Background
Dickson was born in Duplin County, North Carolina on May 5, 1770 and was educated at Grove Academy in Kenansville.
United States representative politician
Dickson was born in Duplin County, North Carolina on May 5, 1770 and was educated at Grove Academy in Kenansville.
With his parents, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1795. Studied medicine, then practiced as a physician.
They had no children. Elected as a Republican, Dickson served as a U.S. representative for Tennessee for the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Congresses from March 4, 1801, to March 3, 1807. He was a trustee of the University of Nashville from 1806 to 1816.
Dickson died in Nashville on February 21, 1816 (age 45 years, 292 days). He is interred at a rural cemetery in Davidson County, Tennessee, near Nashville. Dickson County in Tennessee is named after him.
Dickson entered politics as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving as its speaker from 1799 to 1803. A cousin of Molton Dickson, he was a member of the Freemasons.