Philemon DICKINSON, Congress, NJ (1739-1809)

DICKINSON, Philemon, (brother of John Dickinson), a Delegate from Delaware and a Senator from New Jersey; born at ‘Crosia-dore,’ near Trappe, Talbot County, Md., April 5, 1739; moved with his parents to Dover, Del., in 1740, where he received his education from a private tutor; graduated in the first class of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1759; superintended his father’s estates in Delaware until 1760; studied law in Philadelphia; admitted to the bar, but never practiced; moved to Trenton, N.J., in 1767; delegate to the New Jersey Provincial Congress in 1776; served in the Revolutionary War; was commissioned brigadier general in 1776, and in 1777 major general commanding the New Jersey Militia, serving in the latter capacity throughout the Revolution; Member of the Continental Congress from Delaware 1782-1783; vice president of the Council of New Jersey 1783-1784; member of the commission to choose a site for the national capital in 1784; elected to the United States Senate from New Jersey to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Paterson and served from November 23, 1790, to March 3, 1793; was not a candidate for renomination; devoted his time to the care of his estates; died at his home, ‘The Hermitage,’ near Trenton, N.J., February 4, 1809; interment in the Friends Meeting House Burying Ground, Trenton, N.J.

Bibliography

Dictionary of American Biography; Dickinson, Wharton. “Philemon Dickinson: Major-General: New Jersey Militia-Revolutionary Service.” Magazine of American History 7 (December 1881): 420-27.

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