Jonathan Dayton (October 16, 1760-October 9, 1824) was the youngest signer of the Constitution of the United States. He was a delegate from New Jersey, a U.S. Senator and the Speaker of the House. The city of Dayton, Ohio, was named after him.
On June 28, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Jonathan Dayton wrote down the effects on Congress of Dr. Benjamin Franklin's monumental speech calling for Congress to be opened with prayer every day:
<The Doctor sat down; and never did I behold a countenance at once so dignified and delighted as was that of Washington at the close of the address; nor were the members of the convention generally less affected. The words of the venerable Franklin fell upon our ears with a weight and authority, even greater that we may suppose an oracle to have had in a Roman senate!> 1760JD001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1760JD001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Jonathan Dayton, June 28, 1787, in the Constitutional Convention. E.C. M'Guire, The Religious Opinions and Character of Washington (NY: Harper & Brothers, 1836), p. 151.