early education in Beverly, attended Phillips Academy

Phillips Academy

Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...

 in Andover, Massachusetts

Andover, Massachusetts

Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...

 and graduated from Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in 1799.

He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1802 and commenced practice in Kennebunk, Maine

Kennebunk, Maine

Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,075 people at the 2000 census. Including Kennebunkport , the population totals 14,196 people...

 (until 1820 a district of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

). He was a delegate to the Massachusetts constitutional conventions in 1816 and 1819. He was chosen a member of the executive council of Massachusetts in 1817, but declined the office. He was elected as a Federalist

Federalist Party (United States)

The Federalist Party was the first American political party, from the early 1790s to 1816, the era of the First Party System, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801...

 to the Sixteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Holmes

John Holmes (U.S. politician)

John Holmes was an American politician. Holmes, a National Republican, served as a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and was one of the first two U.S. Senators from Maine. Holmes was noted for his involvement in the Treaty of Ghent.-Early life and education:Holmes was born in Kingston,...

. He was reelected to the Seventeenth Congress and served from November 6, 1820, to March 3, 1823. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1822.

He was elected a member of the Maine House of Representatives

Maine House of Representatives

The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 members representing an equal amount of districts across the state. Each voting member of the House represents around 8,450 citizens of the state...

, and served in the Maine State Senate. He declined to serve as executive councilor of Maine in 1841. He died in Kennebunk on May 1, 1858. His interment was in Hope Cemetery.