Dayton was arrested in 1807 for alleged treason in connection with Aaron Burr's conspiracy to establish an independent country in the Southwestern United States and parts of Mexico.

He was the son of Elias Dayton, a merchant prominent in local politics who had served as a militia officer in the French and Indian War, and his wife the former Hannah Rolfe.

He remained with Washington at Valley Forge and helped push the British from their position in New Jersey into the safety of New York City.

[2] The Revolutionary War pension records indicate that he served as aide-de-camp to General John Sullivan on his expedition against the Indians from May 1 to November 30, 1779.

After serving as a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention (of which he was the youngest member, at age 26[6]), he became a prominent Federalist legislator.

Shortly before Dayton's death, Lafayette visited him, as reported in an obituary in the Columbian Centinel on October 20, 1824: "In New-Jersey, Hon.

While he never visited the area, he was a signatory to the Constitution and, at the time the city of Dayton was established in 1796, he owned (in partnership with Arthur St. Clair, James Wilkinson and Israel Ludlow) 250,000 acres (1,011 km2) in the Great Miami River basin.