William L. Dayton

William Lewis Dayton (born February 17, 1807 in Basking Ridge , New Jersey , † December 1, 1864 in Paris ) was an American politician . From 1842 to 1851 he was a member of the United States Senate .

Life

There is a distant relationship between William Lewis Dayton and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives and signatory to the United States Constitution , Jonathan Dayton (1760-1824). William Dayton was born in 1807 to the farmer Joel Dayton. He graduated from what was then New Jersey's College in 1825 (now Princeton University ) and worked as a lawyer in Freehold Borough .

Career

Dayton was in 1837 for the Whigs in the New Jersey Senate voted and worked in the following years as a Deputy Judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court . After the death of Senator Samuel L. Southard, Dayton moved up to the US Senate on July 2, 1842. In 1845 he was re-elected; however, his term ended on March 3, 1851, after he could not confirm his seat again in the election.

In the presidential election of 1856 he was a candidate for the post of US Vice President for the emerging Republican Party ; however, since John C. Frémont lost the election to James Buchanan , John C. Breckinridge was instead vice-president. After the election defeat, he worked as Attorney General in New Jersey until 1861 , which is fourth in the order within the government. Thereafter, President Abraham Lincoln appointed him envoy to France, which he remained until his death in 1864. There he successfully asserted American interests, such as the use of French ports. He died in Paris on December 1, 1864, and is buried in the Riverview cemetery in Trenton .

family

He married Margaret E. Dayton and they had at least one son, William Lewis Dayton, Jr. (1839-1897), who also studied at Princeton and served as envoy in the Netherlands from 1882 to 1885 under President Chester A. Arthur .

Web links

William L. Dayton in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

personal data
SURNAME	Dayton, William L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Dayton, William Lewis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	February 17, 1807
PLACE OF BIRTH	Basking Ridge , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH	December 1, 1864
Place of death	Paris , France