When Roswell Root Dana was born on 6 April 1837, in Hammond, St. Lawrence, New York, United States, his father, Charles Root Dana, was 34 and his mother, Margaret Kennedy, was 30. He married Emma Jane Edmonds about 1862, in Alameda, California, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Weber, Utah Territory, United States in 1850 and California, United States in 1870. He died on 24 December 1913, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 76, and was buried in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States.