1st New Jersey Regiment - Famous Members

Famous Members

Elias Dayton (1737-1807), a merchant from Elizabeth and father of U.S. Constitution signer Jonathan Dayton, became a lieutenant in the Jersey Blues in 1756. He was later present at the signing of the peace treaty with the Native American Chief Pontiac outside Detroit, Michigan in 1764 during Pontiac's Rebellion. In 1776, Dayton was appointed colonel of the Third New Jersey Regiment of Foot, also known as the Third Battalion, New Jersey Line, in the Continental Army.
Other figures associated with the Jersey Blues during the colonial period include: Peter Schuyler, who was colonel of the New Jersey Regiment during the French and Indian War and whose portrait is in the collection of the New Jersey Historical Society; John Johnston, another commander of the New Jersey Regiment during the French and Indian War; William "Scotch Willie" Maxwell, who was a lieutenant in the New Jersey Regiment during the colonial wars, a commissary in the 1760s, and later served as first colonel of the 2nd New Jersey Regiment (Continental Line) and general commanding the New Jersey Line during the Revolutionary War.