| Timeline |
| 1745 |
Born 12 December |
| 1760 |
Enters King's College |
| 1764 |
B.A., King's College |
| 1767 |
M.A., King's College |
| 1768 |
Admitted to the bar, establishes legal practice |
| 1774 |
Member of the New York Committee of Correspondence; delegate to the Continental Congress; marries Sarah Livingston |
| 1776 |
Son Peter Augustus Jay born |
| 1777 |
Member of the New York Constitutional Convention, first Chief Justice of New York |
| 1778 |
Delegate & elected President of Continental Congress |
| 1779 |
U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain; son William Jay born |
| 1780 |
Daughter Susan Jay is born and dies shortly thereafter |
| 1782 |
Minister to treat the peace with Great Britain; daughter Maria Jay born |
| 1783 |
Daughter Anna Jay born |
| 1784 |
Secretary of Foreign Affairs under Articles of Confederation |
| 1787 |
Appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs; Federalist Papers |
| 1789 |
George Washington nominates Jay as the first chief justice of the Supreme Court; son William Jay born |
| 1792 |
Daughter Sarah Louisa Jay born |
| 1794 |
Elected governor of New York; negotiates Jay Treaty with Great Britain |
| 1802 |
Retires from politics |
| 1829 |
Dies 17 May |
