Mahlon Dickerson

Mahlon Dickerson
10th United States Secretary of the Navy
In office July 1, 1834 – June 30, 1838
Preceded by	Levi Woodbury
Succeeded by	James K. Paulding
7th Governor of New Jersey
In office October 26, 1815 – February 1, 1817
Preceded by	William Kennedy as Acting Governor
Succeeded by	Isaac Halstead Williamson
United States Senator from New Jersey (Class 2)
In office March 4, 1817 – January 30, 1829
Preceded by	John Condit
Succeeded by	Theodore Frelinghuysen
United States Senator from New Jersey (Class 1)
In office January 30, 1829 – March 4, 1833
Preceded by	Ephraim Bateman
Succeeded by	Samuel L. Southard
Pennsylvania Attorney General
In office July 22, 1808 – January 9, 1809
Preceded by	Joseph B. McKean
Succeeded by	Walter Franklin
Personal details
Born	(1770-04-17)April 17, 1770 Hanover Township, New Jersey
Died	October 5, 1853(1853-10-05) (aged 83) Succasunna, New Jersey
Political party	Democratic-Republican, Democrat
Alma mater	College of New Jersey
Profession	Politician, Lawyer, Judge
Religion	Episcopalian
Military service
Service/branch	New Jersey Detached Militia
Rank	Private
Battles/wars	Whiskey Rebellion

Mahlon Dickerson (April 17, 1770 – October 5, 1853) was an American judge and politician. He was elected Governor of New Jersey as well as United States Senator from that state. He was twice appointed Secretary of the Navy - under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin van Buren. He was the elder brother of New Jersey Governor Philemon Dickerson.

History

Born in Hanover Township, New Jersey, he was educated by private tutors and graduated with an A.B. from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1789. He then studied the law to be admitted to the bar in 1793.

During the Whiskey Rebellion, he served as a private in the Second Regiment Cavalry, New Jersey Detached Militia.

Career

After his militia service, he settled in Philadelphia, and began practicing in Pennsylvania courts in 1797. He served as a Judge of the Mayor's Court, and as a member of the Philadelphia Common Council in 1799. He was named state commissioner of bankruptcy in 1802, served as adjutant general of Pennsylvania from 1805 to 1808, attorney general of Pennsylvania from 1808 to 1809, and as Philadelphia city recorder from 1808 to 1810.

He returned to New Jersey, settling in Morris County in 1810. Elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1811, he served one term. He was law reporter for the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1813 to 1814, and a justice of the same from 1813 to 1815. He was elected Governor of New Jersey in 1815 and served until 1817, having been elected as a Democratic-Republican to the United States Senate in 1816.

Dickerson served in the Senate from March 4, 1817 to January 30, 1829, when he resigned, but he was immediately reelected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Ephraim Bateman and served from January 30, 1829, to March 4, 1833, for a total of 16 years of service. Dickerson served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Library during the 15th Congress, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce and Manufactures for the 16th through 18th Congresses and the U.S. Senate Committee on Manufactures from the 19th through 22nd Congresses.

In 1833, upon leaving the Senate, he was elected Member of the New Jersey Legislative Council for Morris County and served as Vice President for that term. In 1834 he declined appointment as Minister to Russia. In June of that year, he was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Andrew Jackson and was reappointed by President Martin Van Buren, serving until June 1838. The destroyer USS Dickerson was named in his honor.

On July 14, 1840, Dickerson was nominated by President Martin Van Buren to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey vacated by William Rossell. Dickerson was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 21, 1840, and received his commission on July 23, 1840. However, Dickerson was appointed as a place holder so his brother Philemon wouldn't have to give up his seat in the closely divided House of Representatives until very near the end of the Congress and the Van Buren Administration, so he served less than one year, resigning on February 16, 1841. He was also a delegate to the New Jersey constitutional convention of 1844.

