Lewis P. Dayton

Lewis P. Dayton (1821–1900) was Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving 1874–1875. He was born at Eden, New York on the family farm in 1821. He studied medicine in the office of Dr. Timothy T. Lockwood and moved to Buffalo. He graduated in 1846 from the Geneva Medical College, in Geneva, New York. He returned to Buffalo as a physician in the Black Rock section. Around 1846 he married Grace Webster Holley, who died at a young age. Dayton first remarried Mrs. Alice Maud Hayes, who died about a year after their marriage, then in 1892, he married Margaret Vogt.
He was first elected an alderman from the 12th Ward in 1855. He was Erie County Clerk from 1865 to 1867. He was a member of the New York State Assembly (Erie Co., 3rd D.) in 1868. In 1868, Dayton was appointed to the first Board of Park Commissioners and was chosen health physician for the City in 1871. On November 4, 1873, Dayton was elected mayor as the Democratic candidate. He did not seek a second term and retired to his private medical practice. He died on May 14, 1900, and was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery His brain was preserved in alcohol, possibly for medical research.
The Dayton House that Lewis P. Dayton lived in while residing in Black Rock, is located at 243 Dearborn Street. This home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.