Joseph Dickson

Joseph Dickson (April 1745 – April 14, 1825) was an American soldier, planter, and politician who represented North Carolina’s 1st district in the United States House of Representatives from 1799 to 1801 and later served in the Tennessee House of Representatives. He was born in April 1745 in Chester County in the Province of Pennsylvania. In his youth he moved with his parents to Rowan County in the Province of North Carolina, part of the expanding backcountry frontier. There he became engaged in cotton and tobacco planting, establishing himself as a planter in what would later be divided into several western North Carolina counties.

Before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Dickson took part in local patriot organization as a member of the Rowan County Committee of Safety, one of the extralegal bodies that coordinated resistance to British authority. With the commencement of hostilities, he entered military service in the North Carolina militia. In 1775 he served as a captain in the Rowan County Regiment of the North Carolina militia, and in the same year and into 1776 he was captain in the 1st Rowan County Regiment of militia. In 1776 he also held the rank of captain in the 1st Battalion of Volunteers, reflecting his early and active role in the Revolutionary cause.

As the war progressed, Dickson rose through the militia ranks. From 1779 to 1780 he served as a major in the Lincoln County Regiment of the North Carolina militia, a unit drawn from the newly formed Lincoln County carved out of the earlier Rowan County frontier. In 1780 he was major in the North Carolina State Cavalry–Western District of the North Carolina state troops, participating in mounted operations in the backcountry. He was present at the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780, serving as major of the Lincoln County Regiment in that decisive patriot victory over Loyalist forces. In 1781 he was commissioned colonel over the Lincoln County Regiment of the North Carolina militia under Colonel Charles McDowell of the Morgan District Brigade. In this capacity he led his regiment in the Battle of Haw River on February 25, 1781, part of the campaign in the Carolinas that helped wear down British forces. He continued as colonel of the Lincoln County Regiment from 1781 to 1783, and after the Revolutionary War he attained the rank of brigadier general in the militia, underscoring his prominence in North Carolina’s military establishment.

Parallel to his military service, Dickson held important local civil offices. In 1781 he was elected clerk of the Lincoln County Court, a position that placed him at the center of county administration and judicial record-keeping during a formative period for the region. His leadership and standing in the community led to his election to the North Carolina Senate, in which he served from 1788 to 1795. During his tenure in the state legislature, he was appointed to the commission to establish the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, contributing to the creation of the first public university in the United States to open its doors. His legislative work during these years coincided with the broader process of state-building in North Carolina following independence and the ratification of the federal Constitution.

Dickson’s state-level prominence led to his election to national office. In 1798 he was elected as a Federalist to the Sixth Congress, representing North Carolina’s 1st district in the United States House of Representatives. He served in Congress from 1799 to 1801, participating in the national debates of the early republic during the administration of President John Adams. His term in the House coincided with a period marked by partisan conflict between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans, the aftermath of the quasi-war with France, and the contentious election of 1800, though specific details of his voting record are not extensively documented in surviving sources.

After completing his service in Congress, Dickson moved westward. In 1803 he relocated to the State of Tennessee and settled in that portion of Davidson County which subsequently became Rutherford County as settlement expanded and new counties were organized. Continuing his public career in his new home, he was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving from 1807 to 1811. In the Tennessee legislature he rose to a leadership position and served as speaker of the House during the last two years of his tenure, reflecting the confidence placed in him by his colleagues and his continued influence in frontier politics.

In his personal life, Joseph Dickson married Margaret McEwen, the daughter of James McEwen and Isabella Miller. He continued his activities as a planter in Tennessee, maintaining a plantation northeast of Murfreesboro in Rutherford County. Dickson died in Rutherford County, Tennessee, on April 14, 1825. He is interred on his plantation northeast of Murfreesboro at the Boyd Cemetery, Compton, Rutherford County, Tennessee, leaving a legacy as a Revolutionary War officer, state legislator in two states, and member of the early United States Congress.