Joseph DICKSON, Congress, NC (1745-1825)

1745-1825

DICKSON, Joseph, a Representative from North Carolina; born in Chester County, Pa., in April 1745; moved with his parents to Rowan County, N.C., and was reared and educated there; engaged in cotton and tobacco planting; member of the committee of safety of Rowan County in 1775; commissioned captain in the Colonial Army the same year; served under Colonel McDowell in 1780, and at the Battle of Kings Mountain as major of the “Lincoln County Men”; clerk of Lincoln County Court in 1781; member of the State senate 1788-1795, and during this time was appointed one of a commission to establish the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; elected as a Federalist to the Sixth Congress (March 4, 1799-March 3, 1801); moved to Tennessee in 1803 and settled in that portion of Davidson County which subsequently became Rutherford County; member of the State house of representatives 1807-1811 and served as speaker the last two years; died in Rutherford County, Tenn., April 14, 1825; interment on his plantation northeast of Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present