Elias DAYTON, Congress, NJ (1737-1807)

DAYTON, Elias, (father of Jonathan Dayton), a Delegate from New Jersey; born in Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), N.J., May 1, 1737; apprenticed as a mechanic; completed preparatory studies; lieutenant of militia March 19, 1756, and captain March 19, 1760; served in the “Jersey Blues“ under Wolfe at Quebec and against Pontiac near Detroit; proprietor of a general store at Elizabethtown, N.J.; alderman; member of committee to enforce measures recommended by Continental Congress, and on October 26, 1775, became one of Essex County's four muster-masters; commissioned a colonel of the third battalion of the New Jersey Line on January 10, 1776; elected to the Continental Congress December 12, 1778, in place of John Neilson, but declined May 25, 1779; was in active service until the discharge of the New Jersey Line on November 3, 1783; promoted to brigadier general January 8, 1783; returned to Elizabethtown and operated a general store; major general of militia; recorder of Elizabethtown in 1789; member of State general assembly 1791-1792 and 1794-1796; mayor of Elizabethtown 1796-1805; president of the New Jersey Society of the Cincinnati; died in Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth), N.J., October 22, 1807; interment in a vault in the First Presbyterian Churchyard.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present