Amos Cooper Dayton

Amos Cooper Dayton was a physician, Baptist minister, author, editor and educator, perhaps best remembered for his role in the Landmark Baptist movement.

Earl life and education

Dayton was born at Plainfield, New Jersey, April 1, 1813, the son of Robert Dayton and his wife. He attended local common schools, then went to college. Dayton graduated from medical college in 1834.

Marriage and family

Dayton married Lucinda H. Harrison.

Career

By 1839 Dayton and his wife had moved to Mississippi, where he set up a practice as a dentist. He stayed there until 1852. Dayton was reared Presbyterian, but united with the Baptists in 1852. From 1854 through 1858 Dayton was the corresponding secretary of the Southern Baptist Convention Bible Board.

He served as associate editor of The Tennessee Baptist for about 18 months in 1858-1859. He published the Baptist Banner in Atlanta, Georgia (1863-1864). At the time he was pastor of Houston Lake Baptist Church and First Baptist Church, and the president of Houston Female Institute, all in Perry, Georgia.

Dayton made significant contributions to the Landmark movement of the mid-nineteenth century in the area of religious fiction. His book Theodosia Ernest was published in 1857 in two volumes. The first volume discussed baptism, and the second discussed church polity. Theodosia Ernest originally appeared as a series in The Tennessee Baptist. Dayton wrote Pedobaptist and Campbellite Immersions in 1858.

J. R. Graves was the most prolific writer and outstanding leader of the Landmark movement. But, J. E. Tull concluded that Dayton's book was "the most cogent attack upon 'alien immersions' which the Landmark movement produced."

Dayton, J. R. Graves, and James Madison Pendleton were known as "The Great Triumvirate" of the Landmark movement.

Death

Dayton died of tuberculosis at Perry, Georgia on June 11, 1865. He was buried in the Evergreen Cemetery.

External links

• A. C. Dayton
• Theodosia Ernest