Introduction
JAMES B. DAYTON was a prominent lawyer and leading businessman in 19th Century Camden. Born in Somerset County on January 22, 1822, he graduated from Princeton University in 1841. He then studied law under his brother, William Dayton. William Dayton served as U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1842 to 1851, was the first Republican Vice-Presidential candidate in 1856, and was America’s Minister to France during the Civil War.
After passing the bar James Dayton came to Camden and set up practice. He soon became City Solicitor, City Treasurer, and legal advisor to the Board of Freeholders. Married in 1848, James Dayton’s wife Louisa passed in 1856, leaving him with two children. He remarried, but his own poor health caused him to give up his law practice.
James Dayton pursued other business interests. He is best remembered as President of the West Jersey Ferry Company for sixteen years, President of the Camden Safe Deposit and Trust Company, and Chairman of the executive committee of the Board of Directors of the Camden & Atlantic Railroad. All of these enterprises prospered under his management.
James B. Dayton died on March 9th of 1886, survived by his wife Sadie Dayton, son William, a lawyer in his own right, and daughter Louisa, who was married to prominent Camden attorney Peter V. Voorhees.
After his passing a street in Stockton Township was named Dayton Street. This street was renamed 18th Street after the 1899 merger with Camden. A street in Camden which runs from Mount Ephraim Avenue opposite Evergreen cemetery towards Haddon Avenue was laid out and named Dayton Street sometime between 1890 and 1906.
James B. Dayton
George Reeser Prowell, The History of Camden County, New Jersey — 1886
James B. Dayton was born January 27, 1822, at Basking Ridge, Somerset County, N. J. He was a son of Joel Dayton and lineal descendant of Ralph Dayton, who emigrated from Yorkshire, England, in 1639 and settled at Boston, one of whose descendants, Jonathan Dayton, located at Elizabethtown about 1725, and was the progenitor of the Dayton family in New Jersey. His son, Elias Dayton, was a brigadier-general in the patriot army of the Revolution, commanding the New Jersey Brigade, and member of Congress in 1778 and 1779. His son Jonathan was a member of the convention which framed the Constitution of the United States, speaker of the Fourth and Fifth Congresses, and United States Senator from 1799 to 1805.
William L. Dayton, a brother of James B. Dayton, after filling with honor the most important positions in New Jersey, was a Senator of the United States from 1842 to 1851, Republican candidate for Vice-President in 1856, and minister to France from 1861 until his death, shortly before the close of the War of the Rebellion.
James B. Dayton graduated from Princeton College in 1841, studied law with his brother, William L. Dayton, became an attorney in 1844, and counselor-at-law in 1847. He settled at Camden and very soon became one of the leading advocates of the New Jersey bar. His practice was large, his conquests brilliant, and he was acknowledged to be one of the most eloquent lawyers in Southern New Jersey. He became the legal adviser of the Board of Freeholders, city solicitor, city treasurer and one of the first board of Riparian Commissions. He was a man of vigorous mind but delicate physique, which caused him in later life to forego the triumphs of the court and devote his entire energies to the less exciting duties of an office practice, and ultimately to retire wholly from the law and also to renounce all aspirations for political life.
He was married, in 1848, to Louisa, daughter of William M. Clarke, of Philadelphia; her death occurred in 1856, leaving two children surviving—William C., a member of the Camden bar, and Louisa, now wife of Peter V. Voorhees, a lawyer in Camden. In 1859 he married Sadie, daughter of Judge Alexander Thomson, of Franklin County, a celebrated jurist of Pennsylvania.
Being compelled to give up the practice of his profession, he turned his attention to corporate interests. He was president of the West Jersey Ferry Company for over sixteen years, giving prosperity to the company and satisfaction to its patrons; president of the Camden Safe Deposit and Trust Company, which, under his management, became one of the most successful banking institutions of the State; chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad Company, which he materially aided in raising from insolvency to affluence. He was also, from its inception, chairman of the board of directors of the Sea View Hotel Company, a very successful corporation. He was a man of sound judgment, kindly impulses and gentle disposition, and his death from progressive paralysis, March 9, 1886, caused universal sorrow.
1861: The First War Meeting in Camden
George Reeser Prowell, The History of Camden County, New Jersey — 1886
On the 16th of April, 1861, three days after the Confederates fired upon Fort Sumter, at the entrance of Charleston Harbor, a large number of loyal and patriotic citizens of Camden City and County issued the following vigorous and spirited response to the President’s proclamation:
To the President Of the United States:
“The unparalleled events of the last week have revealed to the citizens of the United States, beyond question or the possibility of a doubt, that peaceful reconciliation upon the form of our Constitution is repelled and scorned, and secession means, in the hearts of its supporters, both Treason and war against our Country and Nation.
