Jonathan Dwight was born December 8, 1858, in
New York City. His father was civil engineer Jonathan Dwight (1831–1910), grandfather Jonathan Dwight (1799–1856), great grandfather Jonathan Dwight (1772–1840), and great-great grandfather also named Jonathan Dwight (1743–1831), all part of the large
New England Dwight family. His mother was Julia Lawrence Hasbrouck. In 1861 the family moved to
Madison, New Jersey. His family had a summer home in
Tadoussac, Quebec, and his first paper was published in 1879 on the birds observed there. He graduated from
Harvard University in 1880, and joined his father in railroad design. He married Ethel Gordon Wishart Adam in 1914. He died of cancer at his home at 43 West 70th Street in New York City on February 22, 1929. ==Legacy==