Societies

During the 1820s, Dickerson was a member of the prestigious society, Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, who counted among their members former presidents Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions.^[1]

Later life

Dickerson died in 1853 in Succasunna, New Jersey and is interred at Presbyterian Cemetery, Succasunna.

References

Biography

• Mahlon Dickerson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Mahlon Dickerson at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

External links

• Biography of Mahlon Dickerson, New Jersey State Library
• New Jersey Governor Mahlon Dickerson, National Governors Association
• Article at "Discovering Lewis & Clark"
• Biography of Mahlon Dickerson from The Political Graveyard
• Mahlon Dickerson at Find a Grave

v t e Governors of New Jersey Royal Governors Viscount Cornbury Baron Lovelace Ingoldesby (Lt. Gov.) Hunter Burnet Montgomerie Morris (acting) Cosby Anderson (acting) Hamilton (acting) Lord De La Warr Morris Hamilton (acting) Reading (acting) Belcher Reading (acting) Pownall (Lt. Gov.) Reading (acting) Bernard Boone Hardy Franklin Post-Colonial Livingston Paterson Howell Bloomfield Ogden W.S. Pennington M. Dickerson Williamson Vroom Southard Seeley Vroom P. Dickerson W. Pennington Haines Stratton Haines G. Fort Price Newell Olden Parker Ward Randolph Parker Bedle McClellan Ludlow Abbett Green Abbett Werts Griggs Voorhees Murphy Stokes J. Fort Wilson Fielder Edge Edwards Silzer Moore Larson Moore Hoffman Moore Edison Edge Driscoll Meyner Hughes Cahill Byrne Kean Florio Whitman DiFrancesco McGreevey Codey Corzine Christie Book:Governors of New Jersey

v t e Vice Presidents of the New Jersey Legislative Council Stevens Cox P. Dickinson Hooper Lawrence Henderson Lawrence Linn Anderson Lambert Little Anderson Elmer E. Seeley Ward Clark Schureman Clark Kennedy Upson Stryker Bateman Cook Newbold Condict E. P. Seeley M. Dickerson Patterson Sitgreaves Munn Parsons Porter Cassedy Chetwood J. Patterson

v t e United States Senators from New Jersey Class 1 Elmer Rutherfurd Davenport Schureman Ogden Condit Lambert Wilson Southard McIlvaine Bateman Dickerson Southard W. Dayton R. F. Stockton Thomson Field J. Wall Wright F. T. Frelinghuysen J. Stockton Randolph Sewell Blodgett J. Smith J. Kean Martine J. Frelinghuysen Edwards H. Kean Moore Milton Barbour Walsh H. Smith Williams Brady Lautenberg Corzine Menendez Class 2 Paterson Dickinson F. Frelinghuysen R. Stockton J. Dayton Kitchell Condit Dickerson T. Frelinghuysen G. Wall Miller Wright Ten Eyck J. Stockton Cattell F. T. Frelinghuysen McPherson Sewell Dryden Briggs Hughes Baird Edge Baird, Jr. Morrow Barbour Smathers Hawkes Hendrickson Case Bradley Torricelli Lautenberg Chiesa Booker

