Dane County was created by the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature in 1836 after Judge James Doty convinced legislators to select Madison as the capital and name the surrounding county in honor of Nathan Dane, a Massachusetts-born statesman born in 1752. Doty urged them, "Read the Ordinance of 1787 attentively -- it is the fundamental law of the country." Dane served in the Confederation Congress from 1785 to 1787, and Congress unanimously passed the Northwest Ordinance with a major amendment by him: "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territory," while the ordinance also contained a bill of rights four years before the Constitution's Bill of Rights. Its provisions laid the foundation for the government of 32 states beyond the Northwest Territory. Dane also served in both houses of his state's legislature and died in 1835. His epitaph read: "His fame belongs to his country. Let the gratitude of future ages cherish it."