William L. Dayton

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William Dayton
Frederick Frelinghuysen
United States Senator
from New Jersey
In office
July 2, 1842 – March 3, 1851
Preceded bySamuel L. Southard
Succeeded byRobert F. Stockton
Personal details
Born
William Lewis Dayton

(1807-02-17)February 17, 1807
Basking Ridge, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedDecember 1, 1864(1864-12-01) (aged 57)
Paris, France
Political partyWhig (Before 1854)
Republican (1854–1864)
SpouseMargaret Dayton
EducationPrinceton University (BA)

William Lewis Dayton (February 17, 1807 – December 1, 1864) was an American politician, active first in the

United States Ambassador to France, a position in which he worked to prevent French recognition of the Confederate States of America
.

Early life

Dayton was born in

Peter Dumont Vroom, was admitted to the bar in 1830, and became an attorney in Freehold
.

Political career

In 1837, Dayton was elected to the

New Jersey Supreme Court in 1838. Following the death of U.S. Senator Samuel L. Southard, he was appointed to the United States Senate starting July 2, 1842, and elected to finish the term ending in 1845. He was re-elected by the New Jersey Legislature as a Whig
in 1845 but lost in 1851, ending his service on March 3, 1851.

Minister to France. He served from May 1861 until his death in December 1864. His service spanned most of the American Civil War, and Dayton served a key role in preventing French intervention
in the War.

Ambassador

In France, Dayton was part of a successful lobbying campaign to prevent the government of Napoleon III from recognizing the independence of the Confederacy or allowing Confederate use of French ports.

Dayton died in Paris and was buried in

Riverview Cemetery, Trenton, New Jersey.[1]

Legacy

His son,

Ambassador to the Netherlands
from 1882–1885.

Later, the town of Dayton, New Jersey, was named in his honor.[2] Dayton Street in Trenton, New Jersey, also memorializes him.[3]

References

  1. ^ James, George. "He's Looked at Life From Both Sides Now", The New York Times, "Buried here too is William Lewis Dayton, the first Republican vice presidential candidate who defeated Lincoln for the position in 1856 but lost the presidential nomination to him in 1860." February 20, 2000. Accessed December 29, 2007.
  2. ^ "South Brunswick Township History". Retrieved 2012-11-09. In 1866, the name was changed from Cross Roads to Dayton, in honor of William L. Dayton, an attorney for the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad. ...
  3. ^ "How Streets of Trenton Obtained Present Names". Trenton Historical Society. Retrieved October 23, 2023.

Further reading

  • Republican Campaign Edition for the Million. Containing the Republican Platform, the Lives of Fremont and Dayton, with Beautiful Steel Portraits of Each, 1856 (Boston: John P. Jewett), via Illinois Historical Digitization Projects of the Northern Illinois University Libraries

External links

U.S. Senate
Preceded by
U.S. Senator (Class 1) from New Jersey
1842–1851
Served alongside: Jacob W. Miller
Succeeded by
Preceded by Chair of the Senate Public Buildings Committee
1842–1845
Succeeded by
Party political offices
New political party Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States
1856
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of New Jersey
1857–1861
Succeeded by
Frederick Frelinghuysen
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
United States Minister to France

1861–1864
Succeeded by