 Dayton
was born at Elizabethtown (present Elizabeth), NJ, in 1760. His
father was a storekeeper who was also active in local and state
politics. The youth obtained a good education, graduating from the
College of New Jersey (later Princeton) in 1776. He immediately
entered the Continental Army and saw extensive action. Achieving the
rank of captain by the age of 19 and serving under his father, Gen.
Elias Dayton, and the Marquis de Lafayette, he was a prisoner of the
British for a time and participated in the Battle of Yorktown, VA.
After the war, Dayton returned home, studied law,
and established a practice. During the 1780s he divided his time
between land speculation, legal practice, and politics. He sat in
the assembly in 1786-87. In the latter year, he was chosen as a
delegate to the Constitutional Convention after the leaders of his
political faction, his father and his patron, Abraham Clark,
declined to attend. Dayton did not arrive at Philadelphia until June
21 but thereafter faithfully took part in the proceedings. He spoke
with moderate frequency during the debates and, though objecting to
some provisions of the Constitution, signed it.
After sitting in the Continental Congress in
1788, Dayton became a foremost Federalist legislator in the new
government. Although elected as a representative, he did not serve
in the First Congress in 1789, preferring instead to become a member
of the New Jersey council and speaker of the state assembly. In
1791, however, he entered the U.S. House of Representatives
(1791-99), becoming Speaker in the Fourth and Fifth Congresses.
During this period, he backed Hamilton's fiscal program, suppression
of the Whisky Rebellion, Jay's Treaty, and a host of other
Federalist measures.
In personal matters Dayton purchased Boxwood
Hall in 1795 as his home in Elizabethtown and resided there until
his death. He was elevated to the U.S. Senate (1799-1805). He
supported the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and, in conformance with his
Federalist views, opposed the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801.
In 1806 illness prevented Dayton from
accompanying Aaron Burr's abortive expedition to the Southwest,
where the latter apparently intended to conquer Spanish lands and
create an empire. Subsequently indicted for treason, Dayton was not
prosecuted but could not salvage his national political career. He
remained popular in New Jersey, however, continuing to hold local
offices and sitting in the assembly (1814-15).
In 1824 the 63-year-old Dayton played host to
Lafayette during his triumphal tour of the United States, and his
death at Elizabeth later that year may have been hastened by the
exertion and excitement. He was laid to rest at St. John's Episcopal
Church in his hometown. Because he owned 250,000 acres of Ohio land
between the Big and Little Miami Rivers, the city of Dayton, was
named after him--his major monument. He had married Susan
Williamson, but the date of their wedding is unknown. They had two
daughters. |
