Dr. A. C. Dayton (not a D.D. but an M.D.)
was born at Plainfield, New Jersey, September 4, 1813. He was a son of Jonathan
and Phoebe Dayton, and a "descendant of the Dayton who was the first
speaker of the national House of Representatives." At the age of twelve he
became a recognized member of a Presbyterian church. From his boyhood he had a
taste for books and a thirst for knowledge. He worked on the farm and attended
the village school till he was sixteen years old, when, on account of serious
trouble with his eyes, he was compelled to quit school and give up his studies
for a time. A little later he taught school and increased his stock of knowledge
by further study. Choosing the profession of medicine he bent his efforts in
that direction, his eyes still giving him trouble. Employing a boy to do most of
his reading for him he pursued his professional studies with energy and success.
This method of study made it necessary for him to cultivate the habit of giving
attention and relying on his memory, instead of his eyes, a habit which resulted
naturally in giving him a remarkable memory, which served him in good stead
throughout his life. In 1834, in the twenty-second year of his age, he graduated
in medicine, receiving his diploma, from the medical college of New York City.
With enfeebled health and finding the duties of his profession too great a tax
on his strength, he relinquished the practice of medicine and, turning his face
southward, started out on a lecture four, lecturing on phrenology and
temperance. At Shelbyville, Tenn., he became acquainted with Miss Lucie
Harrison, third daughter of Capt. Robert P. Harrison, a woman after his own
heart, whom he, courted and married. Seeking health and healing from the balmy
air of a more southern climate he took his bride and, going to Florida,
sojourned in the land of flowers for two or three years, then going to Columbus
and then to Vicksburg, Miss. It was about this time he became dissatisfied with
his church relations. After a careful study of the Scriptures and prayerful self-examination,
with a thorough investigation of the whole subject of denominational
differences, in the year 1852 he became a Baptist. In a serious illness, when
near death's door, he bad promised the Lord if he would raise him up he would
renounce every worldly ambition and preach the gospel. This promise he kept, and
on the next Sabbath after his baptism he preached his first sermon, on the
"love of God" (John 3:16), the theme of his first and last sermon and
the keynote of his ministry.
Accepting the agency of the Bible Board of
the Southern Baptist Convention, then located at Nashville, he moved to
Nashville, in July, 1855, where, in connection with his duties as secretary of
the Bible Board, he became associate editor of the Tennessee Baptist and the
author of several books. His first book, "Theodosia," was a phenomenal
success, running through several editions and being sought for eagerly on both
sides of the Atlantic. This was followed by the "Infidel's Daughter,"
a work of ability and merit, and very popular. These two works established the
author's reputation as a writer of religious fiction and signaled him as a
pioneer in this sort of Baptist propaganda in the South, particularly in
Tennessee. Other publications, especially in connection with our Sunday school
literature, met with a like favorable reception everywhere. "The war coming
on, Dr. Dayton removed with his family to Perry, Ga., where he temporarily
assumed the presidency of Houston Female College, and employed his pen as an
editorial contributor to the Baptist Banner, then published at Atlanta, and in
preparing a religious encyclopedia, which he designed to be the crowning work of
his life. But he was disappointed, for he fell a victim of tuberculosis (an
enemy he bad held at bay for twenty years), dying calmly and peacefully at his
home in, Perry, Ga., June 11, 1865. In the quiet cemetery of this southern city
rests his body, awaiting the summons of the arch-angel's trumpet." (J. M.
P.)
Dr.
Dayton, though dead, still lives and speaks to the world through his writings.
His mantle fell upon at least two of his daughters. His oldest daughter, Mrs.
Laura Dayton Eakin, of Chattanooga, recently deceased, was the popular editor
and beautiful story writer of the "Young South" department of the Baptist
and Reflector. His second daughter, Mrs. Lucie Dayton Phillips, wife of Dr.
J. M. Phillips, inherited a large portion of her father's genius. She was the
popular author of "Thread of Gold," for twenty-five years was a writer
of serial stories for the Baptist Sunday School Board, and was also a
contributor to the publications of the American Baptist Publication Society.
Mrs. Lucile (Phillips) Burnett, wife of Dr. J. M. Burnett, is a granddaughter of
Dr. Dayton. Her stories in Kind Words exhibit quite a bit of the ancestral
genius, and she hopes to give more time to writing when her large family are
older grown and make fewer demands upon her time and attention. Only three
members out of Dr. Dayton's large family are now living: Hugh L. Dayton, a
lawyer, of Shelbyville; Mrs. W. W. Kannon, of Nashville, and Mrs. Elizabeth W.
Stocks, of Chattanooga.
