Philemon Dickinson

Philemon Dickinson
United States Senator from New Jersey
In office November 13, 1790 – March 4, 1793
Preceded by	William Paterson
Succeeded by	Frederick Frelinghuysen
Personal details
Born	(1739-04-05)April 5, 1739 Trappe, Maryland
Died	February 4, 1809(1809-02-04) (aged 69) Trenton, New Jersey
Political party	Pro-Administration
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Continental Army
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War

Philemon Dickinson (April 5, 1739 – February 4, 1809) was an American lawyer and politician from Trenton, New Jersey. As a brigadier general of the New Jersey militia, he was one of the most effective militia officers of the American Revolutionary War. He was also a Continental Congressman from Delaware and a United States Senator from New Jersey.

Dickinson was born in Maryland. When he was one, his family moved to Delaware. He was educated by a private tutor until he went to the University of Pennsylvania, from where he graduated in 1759. He then studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced. In 1767, Dickinson moved to Trenton, New Jersey. On 14 July 1767, he married his first cousin, Mary Cadwalader (1746–1781). They had two children; Samuel (1770–1837) and Mary (1768–1822). He served as an officer during the American Revolutionary War, rising to the rank of Major General in the New Jersey Militia.

In 1782 and 1783, he represented Delaware at the Continental Congress. In 1783-84 he was elected to the New Jersey Legislative Council from Hunterdon County where he served as Vice-President of Council both years. He was a member of the commission that selected the site for the national capital in Washington, D.C. in 1784. When William Paterson resigned from the United States Senate, Dickinson was chosen by New Jersey to finish Paterson's term. He served in the senate from November 13, 1790 to March 4, 1793. After his service in Congress, he returned to look after his estates until he died in 1809, and was buried at Friends Burying Ground in Trenton.

Letter from Philemon Dickinson, 1778

Commanding general of the New Jersey militia during the Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and a U.S. Senator, Philemon Dickinson was born at "Crosiadore," near Trappe, Maryland on April 5, 1739, a younger brother of Founding Father John Dickinson. After graduation in the first class from the college of Philadelphia in 1757, he studied law, but never practiced. In 1767 he moved to an estate, "The Hermitage," near Trenton, New Jersey. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1775 he was commissioned a colonel of the Hunterdon County militia. In 1776 he was elected as a delegate to New Jersey's Revolutionary provincial congress. In January 1777 Dickinson led 400 of his militia in a raid on a British foraging party near Somerset Court House, New Jersey, capturing about forty wagons of supplies and several prisoners. In June 1777 he was appointed major general in command of all New Jersey militia, a post he held throughout the rest of the war. Dickinson's militia took part in the battle of Monmouth in 1778, helping obstruct the retreat of the British to New York. When his cousin John Cadwalader dueled General Thomas Conway on July 4, 1778, Dickinson was Cadwalader's second. Dickinson represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress in 1782-83, and the following year served on the commission to choose the site for a national capital. He was elected by the New Jersey legislature as a U.S. Senator in 1790-93, and after that retired to his estate, "The Hermitage," where he died on February 4, 1809.

External links

• Philemon Dickinson at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Philemon Dickinson at The Political Graveyard
• Philemon Dickinson at Find A Grave
• Biographical sketch at Virtualology.com (under his brother, John Dickinson)

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

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 A. 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