Philemon Dickinson

Philemon Dickinson

Philemon Dickinson (born April 5, 1739 in Trappe , Maryland Province , †  February 4, 1809 in Trenton , New Jersey ) was an American politician who represented the state of New Jersey in the US Senate . He had previously attended the Continental Congress as a delegate from Delaware .

Life

Philemon Dickinson was born as the younger brother of John Dickinson in Talbot County in what is now the state of Maryland . When he was a year old, his parents moved him to Delaware. There he received private tuition until he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania , where he graduated in 1759. He then studied law and was also admitted to the bar, but he never practiced in the profession. In 1767 he moved to Trenton and married his cousin Mary Cadwalader (1746–1781) there on July 14 of that year, with whom he had a son and a daughter. During the Revolutionary War , he served as an officer in the New Jersey Militia, where he held the rank of major general.

From 1782 to 1783 Dickinson took part in the sessions of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia for Delaware . Between 1783 and 1784 he represented Hunterdon County on the New Jersey Legislative Council , the forerunner of the State Senate . He served as the vice-chairman of this body. He was also a member of the commission that determined the location for the federal capital Washington, DC . After the resignation of US Senator William Paterson , Dickinson was appointed as his successor. He served in Congress from November 13, 1790 to March 4, 1793; during this time he belonged to the pro-administration faction . He then ended his political career and retired to his estate The Hermitage in Mercer County , where he died on February 4, 1809. Dickinson was buried on the Friends Burying Ground in Trenton.

Web links

• Philemon Dickinson in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Philemon Dickinson in the database of Find a Grave (English)