Background
Philemon Dickerson was born at Succasunna, New Jersey, United States; a son of Jonathan and Mary (Coe) Dickerson, and a younger brother of Mahlon Dickerson.
Philemon Dickerson was born at Succasunna, New Jersey, United States; a son of Jonathan and Mary (Coe) Dickerson, and a younger brother of Mahlon Dickerson.
Much of his youth was passed in Philadelphia, where he attended the public schools, subsequently passing to the University of Pennsylvania and graduating there in 1808. He then took up the study of law and in 1813 was licensed as an attorney.
In 1813 Dickerson opened an office in Philadelphia. In 1816 he removed to Paterson, New Jersey, which thenceforth remained his home. In 1817 he was admitted a counselor-at-law and, devoting himself steadily to his profession, gradually acquired an extensive practise. In 1834 he became a sergeant-at-law, being the last to hold that dignity in New Jersey.
A Jacksonian Democrat, he was elected a representative from New Jersey in the Twenty-third Congress, and was reelected to the Twenty-fourth, serving from 1833 to November 3, 1836, when he resigned, having been elected governor of New Jersey and chancellor by the state legislature. He held this office for only one year, being defeated on seeking reelection in 1837.
In 1839 the “Great Seal War” occurred. He was again the Democratic nominee for Congress, and the election returns showed that he had been elected together with four other Democrats and one Whig. The balance of parties was such that the control of the House depended upon the complexion of the New Jersey delegation. Charges of fraud were made, and the Whig governor, on counting up the votes, rejected returns from two townships, and affixed the Great Seal of the State of New Jersey to certificates of election of the six Whig candidates. This action transferred the dispute to Washington, where a bitter discussion took place, though ultimately by vote, February 28, 1840, the five Democrats were declared to be members of the House. On the expiration of his term in Congress, Dickerson was appointed by President Van Buren United States judge for the district of New Jersey. At that period and for a number of years thereafter, the business of the court was small in volume, and in the performance of his judicial duties, which were not onerous, he gave general satisfaction.
The outbreak of the Civil War caused a large accession of work, litigation in all the federal courts becoming heavy, and his health broke down under the sudden strain, but he remained on the bench till his death at Paterson, December 10, 1862.
As judge he had little opportunity of showing his qualifications for judicial office. A few of his opinions delivered during the year in which he was chancellor are reported in Green’s Chancery Reports, vol. Ill, but no cases of any major importance came before him when on the district court bench.
Though Dickerson had no pretense to being a learned lawyer, he was energetic, impartial, and dignified.
Dickerson's wife was Sidney, the daughter of Colonel John Stotesbury of New York. His second son, Edward Nicoll Dickerson, became a leading member of the New York bar.