Dana Ripley Pond (1881-1962) belonged to a noteworthy family in Winchester, Massachusetts, where his father, Handel Pond, had lived since 1869. Dana Pond's uncle Preston Pond was a businessman who was also a selectman, park commissioner, hospital incorporator, president of a home for the elderly, and member of other committees. His aunt Katherine was the town librarian from 1875 to 1889. Aunt Caroline became the town's foremost piano teacher. Handel Pond's wife Amelia Herrick was the daughter of prosperous businessman Moses Herrick and his wife Jane Ripley Hubbard, daughter of Boston artist Charles Hubbard (who himself lived in Winchester for several years).

During the year after his father went into partnersh...