v t e United States Department of the Navy Secretaries Cabinet level Stoddert Smith Hamilton Jones Crowninshield S Thompson Southard Branch L. Woodbury Dickerson Paulding Badger Upshur Henshaw Gilmer Mason Bancroft Mason Preston Graham Kennedy Dobbin Toucey Welles Borie Robeson R Thompson Goff Hunt Chandler Whitney Tracy Herbert Long Moody Morton Bonaparte Metcalf Newberry Meyer Daniels Denby Wilbur Adams Swanson Edison Knox Forrestal Dept. of Defense Sullivan Matthews Kimball Anderson Thomas T. Gates Franke Connally Korth Nitze Ignatius Chafee Warner Middendorf Claytor Hidalgo Lehman Webb Ball Garrett O'Keefe Dalton Danzig England Winter Mabus Under Secretaries Forrestal Bard A. Gates Sullivan Kenney Kimball Whitehair Thomas T. Gates Franke Bantz Fay BeLieu Baldwin Baird Warner Sanders Middendorf Potter Macdonald Woolsey Murray Goodrich Garrett Howard Danzig Hultin Pirie Livingstone Aviles Work Assistant Secretaries Pre-1954 Fox Faxon Soley McAdoo T. Roosevelt Sr. Allen Hackett Darling Newberry Satterlee Winthrop F. Roosevelt G. Woodbury T. Roosevelt Jr. Robinson Jahncke H. Roosevelt Edison Compton Bard Hensel Kenney Andrews Koehler Askins Fogler Post-1954 Financial Management and Comptroller Installations and Environment Manpower and Reserve Affairs Research, Development and Acquisitions General Counsel of the Navy defunct: Air Installations and Logistics Material Research and Development Research, Engineering and Systems Shipbuilding and Logistics

v t e Pennsylvania Attorneys General Colonial (1683–1776) John White Samuel Hersent John White Lloyd John Moore Robert Assheton Paromlus Parmyter George Lowther Thomas Clarke Robert Quarry Henry Wilson Hamilton Joseph Growden, Jr. John Kinsey Francis Chew Allen Council-appointed (1776–1791) Morris J. D. Sergeant Bradford Governor-appointed (1791–1980) Bradford Ingersoll McKean Dickerson W. Franklin J. Reed Rush Ingersoll Ellmaker T. Sergeant Elder Smith Blythe Ellmaker Markley Douglas Lewis Dallas J. Todd W. B. Reed Johnson J. Kane Read Champneys Cooper Darragh T. Franklin Campbell Hughes T. Franklin Knox Purviance Meredith B. H. Brewster F. C. Brewster Dimmick Lear Palmer Cassidy Kirkpatrick Hensel McCormick Elkin Carson M. H. Todd Bell Brown Schaffer Alter Woodruff Baldridge Woods Schnader Margiotti Bard Reno Shockley Duff Chidsey Margiotti Woodside Truscott H. Cohen McBride Alpern Stahl Alessandroni Friedman Sennett Speaker Creamer Packel R. Kane Gornish Blewitt Biester Bartle Elected (since 1980) Zimmerman Preate W. Cohen Corbett Fisher Pappert Corbett Ryan Kelly K. Kane

v t e Cabinet of President Andrew Jackson (1829–1837) Vice President John C. Calhoun (1829–1832) None (1832–1833) Martin Van Buren (1833–1837) Secretary of State Martin Van Buren (1829–1831) Edward Livingston (1831–1833) Louis McLane (1833–1834) John Forsyth (1834–1837) Secretary of the Treasury Samuel D. Ingham (1829–1831) Louis McLane (1831–1833) William J. Duane (1833) Roger B. Taney (1833–1834) Levi Woodbury (1834–1837) Secretary of War John H. Eaton (1829–1831) Lewis Cass (1831–1836) Attorney General John M. Berrien (1829–1831) Roger B. Taney (1831–1833) Benjamin F. Butler (1833–1837) Postmaster General William T. Barry (1829–1835) Amos Kendall (1835–1837) Secretary of the Navy John Branch (1829–1831) Levi Woodbury (1831–1834) Mahlon Dickerson (1834–1837)

v t e Cabinet of President Martin Van Buren (1837–1841) Vice President Richard M. Johnson (1837–1841) Secretary of State John Forsyth (1837–1841) Secretary of the Treasury Levi Woodbury (1837–1841) Secretary of War Joel R. Poinsett (1837–1841) Attorney General Benjamin F. Butler (1837–1838) Felix Grundy (1838–1840) Henry D. Gilpin (1840–1841) Postmaster General Amos Kendall (1837–1840) John M. Niles (1840–1841) Secretary of the Navy Mahlon Dickerson (1837–1838) James K. Paulding (1838–1841)