Elias Dayton (May 1, 1737 – October 22, 1807) was an American merchant and military officer who served as captain and colonel of the local militia and in 1783 rose to become a brigadier general during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

. Afterward, he became the Mayor of Elizabethtown, New Jersey and served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

. He was the father of U.S. Constitution signer

Jonathan Dayton Jonathan Dayton (October 16, 1760October 9, 1824) was an American 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 Rep ...

Early and family life

Dayton was born in Elizabeth,

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial history of the United States, Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherla ...

. He married Hannah Rolfe in 1757, and they had two sons,

(1760-1824), who would become the youngest signatory of the U.S. Constitution, and Elias Bayley (Boudinot) Dayton (1764-1846).

Career

During the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, Dayton served first as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

and then as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

. During

Pontiac's War Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a confederation of Native Americans who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754– ...

, in 1760, he served as a commander in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

region. After the wars, Dayton returned to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, where he became a mechanic, merchant and colonial official. In 1774 the First

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

called on the colonies to resist

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

's recent tax policy by joining in an association to boycott goods imported from Britain. Dayton allied himself with the local revolutionary movement and served on Elizabethtown's enforcement committee. When the state turned against Royal Governor

William Franklin William Franklin (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged extra-marital son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial G ...

in 1775, the New Jersey's Provincial Congress chose Dayton to lead the 3rd New Jersey Regiment. In July 1775 he and William Alexander, Lord Stirling, led militia forces which captured a British transport off Elizabethtown. In the spring of 1776 Dayton (as colonel) and his 3rd New Jersey troops (including his young son Jonathan, who would become the regimental paymaster by August) were sent to support an invasion of Canada. However, they were diverted to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Mohawk Valley The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains, northwest of the Capital District. As of the 2010 United States Census, ...

where Colonel Dayton constructed fortifications to protect the colonists from Loyalist and Indian insurrections. These fortifications included Fort Dayton in what is now

Herkimer, New York Herkimer is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Herkimer County, New York, United States, southeast of Utica, New York, Utica. It is named after Nicholas Herkimer. The population was 9,566 at the 2020 census, down from 10,175 in ...

and Fort Schuyler (now called Fort Stanwix but was allowed to go to ruin after the French and Indian War) in what is now

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which lie ...

. In 1777, Dayton set up a spy network for

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

to work in parallel with an established American intelligence agent, John Mersereau. In December 1778, New Jersey named Dayton as a delegate to the

, but he remained with the army and did not attend the Congress. He helped suppress a mutiny of the New Jersey line in 1781, and was promoted to brigadier general in the Continental Army in 1783, and later to major general of militia. He had a prominent role in the battles of Springfield, Monmouth, Brandywine and Yorktown, and had horses shot under him at Germantown (outside Philadelphia), at Springfield, and at Crosswick's Bridge. Dayton helped establish The

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

in the state of New Jersey as an original member, and served as the President of the New Jersey Society from its foundation until his death. He served in the

from 1791–1792 and 1794–1796, and was mayor of Elizabethtown from 1796-1805.

Death and legacy

He died at age 70 and was interred at the First

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Churchyard in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

would be named after his son

Notes

* Retrieved on 2009-5-18 * Mahoney, Henry Thayer and Marjorie Locke Mahoney. ''Gallantry in Action: A Biographic Dictionary of Espionage in the American Revolutionary War''. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, Inc., 1999. .

References

External links

The Society of the Cincinnati

The American Revolution Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dayton, Elias 1737 births 1807 deaths American militia generals Continental Army generals Continental Army officers from New Jersey Jonathan Dayton Mayors of Elizabeth, New Jersey Members of the New Jersey General Assembly People from colonial New Jersey American spies during the American Revolution People of New Jersey in the French and Indian War Colonial people of Pontiac's War Politicians from Elizabeth, New Jersey 18th-century American legislators 18th-century New Jersey politicians 18th-century mayors of places in New Jersey 19th-century mayors of places in New Jersey Merchants from colonial New Jersey 18th-century American merchants