Rev War Doc Seeks Land Warrant for Military Service from Const Signer Jonathan Dayton

This interesting letter from Dr. Ebenezer Elmer of the New Jersey General Assembly to Congressman-elect Jonathan Dayton, the youngest signer of the United States Constitution, requests Dayton's assistance in securing a land warrant for his Revolutionary War service as a soldier and a physician. Elmer served in the 3rd New Jersey as a lieutenant when it was commanded by Dayton's father Colonel Elias Dayton. The younger Dayton was likely a paymaster at the time in the regiment and could testify to Elmer's service. In this rich letter, Elmer, a Democratic-Republican, also criticizes a portion of Alexander Hamilton's Funding and Assumption plan, which Federalist Dayton supports.

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR]. Ebenezer Elmer, Autograph Letter Signed, to Jonathan Dayton, March 20, 1790, Trenton, New Jersey. 1 p., 8" x 12.5". Expected folds; general toning; tear on integral leaf from opening seal, not affecting text.

Complete Transcript
Trenton March 20th 1790.
Dr Sir
Inclosed I send you a warrant of Attorney to draw from the War Office my Land warrant. I expect your own certificate of my station in the army will be sufficient, but if you judge otherwise please to wait on General Dayton with my compliments & request him to sign one for you. You will, I suppose, be in New York frequently & will greatly oblige me by getting the warrant. I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you in May to retrieve the warrant, & to make my acknowledgements for the favor.
I could say a great deal upon the subject of present politics of the Union, but time will not permit. I would just observe however that the conduct of Congress upon the subject of domestic Debt does not appear to be all of a piece. If the support of public credit requires the payment of the certificates without any discrimination, I think, it demands the payment of the Interest without any deduction. Discrimination is equally politic & more equitable than mutilation.
I am, Dr Sir, your Humbe Servt
Eben Elmer

Ebenezer Elmer (1752-1843) was born in New Jersey, studied medicine, and began a practice in Cedarville, New Jersey. He served in the Continental Army as an ensign, lieutenant, surgeon's mate, and regimental surgeon. After the war, he practiced medicine in Bridgeton, New Jersey from 1783 to 1789. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1789 to 1795, the last four years as speaker. He won election to Congress as a Democratic-Republican and served from 1801 to 1807. The Democratic-Republicans did not renominate him in 1806, and he campaigned unsuccessfully as a Federalist. He was the collector of customs at Bridgeton from 1808 to 1817 and again from 1822 to 1832. During those same years, he was vice president of Burlington College. In the War of 1812, he served as adjutant general of the New Jersey militia and brigadier general of the Cumberland brigade.

Jonathan Dayton (1760-1824) was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and graduated from the local academy, where he was classmates with Alexander Hamilton. He attended the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) before leaving in 1775 to fight in the American Revolutionary War. He received an honorary degree in 1776. He became an ensign under his father in the 3rd New Jersey regiment and was commissioned a lieutenant in 1777. He fought in the battles of Brandywine Creek and Germantown and spent the winter with General George Washington at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. He was promoted to captain in 1780 and transferred to the 2nd New Jersey Regiment. In October 1780, he and an uncle were captured by Loyalists but released the following spring. He took part in the Battle of Yorktown. After the war, he studied law and established a practice in Elizabethtown. He represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, where he was the youngest signer of the Constitution. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly (1786-1787, 1790), and the New Jersey Legislative Council (1789). He was elected to Congress as a Federalist in 1789 but did not take his seat until elected again in 1791. He served in Congress from 1791 to 1799, the last four years as Speaker of the House. He supported the fiscal policies of Alexander Hamilton and helped suppress the Whiskey Rebellion. He grew wealthy from land investments in Ohio, where the city of Dayton is named for him, but he lent money to Aaron Burr, involving him by association in Burr's conspiracy to establish a separate nation in the southwestern United States. Although Dayton was exonerated, his relationship with Burr effectively ended his political career.

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