View source for Jonathan Dayton

{{Short description|American Founding Father and politician (1760–1824)}}
{{about|the early American politician|the film and music video director|Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name            = Jonathan Dayton
|image           = JDayton.jpg
|order           = 3rd
|office          = Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
|term_start      = December 7, 1795
|term_end        = March 3, 1799
|predecessor     = [[Frederick Muhlenberg]]
|successor       = [[Theodore Sedgwick]]
|jr/sr1          = United States Senator
|state1          = [[New Jersey]]
|term_start1     = March 4, 1799
|term_end1       = March 3, 1805
|predecessor1    = [[Richard Stockton (U.S. senator)|Richard Stockton]]
|successor1      = [[Aaron Kitchell]]
|state2          = [[New Jersey]]
|district2       = {{ushr|NJ|AL|at-large}}
|term_start2     = March 4, 1791
|term_end2       = March 3, 1799
|predecessor2    = [[James Schureman]]<br />[[Elias Boudinot]]
|successor2      = [[Mark Thomson (politician)|Mark Thomson]]<br />[[John Condit]]
|office3         = Member of the [[New Jersey Legislative Council]]
|term_start3     = 1787
|term_end3       = 1788
|office4         = Delegate from New Jersey {{awrap|to the [[Congress of the Confederation]]}}
|term_start4     = 1787
|term_end4       = 1788
|office5         = Speaker of the [[New Jersey General Assembly]]
|term5           = 1790
|office6         = Member of the [[New Jersey General Assembly]]
|term_start6     = 1786
|term_end6       = 1787
|term7           = 1790
|birth_date      = {{birth date|1760|10|16}}
|birth_place     = [[Elizabeth, New Jersey|Elizabethtown]], [[Province of New Jersey]], [[British America]]
|death_date      = {{death date and age|1824|10|9|1760|10|16}}
|death_place     = [[Elizabethtown, New Jersey]], U.S.
|party           = [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist]]
|otherparty      = Pro-Administration
|spouse          = Susan Williamson
|parents         = [[Elias Dayton]] (father)
|relatives       = [[George Dayton (senator)|George Dayton]] (great-grandson)
|alma_mater      = [[Princeton University|College of New Jersey]]
|profession      = Lawyer
|signature       = Signature of Jonathan Dayton (1760–1824).png
}}

'''Jonathan Dayton''' (October 16, 1760{{spaced ndash}}October 9, 1824) was an American [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]] and politician from [[New Jersey]]. At 26, he was the youngest person to sign the [[Constitution of the United States]]. He was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] in 1791 and later served from 1795 to 1799 as its third [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker]]. He left the House in 1799 after being elected to the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]], where he served one term. Dayton was arrested in 1807 for alleged [[treason]] in connection with [[Aaron Burr]]'s [[Burr conspiracy|conspiracy]] to establish an independent country in the [[Southwestern United States]] and parts of Mexico. He was exonerated by a [[grand jury]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080104023709/http://www.history.army.mil/books/revwar/ss/dayton.htm Jonathan Dayton]</ref> but his national political career never recovered.

==Biography==
Jonathan Dayton was born in Elizabethtown (now known as [[Elizabeth, New Jersey|Elizabeth]]), New Jersey. He was the son of [[Elias Dayton]], a merchant prominent in local politics who had served as a militia officer in the [[French and Indian War]], and his wife the former Hannah Rolfe. He graduated from the local academy, run by [[Tapping Reeve]] and [[Francis Barber]], where he was classmates with [[Alexander Hamilton]]. He then attended the College of New Jersey (now known as [[Princeton University]]). He left college in 1775 to fight in the [[American Revolutionary War]] and received an honorary degree in 1776.<ref name = soldierState>{{cite book| url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/ss-fm.htm| title = Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution| id = CMH Pub 71-25| chapter = David Brearly| location = Washington D.C.| publisher = United States Army Center of Military History| first1 = Robert K. Jr.| last1 = Wright| first2 = Morris J. Jr.| last2 = MacGregor| access-date = November 22, 2014| archive-date = October 9, 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191009074857/https://history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/ss-fm.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref>

==Military career==
Dayton was 15 at the outbreak of the war in 1775 and served under his father in the [[3rd New Jersey Regiment]] as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]]. On January 1, 1777, he was commissioned a lieutenant and served as [[paymaster]]. He saw service under General [[George Washington]], fighting in the battles of [[Battle of Brandywine|Brandywine Creek]] and [[Battle of Germantown|Germantown]]. He remained with Washington at [[Valley Forge]] and helped push the British from their position in New Jersey into the safety of New York City.<ref name = soldierState/> In October 1780, Dayton and an uncle were captured by [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]], who held them captive for the winter before releasing them in the following year. Dayton again served under his father in the [[New Jersey Line|New Jersey Brigade]]. On March 30, 1780, at age 19, he was promoted to the rank of [[Captain (United States)|captain]] and transferred to the [[2nd New Jersey Regiment]], where he took part in the [[Siege of Yorktown (1781)|Battle of Yorktown]].<ref name = soldierState/> The Revolutionary War pension records indicate that he served as [[aide-de-camp]] to General [[John Sullivan (general)|John Sullivan]] on his expedition against the Indians from May 1 to November 30, 1779.

At the close of the Revolutionary War, Dayton was admitted as an original member of The [[Society of the Cincinnati]] in the state of New Jersey.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jonathan Dayton &#124; The Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey|url=https://njcincinnati.org/jonathan-dayton/|website=njcincinnati.org|access-date=15 May 2019}}</ref><ref>Metcalf, Bryce (1938). ''Original Members and Other Officers Eligible to the [[Society of the Cincinnati]], 1783-1938: With the Institution, Rules of Admission, and Lists of the Officers of the General and State Societies'' Strasburg, VA: Shenandoah Publishing House, Inc., p. 104.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Officers Represented in the Society of the Cincinnati |url=https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/soldiers-and-sailors-of-the-revolutionary-war/officers-represented-in-the-society-of-the-cincinnati/ |website=The American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati |access-date=9 April 2021}}</ref> On July 19, 1799, Dayton was offered a commission as major general in the Provisional United States Army, but he declined.

==Legal and political career==
After the war, Dayton studied law and opened a practice, dividing his time between land [[speculation]], law, and politics. After serving as a New Jersey [[List of delegates to the Continental Congress|delegate]] to the [[Continental Congress]] and [[Constitutional Convention (United States)|Constitutional Convention]] (of which he was the youngest member, at age 26<ref>Abeka United States History: Heritage of Freedom, page 126</ref>), he became a prominent [[Federalist Party|Federalist]] legislator. He was a member of the [[New Jersey General Assembly]] in 1786–1787, and again in 1790, and served in the [[New Jersey Legislative Council]] (now the [[New Jersey Senate]]) in 1789.<ref name = soldierState/>

Dayton was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1789, but he did not take his seat until he was re-elected in 1791. He served as speaker for the Fourth and Fifth Congresses. Like most Federalists, he supported the fiscal policies of Alexander Hamilton, and he helped organize the suppression of the [[Whiskey Rebellion]]. He supported the [[Louisiana Purchase]] and opposed the repeal of the [[Judiciary Act of 1801]].<ref name = soldierState/>

Wealthy from his heavy investments in Ohio, Dayton lent money to Aaron Burr, becoming involved by association in the [[Burr conspiracy|alleged conspiracy]] in which Burr was accused of intending to conquer parts of what is now the [[Southwestern United States]]. Dayton was exonerated, but his association with Burr effectively ended his political career.<ref name = soldierState/>

==Late life and family==
Dayton married Susan Williamson in 1779 and had two daughters.<ref>Susan's Revolutionary War Pension Application W.6994 states that the marriage occurred on March 28, 1779. A supporting letter, written by Aaron Ogden, a captain in the New Jersey Brigade, states that he "was present at the marriage of the said Jonathan Dayton and Susan his wife; which marriage ceremony was performed by the Reverent Mr. Hoyt, a Presbyterian Clergyman... in the fore part of spring of the year seventeen hundred and seventy nine while the New Jersey Brigade lay at Elizabethtown in the Borough of Elizabeth and state of new Jersey."</ref>

