William Dickson (congressman)

William Dickson (May 5, 1770 – February 21, 1816) was an American politician who represented Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives 1801 to 1807.

Biography
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. He married Polly Gray on August 19, 1802, in Nashville. They had three daughters and one son, Cornelia Ann Dickson, Indiana Dickson, Florida Dickson Baldwin and David Dickson. His second wife was Susannah Hickman. They had no children.

Career
Dickson entered politics as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, serving as its speaker from 1799 to 1803.

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 became a friend of President Andrew Jackson during that time. He was a trustee of the University of Nashville from 1806 to 1816.

Death
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. A cousin of Molton Dickson, he was a member of the Freemasons.

References

External links

The Tennesseean
U.S. Congress Biographical Directory entry

Category:1770 births
Category:1816 deaths
Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee
Category:Tennessee Democratic-Republicans
Category:Speakers of the Tennessee House of Representatives
Category:Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
Category:People from Duplin County, North Carolina
Category:Members of the North Carolina Provincial Congresses