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. Afterward, he became the Mayor of Elizabethtown, New Jersey and served in the New Jersey General Assembly. He was the father of U.S. Constitution signer Jonathan Dayton.
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Early and family life
Dayton was born in Elizabeth, Province of New Jersey. He married Hannah Rolfe in 1757, and they had two sons, Jonathan Dayton (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, Dayton served first as a lieutenant and then as a captain in the New Jersey militia. During Pontiac's War, in 1760, he served as a commander in the Detroit 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 called on the colonies to resist Parliament'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 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.