He married Emma Chadwick in 1878 and began buying farm mortgages in southwest Minnesota.

[4] He presided over the Bank of Worthington and founded the Minnesota Loan and Investment Company, advancing his social status and prosperity.

In 1890 he built a large home on eight lots, designed by Sioux Falls architect Wallace Dow.

He was also a donor to and trustee of Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where George Draper Dayton Hall is named in his honor.

George Draper Dayton died of cancer in Minneapolis, Minnesota on February 18, 1938, at the age of 80.