Jonathan Dayton Jonathan Dayton ( October 16 , 1760October 9 , 1824 ) was an American politician from the U . S . state of New Jersey . He was the youngest person to sign the United States Constitution and a member of the U . S . House of Representatives , serving as the fourth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives , and later the U . S . Senate . Dayton was arrested in 1807 for treason in connection with Aaron Burr ' s conspiracy , he was never put on trial , but his national political career never recovered . Biography . Early life . Dayton was born in Elizabethtown ( now known as Elizabeth ) in New Jersey . He was the son of Elias Dayton , a merchant who was prominent in local politics and had served as a militia officer in the French and Indian War . He graduated from the local academy , run by Tapping Reeve and Francis Barber , where he was classmates with Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr . He then attended the College of New Jersey ( now known as Princeton University ) . He left the College of New Jersey in 1775 to fight in the revolution , though he would later receive an honorary degree in 1776 . Soldier . During the Revolutionary War , 15 at the outbreak in 1775 , served under his father ( Elias ) in the 3rd New Jersey Regiment as an ensign . On Jan . 1 , 1777 he was commissioned a lieutenant and served as paymaster . He saw service under Washington fighting , at both the battles of Brandywine Creek and Germantown . The son remained with Washington at Valley Forge , and helped push the British from their position in New Jersey into the Safety of New York City . In October 1780 , along with an uncle were captured by loyalist who held him captive for the winter , released in the coming year . They again served under ' s father , Elias , in the New Jersey Brigade . Now only 19 , was promoted to rank of captain on March 30 , 1780 , and transferred to the second New Jersey , where he took part in the ensuing Yorktown Campaign fighting at the Battle of Yorktown . The Revolutionary War Pension files also states that he served as Aid - de - Camp to Genenal Sullivan on his expedition against the Indians from May 1 to Nov 30 , 1779 . Career . After the war , Dayton studied law and established a practice , dividing his time between land speculation , law , and politics . After serving as a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention ( which he was the youngest member of , at the age of 26 ) , he became a prominent Federalist legislator . He was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1786 – 1787 , and again in 1790 , and served in the New Jersey Legislative Council ( now the New Jersey Senate ) in 1789 . Dayton was elected to the U . S . House of Representatives in 1789 , but he did not take his seat until he was elected again in 1791 . He served as speaker for the Fourth and Fifth Congress . Like most Federalists , he supported the fiscal policies of Alexander Hamilton , and helped organize the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion . He supported the Louisiana Purchase and opposed the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801 . Wealthy from his heavy investments in Ohio where the city of Dayton would later be named after him , Dayton lent money to Aaron Burr becoming involved by association in the " conspiracy " in which Burr was accused of intending to conquer parts of what is now the western United States . ( This was never proven . ) Dayton was exonerated , but this effectively ended his political career . Late life and family . He married Susan Williamson and had two daughters . Susan ' s Revolutionary War Pension Application W . 6994 states that the marriage occurred on the twenty - eighth day of March , in the year seventeen hundred and seventy nine . A supporting letter , written by Aaron Ogden , a Captain in the New Jersey Brigade , states that he " was present at the marriage of the said Jonathan Dayton and Susan his wife ; which marriage ceremony was performed by the Reverent Mr . Hoyt , a Presbyterian Clergyman . . . in the fore part of spring of the year seventeen hundred and seventy nine ( 1779 ) while the New Jersey Brigade lay at Elizabethtown in the Borough of Elizabeth and state of new Jersey ; " After resuming his political career in New Jersey , he died Oct . 9 , 1824 in his hometown and was interred in an unmarked grave now under the present St . John ' s Episcopal Church in Elizabeth which replaced the original church in 1860 . Shortly before his death , Lafayette visited him , as reported in an obituary : In New - Jersey , Hon . JONATHAN DAYTON , formerly Speaker of the House of Representatives of Congress , and a Hero of the Revolution . When the Nation ' s Guest lately passed New - Jersey , he passed the night with General Dayton , and such were the exertions of this aged and distinguished federalist , to honor the Guest , and gratify the wishes of his fellow citizens to see , that he sunk under them ; and expired , without regret , a few days after ( Columbian Centinel ( Boston , MA ) , Oct 20 , 1824 , p . 2 ) . Dayton , Ohio . The city of Dayton , Ohio , was named after Jonathan Dayton . While he never set foot in the area , he was a signatory to the constitution and , at the time the city 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 . Legacy . The Jonathan Dayton High School in Springfield Township , Union County , New Jersey , the Dayton neighborhood of Newark , New Jersey , Dayton Street in Madison , Wisconsin , and Dayton , Ohio are named in his honor .