“We, therefore, the undersigned Loyal Citizens of the United States, and inhabitants of the city of Camden, in the State of New Jersey, responding to the proclamation of the President of the United States, hereby declare our unalterable determination to sustain the government in its efforts to maintain the honor, the integrity and the existence of our National Union and the perpetuity of the popular Government, and to redress the wrongs already long enough endured; no differences of political opinion; no badge of diversity upon points of party distinction, shall restrain or withhold us in the devotion of all we have or can command to the vindication of the Constitution, the maintenance of the laws and the defense of the Flag Of our Country.
I. S. Mulford — E. R. Johnson — Louis L. Scovel — B. M. Braker — Joseph C. Nichols — Elwood C. Fortiner — Joseph Vautier — Edmund Brewer — Uriah Norcross — Isaac L. Lowe — Henry B. Goodwin — Richard W. Test — James M. Cassady — John Duprey — Jesse Pratt — Hamilton Johnston — Charles P. Dickinson — Richard H. Lee — C. G. Zimmerman — Thomas M. K. Lee, Jr. — Charles J. Sanders — Samuel S. E. Cowperthwait — James M. Scovel — S. C. Harbert — John S. Read — D. H. Erdman — Adam Angel — George W. Vanhorn — Charles S. Garrett — Thomas M. Barracliff — W. H. Saunders — Jacob Harman, Jr. — Charles K. Horsfall — Timothy Middleton — William W. Sloan — Charles Cloud — A. W. Test — C. A. S. Driesback — Henry Schock — Walter Patton — Azael Roberts — Thomas Jeffries — O. Gilbert Hannah — J. C. De Lacour — Edward T. Andrews — Conclin Mayhey — William Reynolds — Simon Rammell — H. H. Goldsmith — John Horsfall — Thomas H. Dudley — Robert Folwell — Edw. H. Saunders — James O. Morgan — David H. Sheppard — Richard Fetters — Charles C. Reeves — S. H. Grey — N. B. Stokes — S. O. Wright — Joseph Dlinston — David Creary — John R. Barber — James H. Denny — William R. Maxwell — Robert Wible — Hamilton William — George W. Jackson — Joseph Maurer — Joseph D. Brown — William S. Scull — Daniel Witham — Isaac Shreeve — Adam Hare — George Wardell — Joseph Coffman — George W. Conrow — Joshua Howell — Martin Grey — S. L. Wayne — Abner Sparks — Van T. Shivers — Westcott Campbell — William J. Taylor — Isaiah Norcross — Alden O. Scovel — Philip J. Gray — George W. Gilbert — Charles D. Hineline — Thomas H. Davis — Charles De Haven — Thomas Ackley — John Gill — James B. Dayton — James M. Stevens — Joseph French — George Campbell — A. A. Merry — E. Wells — William D. Clark — William B. Hatch — E. O. Jackson — A. B. Martin — Richard O. Robertson — Timothy O. Moore — George W. Stanley — Robert Schall — Reynell Coates — Aaron Hewit — Henry Shuster — William Hartsgrove — William B. French — W. A. Winchester — John M. Natty
In response to a call, on the 18th of April an enthusiastic meeting was held in the county court-house, which was formed of a large collection of prominent citizens. The court-room was decorated with flags and mottoes. John W. Mickle was chosen president and Samuel C. Harbert and Thomas G. Rowand secretaries. The president addressed the meeting first and Rev. Mr. Monroe offered a prayer. Hon. Thomas P. Carpenter, Thomas B. Atkinson (mayor) and Joseph Painter were appointed a committee on resolutions. Judge Philip J. Grey addressed the meeting, after which the committee adopted a long series of patriotic resolutions. The Washington Grays, Stockton Cadets and the Zouaves marched into the room and were received with cheers, Samuel Hufty read a resolution which was signed by many persons, who immediately formed the Home Brigade. David M. Chambers, Captain Stafford, Benjamin M. Braker, John H. Jones and E. A. Acton each addressed the meeting. James M. Scovel was then called upon and responded in eloquent terms and with patriotic energy. S. H. Grey offered a resolution, which was adopted, that the City Council and the Freeholders of the county be requested to appropriate money for the equipment of persons who may volunteer in defense of the country, and S. H. Grey, James M. Cassady and Joseph Painter were appointed a committee to look after the interests of the resolution. The meeting continued in session until eleven p.m.