Dayton died on October 9, 1824 in his hometown. He was interred in an unmarked grave that is now under the [[St. John's Episcopal Church (Elizabeth, New Jersey)|St. John's Episcopal Church]] in [[Elizabeth, New Jersey]], which replaced an original church in 1860. Shortly before Dayton's death, [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]] visited him, as reported in an obituary in the ''Columbian Centinel'' on October 20, 1824: "In New-Jersey, Hon. JONATHAN DAYTON, formerly Speaker of the House of Representatives of Congress, and a Hero of the Revolution. When the Nation's Guest lately passed New-Jersey, he passed the night with General Dayton, and such were the exertions of this aged and distinguished federalist, to honor the Guest, and gratify the wishes of his fellow citizens to see, that he sunk under them; and expired, without regret, a few days after."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Columbian Centinel|date=October 20, 1824}}</ref>

==Commemoration and legacy==
The city of [[Dayton, Ohio]], was named after him. While he never visited the area, he was a signatory to the Constitution and, at the time the city of Dayton was established in 1796, he owned (in partnership with [[Arthur St. Clair]], [[James Wilkinson]] and [[Israel Ludlow]]) 250,000 acres (1,011&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) in the [[Great Miami River]] basin.<ref>[http://www.cityofdayton.org/cco/Pages/BriefHistory.aspx Brief History of Dayton] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112155224/http://www.cityofdayton.org/cco/Pages/BriefHistory.aspx |date=2015-11-12 }}, [[Dayton, Ohio]]. Accessed January 13, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.preservationdayton.com/important-daytonians.cfm#Dayton Important Daytonians] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822190953/http://www.preservationdayton.com/important-daytonians.cfm |date=August 22, 2007 }}, Preservation Dayton. Accessed January 13, 2010.</ref> The [[Jonathan Dayton High School]] in [[Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey]], the [[Dayton, Newark|Dayton]] neighborhood of [[Newark, New Jersey]], Dayton Street<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/odd/archives/002071.asp |title=Odd Wisconsin Archives |website=www.wisconsinhistory.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060423205749/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/odd/archives/002071.asp |archive-date=2006-04-23}}</ref> in [[Madison, Wisconsin]], and [[Dayton, New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Federal Writers' Project|title=The Ocean Highway: New Brunswick, New Jersey to Jacksonville, Florida|series=American guide series |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015064565875;view=1up;seq=43|year=1938|publisher=Works Progress Administration|page=1}}</ref> are named in his honor.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Biographical Directory of Congress|D000165}}
* [http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/dayan-deamer.html#R9M0IULQ6 Jonathan Dayton] at [[The Political Graveyard]]
* {{Find a Grave|4714}}
* [https://www.societyofthecincinnati.org The Society of the Cincinnati]
* [https://www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/soldiers-and-sailors-of-the-revolutionary-war/officers-represented-in-the-society-of-the-cincinnati/ American Revolution Institute]

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{{US House succession box |
  state=New Jersey|
  district=AL |
  before=[[Elias Boudinot]] |
  after=[[William Helms]] |
  years= March 4, 1791 – March 3, 1799}}
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{{US Senator succession box
| before = [[Richard Stockton (U.S. senator)|Richard Stockton]]
| state= New Jersey
| class= 2
| years= March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1805
| after = [[Aaron Kitchell]]}}
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{{Federalist Party}}
{{US House Speakers}}
{{United States senators from New Jersey}}
{{United States Constitution signatories}}
{{Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dayton, Jonathan}}
[[Category:Jonathan Dayton| ]]
[[Category:1760 births]]
[[Category:1824 deaths]]
[[Category:American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain]]
[[Category:Continental Army officers from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Continental Congressmen from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Speakers of the United States House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Signatories of the Constitution of the United States]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:Politicians from Elizabeth, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Members of the New Jersey General Assembly]]
[[Category:Speakers of the New Jersey General Assembly]]
[[Category:Members of the New Jersey Legislative Council]]
[[Category:United States senators from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Federalist Party United States senators]]
[[Category:American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:History of Dayton, Ohio]]
[[Category:Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey]]
[[Category:Politicians from colonial New Jersey]]
[[Category:Founding Fathers of the United States]]
[[Category:19th-century New Jersey politicians]]
[[Category:19th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:18th-century United States senators]]
[[Category:18th-century United States representatives]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1788–1789 United States elections]]
[[Category:Burr conspiracy]]