Jonathon Dayton: The Guy Who Was Named After City He Never Stepped Foot In

Although we live in the city of Dayton, do you know that the guy who the city was named after never actually stepped foot in the city during his lifetime? Jonathon Dayton was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey in 1760 to a prominent merchant family. He would attend the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) and graduated right before the American Revolution in 1775 with a law degree.¹ He would go on to serve in the Continental Army as ensign in the 3^rd New Jersey Regiment under his father Colonel Elias Dayton. He would fight in the Battles of Brandywine Creek, Germantown, spend the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge, Monmouth Court House, and finally Yorktown. After the war, he went back home to the family business and start a political life.

            During this time, he would serve in local government before being appointed as a New Jersey delegate during the Constitutional Convention that saw the writing, review and adopting the United States Constitution. He would be the youngest signer of the Constitution although he played a minor role in the decision making at the convention. After the convention, he would continue to serve with the New Jersey Senate before be elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1789 as the House Speaker.² For most of his political career, he sided with the Federalist Party, party members included Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, wanting a strong national government as opposed to a weaker one. During this time as well, he would buy 250,000 acres of land in what is now the Miami Valley region of the state of Ohio. According to Harvey W. Crew in his book History of Dayton, Ohio 1899, he would buy the land off of John Symmes, who also sold land to General James Wilkinson and Israel Ludlow that became known as the Dayton Purchase. Israel would go out to name the city of Dayton after his friend, Jonathon Dayton.³ During these land purchases, Jonathon would loan money out to Aaron Burr, who later would be accused of treason, not knowing that he would be arrest as a possible co-conspirator. Although Jonathan was later found to be innocent, it ruined his political career and he retired later passing away in 1826 never leaving New Jersey to see the city that bear his name.  

Works Cited:

1. Robert Wright, "Jonathon Dayton," (United States Army Center for Military History, August 11, 2000), accessed March 27, 2019, https://history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/dayton.htm.

2. Robert Wright, "Jonathon Dayton," (United States Army Center for Military History, August 11, 2000), accessed March 27, 2019, https://history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/dayton.htm.

3. Harvey Crew, History of Dayton, Ohio 1889, (Dayton, Ohio: United Brethen Publishing, 1889), accessed March 27, 2019, http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/page/page/3422771.htm.

Bibliography:

Crew, Harvey. History of Dayton, Ohio 1889. Dayton, Ohio: United Brethen Publishing, 1889. Accessed March 27, 2019. http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/page/page/3422771.htm.

Wright, Robert. "Jonathon Dayton." United States Army Center for Military History. August 11, 2000. Accessed March 27, 2019. https://history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/dayton.htm.