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William Dayton
Dayton circa 1856
United States Minister to France
In office May 19, 1861 – December 1, 1864
President	Abraham Lincoln
Preceded by	Charles J. Faulkner
Succeeded by	John Bigelow
21st Attorney General of New Jersey
In office January 20, 1857 – March 18, 1861
Governor	William A. Newell Charles Smith Olden
Preceded by	Richard Thompson
Succeeded by	Frederick Frelinghuysen
United States Senator from New Jersey
In office July 2, 1842 – March 3, 1851
Preceded by	Samuel L. Southard
Succeeded by	Robert F. Stockton
Personal details
Born	William Lewis Dayton (1807-02-17)February 17, 1807 Basking Ridge, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	December 1, 1864(1864-12-01) (aged 57) Paris, France
Political party	Whig (Before 1854) Republican (1854–1864)
Spouse	Margaret Dayton
Education	Princeton University (BA)

William Lewis Dayton (February 17, 1807 – December 1, 1864) was an American politician, active first in the Whig Party and later in the Republican Party. In the 1856 presidential election, he became the first Republican vice-presidential nominee when nominated alongside John C. Frémont. The Republican Party lost that campaign. During the American Civil War, Dayton served as 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 Basking Ridge, New Jersey, to farmer Joel Dayton (1776–1833) and Nancy (Lewis) Dayton (1787–1866). His father worked as a farmer and mechanic, and was not well off, but the extended Dayton family was long prominent in New Jersey. William L. Dayton was the grand-nephew of Elias Dayton and second cousin of Jonathan Dayton. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1825. He then studied law with 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 Legislative Council, and he became an associate judge of 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. As a Senator, Dayton opposed attempts at tariff reduction, arguing it would harm farmers and businesses if enacted. Although he found negotiations for Oregon territory "agreeable," Dayton condemned the annexation of Texas as an attempt to spread slavery and regarded the Mexican-American War as dishonorable. Following the conflict's conclusion, Dayton supported the Wilmot Proviso and voted against the 1850 Compromise, believing it conceded too much to pro-slavery interests. 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.

In 1856, Dayton was selected by the nascent Republican Party as their first nominee for Vice President of the United States over Abraham Lincoln at the Philadelphia Convention. He and his running mate, John C. Fremont, lost to the Democratic ticket of James Buchanan and John C. Breckinridge. Afterwards, he served as New Jersey Attorney General until 1861, when his former rival, President Lincoln appointed him 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.

Legacy

His son, William Lewis Dayton Jr. (1839–1897), graduated from Princeton in 1858 and served as President Chester A. Arthur's Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1882–1885.

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

References

1. ^ Southwick, Leslie (1984). Presidential also-rans and running mates, 1788-1980. McFarland & Company. pp. 226–228. ISBN 9780899501093.
2. 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.
3. "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. ...
4. "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

• Biographical Dictionary of the U.S. Congress
• Photograph of William Lewis Dayton
• William L. Dayton Papers Archived 2005-07-25 at the Wayback Machine at the Princeton University Library

v t e United States senators from New Jersey
Class 1	Elmer Rutherfurd Davenport Schureman Ogden Condit Lambert Wilson Southard McIlvaine Bateman Dickerson Southard W. Dayton R. F. Stockton Thomson Field J. Wall Wright F. T. Frelinghuysen J. Stockton Randolph Sewell Blodgett J. Smith J. Kean Martine J. Frelinghuysen Edwards H. Kean Moore Milton Barbour Walsh A. Smith Williams Brady Lautenberg Corzine Menendez Helmy Kim
Class 2	Paterson Dickinson F. Frelinghuysen R. Stockton J. Dayton Kitchell Condit Dickerson T. Frelinghuysen G. Wall Miller Wright Ten Eyck J. Stockton Cattell F. T. Frelinghuysen McPherson Sewell Dryden Briggs Hughes Baird Edge Baird Jr. Morrow Barbour Smathers Hawkes Hendrickson Case Bradley Torricelli Lautenberg Chiesa Booker

v t e Chairs of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Public Buildings (1838–1857)	Fulton Kerr Dayton Cameron Bright Hunter Whitcomb James Bayard
Public Buildings and Grounds (1857–1947)	Bright Foot Brown Fessenden Morrill Dawes Jones Rollins Mahone Stanford Vest Quay Fairbanks Warren Scott Sutherland Swanson Reed Fernald Lenroot Keyes Connally Maloney Andrews
Public Works (1947–1977)	Revercomb Chávez Martin Chávez McNamara Randolph
Environment and Public Works (1977–present)	Randolph Stafford Burdick Moynihan Baucus Chafee Smith Reid Smith Jeffords Inhofe Boxer Inhofe Barrasso Carper Moore Capito (designate)

v t e United States ambassadors to France
Envoys to France (1776–1779)	Franklin, Lee & Deane/Adams
Ministers Plenipotentiary to France (1778–1815)	Franklin Jefferson Short Morris Monroe Pinckney Livingston Armstrong Russell (chargé d'affaires) Barlow Crawford
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France (1816–1893)	Gallatin Brown Rives Harris (chargé d'affaires) Livingston Barton (chargé d'affaires) Cass King Rush Rives Mason Faulkner Dayton Bigelow Dix Washburne Noyes Morton McLane Reid Coolidge
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France (1893–present)	Eustis Porter McCormick White Bacon Herrick Sharp Wallace Herrick Edge Straus Bullitt Leahy Tuck (chargé d'affaires) Caffery Bruce Dunn Dillon Houghton Gavin Bohlen Shriver Watson Irwin Rush Hartman Galbraith Rodgers Curley Harriman Rohatyn Leach Stapleton Rivkin Hartley McCourt Bauer

• 1807 births
• 1864 deaths
• People from Bernards Township, New Jersey
• American people of English descent
• Whig Party United States senators from New Jersey
• New Jersey Republicans
• New Jersey Whigs
• Republican Party (United States) vice presidential nominees
• 1856 United States vice-presidential candidates
• Ambassadors of the United States to France
• 19th-century American diplomats
• New Jersey attorneys general
• Members of the New Jersey Legislative Council
• People from Freehold Township, New Jersey
• New Jersey lawyers
• People of New Jersey in the American Civil War
• 19th-century American lawyers
• 19th-century United States senators
• 19th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature