USA > New Jersey > Morris County > History of Morris County, New Jersey > Part 77
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Jonathan Dickerson, the second child and oldest son of Peter, was born September 20th 1747 (O. S.), and on the 12th of October 1768 was united in marriage to Mary Coe, daughter of Thomas Coe, by Rev. Timothy Johnes. Like his father he took a prominent part in the politics of his county. He also displayed the talent for invention for which many of his descendants have been distin- guished. The eleventh patent issued by our government, bearing the signature of Washington, was granted to him for an improved water wheel. In 1783 he was a member of the State Legislature from Morris county. The iron mines with which his region of country abounded, and which have added so much to its wealth, were then little regarded. The rich ore bed now known as the Dicker- son mine was originally returned by the proprietors of West Jersey in 1715 to John Reading, who a year or two after sold it to Joseph Kirkbride for a mere trifle, though the presence of the mineral was so well known even to the Indians that they called the neighborhood "Soco- sonna " (which meant in their language "heavy stone "), which usage has changed to Succasunna. Jonathan Dick- erson seems to have recognized its value, and in 1779 we find deeds to him from some of the Kirkbride heirs, and in partnership with one Minard La Fevre he purchased the whole. He was not, however, successful in making a fortune from his speculation, and it remained for his son Mahlon, who bought the property in 1807 from the heirs of his father and La Fevre, to develop its wealth, and in his hands it yielded a handsome income, which made its owner independent.
Jonathan Dickerson died November 7th 1805, leaving six children-Mahlon, the oldest and the subject of this sketch; Silas; Mary, afterwards wife of David S. Canfield; Aaron, John B., and Philemon. His widow survived him many years, and died March ist 1827. She was buried with her husband at Succasunna.
Mahlon Dickerson was born at a place called Han- over Neck, in Morris county, April 17th 1770. He probably fitted for college at Morristown, which at that time possessed a classical school. In the manuscript diary of Joseph Lewis, a wealthy gentleman of Morris- town and clerk of the county, is this entry: " 1786, Monday, +27th November, Jonathan Dickerson's son (Mahlon) began to board at 7s. per week."
In 1789 Mahlon entered the American Whig Society at Princeton, and graduated the same year from the Col- lege of New Jersey, in the same class with Dr. Hosack. He returned to Morristown and engaged in the study of the law, and in November 1793 was admitted to the bar of New Jersey. In the following year he accompanied
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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
Captain Kinney's cavalry company in the expedition sent to Western Pennsylvania to suppress the whiskey rebellion-probably as an unattached volunteer, as his name does not appear in the list of that command. He was one of Governor Mifflin's aids during the expedi- tion.
During the years 1795 and 1796 he was in active prac- tice in his native county, his name frequently appearing in the minutes of the court. In the record of a case in the common pleas, July term 1797, is the quaint entry that " Mr. Mahlon Dickerson, the attorney for the above plaintiff, having removed to foreign parts and having agreed that Alexander C. McWhorter be substituted, &c., the court ordered the substitution to be made." The "foreign parts " were in the city of Philadelphia, where he was admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania the same year, and where he entered the law office of John Milnor, afterward a distinguished clergyman of the Episcopal church. He was shortly afterward elected one of the common councilmen of Philadelphia, and in 1802 he was appointed by President Jefferson, of whom he was a de- voted admirer, commissioner of bankruptcy. January Ist 1805 Mr. Dickerson was appointed by Governor Mc- Keon adjutant general of Philadelphia. His name also appears in the record as quartermaster-general. The
title of "general " adhered to him through life, and even after his appointment as governor it was the one most generally given to him. His resignation of the position of adjutant-general was accepted July 22nd 1805, and he was the same day appointed recorder of the city of Phil- adelphia. The latter office he used to say was more con- genial to his tastes than any of the higher posts he was afterward called to fill. He resigned it, however, Octo- ber 2nd 18ro, to return to Succasunna to develop the mineral property he had come possessed of.
A very earnest and active member of the Republican party, then in the ascendancy, of popular manners and sound legal attainments, his career in Philadelphia was a very successful one. He shared his prosperity with the other members of his family and assisted largely in the education of his younger brothers. His brother Aaron he enabled to graduate at Princeton in 1804, and assisted him in establishing himself in a fair practice in Philadelphia as a physician. The daughter of Dr. Aaron Dickerson is the widow of the late Attorney-General Vanatta of New Jersey. His brother Silas was instantly killed January 7th 1807, at Stanhope, N. J., his great coat catching a screen in a rapidly revolving axle and drawing him into some ma- chinery for making nails, which he was having erected. Philemon, the youngest brother, after his graduation studied law with the general in Philadelphia and suc- ceeded him as judge of the United States district court of New Jersey. He was also governor of New Jersey and one of its congressmen. His son Edward N. Dick- erson is one of the most prominent patent, lawyers of New York city.
Returning to New Jersey, General Dickerson was not permitted to remain in private life, but in the three fol- lowing years, 1811, 1812 and 1813, he was as many times
successively elected a member of the State Assembly from Morris county. The Legislature of 1813 met Oc- tober 26th, and four days afterward Hon. William S. Pennington resigned his position as third justice of the supreme court, and Mr. Dickerson was the same day ap- pointed to fill the vacancy, and was also appointed re- porter of the court. He declined the latter office, how- ever, on the 9th of February following. At a joint meet- ing of the Legislature to elect a United States senator, November 3d 1814, his name was mentioned and he re- ceived a flattering vote. No choice was made at this meeting, and at the next, held in February, Mr. Dicker- son's name was withdrawn and Hon. James J. Wilson was elected. At the joint meeting, held October 26th 1815, he was unanimously elected governor of New Jer- sey, and was re-elected to that high office without oppo- sition October 28th 1816.
He resigned the gubernatorial chair February Ist 1817, having been elected on the 23d of the previous month United States senator for the six years beginning March 4th 1817. So satisfactory was his course in the Senate .to the people of his State that November Ist 1822 he was elected his own successor for another six years, without opposition.
His term of office expired March 6th 1829. His previous election had been during the " era of good feel- ing," but before the last term expired the strife between Jackson, Clay, Adams and Crawford had begun. He had allied himself closely to the cause of Old Hickory, and the Legislature to choose his successor was strongly Whig. At the joint meeting which assembled January 30th 1829 the resignation of Ephraim Bateman, the other senator from New Jersey, was sent in by the governor and was accepted by a vote of only 29 to 27-those voting in the negative being mostly Whigs. The meet- ing then proceeded first to elect a senator to fill the vacancy caused by this resignation. The names of Theodore Frelinghuysen and Joseph W. Scott were brought torward, but withdrawn with the understanding that they were to be candidates for the long term. The names of Samuel L. Southard, William B. Ewing, Wil- liam N. Jeffers, Mahlon Dickerson and Garret D. Wall were mentioned for the short term. The Whigs, thoughi having a majority of the meeting, were divided between Southard, the popular secretary of the navy under Adams, and Ewing, the chairman of the meeting. Ten calls of the meeting were had without result. Mr. Southard's vote varied from 20 to 25, and Mr. Ewing's from 8 to 13; the Democrats voting for Dickerson and Wall or for Dickerson alone. After the tenth ballot Hon. Stacey G. Potts offered the following resolution:
" Resolved, That in the opinion of this joint meeting the Honorable Samuel L. Southard is not an inhabitant of the State of New Jersey, and therefore not eligible to the office of senator in the Congress of the United States under the third article of the Constitution of the United States, and that his name be withdrawn from the list of nominations."
For this resolution all the Democrats and six of the Ewing men voted, and it was carried by a vote of 26 to
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THE LIFE OF HON. MAHLON DICKERSON.
16. This made the friends of Mr. Southard so indignant that eight of them cast their votes for Mr. Dickerson, who was elected on the next ballot but one, by a vote of 28 for him, 23 for Ewing, and 2 for Wall. Mr. Freling- huysen was chosen immediately after for the long term by a vote of 35 against 21 for Mr. Scott.
In the organization of the Senate in the following De- cember Governor Dickerson was made chairman of the committee on manufactures-a position he was eminently qualified to fill. He was an ardent supporter of the tariff, and agreed with the President in protecting Amer- ican industry, so far as legislation could do it. Examin- ing the proceedings of the Senate during the time he was a member, it will be seen that that subject seldom failed to bring him to his feet. All or nearly all his published speeches were on this subject. Though not as brilliant or as eloquent as many of his associates, he was scarcely less influential in legislation, through his familiarity with his subject, which close study and earnest application gave him.
The affection of his constituency in New Jersey never wavered. At a meeting of the Jackson members of the Legislature in April 1832 the resolution was adopted " that we recommend our fellow citizen Mahlon Dicker- son as a suitable candidate to be supported by the del- gation of New Jersey [for vice-president] in convention, and that they be requested to present his name as the first choice of New Jersey." Nor was his name only mentioned by those of his own State. The Jackson men throughout the country favored his nomination as a fit successor to Calhoun, who had become alienated from them. At this juncture Mr. Van Buren's rejection as minister to England by the Senate made his vindication seem necessary to his party, and they resolved to make him vice-president. Mr. Dickerson warmly seconded this resolution, and withdrew his own name from the canvass. In all the political struggles of the day and the various combinations of parties and cliques which characterized that period he adhered most strenuously to the principles and policies of Jackson, and possessed his constant friendship.
His term as United States senator expired in March 1833, and in the fall of that year he was elected by the people of the county to represent themn in the Legisla- tive Council of the State.
On the 20th of May 1834 he was nominated by the President as minister to Russia, and the appointment was confirmed by the Senate on the 26th. It is said he was persuaded by Mr. Van Buren to decline this position, and remain in this country to further his (Mr. Van Buren's) plans for the presidency. Let this be as it may, the position was declined and the president shortly after sent his name to the Senate as secretary of the navy to succeed Mr. Woodbury, and the appointment was con- firmed by the Senate on the 30th of June. He con- tinued to occupy this place in the cabinet during the re- maining years of Jackson's term and during the first two years of Mr. Van Buren's. He resigned his seat in 1838, and again retired to private life.
Shortly after his appointment occurred the difficulty in Boston Harbor in regard to the figurehead of Jackson upon the ship "Constitution." The modern effigy, half sawn in two, and the correspondence in relation to it are still in possession of the governor's family. On the 30th of January 1835, when crazy Lawrence attempted to as- sassinate Jackson in the Capitol, Dickerson was walking with him in the procession and shared his danger. He was one of the principal witnesses in the trial which followed.
In September 1840 he was appointed by Mr. Van Buren judge of United States district court for the State of New Jersey, to succeed Judge Rossell. He held the office but about six months, when he resigned (in 1841) and was succeeded by his younger brother Philemon, who held the position many years.
In 1844, when the constitution of his State, framed amid the confusion of the Revolutionary war and in great haste, had proved itself ill adapted to the wants of the State, Mr. Dickerson was selected by the citizens of Morris county to represent them in the convention, where his judicial training and practical good sense made him a valuable member.
In 1846 and 1847 General Dickerson was president of the American Institute, and in the minutes of the pro- ceedings of that body, October 5th 1846 and October 5th 1847, may be found two addresses delivered by him, which are characteristic. The reader is not left in doubt as to what the speaker thought of protection, and in the closing sentence of one he speaks of free trade as " a system as visionary and impracticable as the everlasting and universal pacification of the world."
He was elected as honorary member of the New Eng- land Historic Genealogical Society March 7th 1848.
After his retirement from public life the general spent the remainder of his days at the handsome residence which he erected about 1844 near his mine, among the mountains of Randolph. His windows commanded a view of one of the finest sections of his State, and his large private library afforded him constant amusement when his business gave him leisure. On the garden and grounds about his house he lavished much time and money, planting trees and shrubs of every variety attain- able. He was never married, but shared his house with his nephew Mr. Frederick Canfield, whose tastes for the natural sciences were akin to those of his uncle and whose interesting family made his last years comfortable and happy.
He died at his home, October 5th 1853, the immediate cause of his death being a heavy cold. It was really the general breaking up of the system by reason of old age, hastened perhaps by a stroke of paralysis which came upon him the year before. He was buried in the church yard on Succasunna Plains, where a plain monument marks his grave, bearing the inscription: " Mahlon Dick- erson, son of Jonathan and Mary Dickerson. Born April 17th 1770, died October 5th 1853. His biography is written in the Legislative, Executive and Judicial Records of his Country. 'Mark the perfect man and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.' "
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HISTORY OF MORRIS COUNTY.
General Dickerson was of fine personal appearance, standing six feet two inches high and showing the pos- session of a sound, rugged constitution. He was a hard student, devoting himself assiduously to the mastery of every subject he had to deal with. Notwithstanding the time taken by his business, public and private, he found opportunity to master several languages and attain dis- tinction as a botanist. He was eccentric in some re- spects, and regardless of his personal appearance. A lit- tle incident illustrative of this trait, as well as his care for others, is worth relating. While living in Philadel- phia a tailor brought to him a pair of pantaloons which by a mistake in the measure proved entirely .too short. He was unwilling to throw them on the hands of the luckless tradesman, but had them pieced out at the bot- tom and wore them so.
He was a man of the highest integrity, having the very spirit of honesty. At one time he paid his men in the bills of a bank which shortly after suspended, before the men had used their money. He at once called in the worthless currency, redeemed it with good, and stood the loss himself. At another time he paid a workman a trifle less than was due him; but the man, supposing he had been overpaid, quietly left the neighborhood with what he supposed his employer's money. The general, discovering his own mistake, pursued the man on horse- back for several miles and until he overtook him. Here he lectured him on his dishonest purpose and then paid him the trifle still due him.
He was not a professor of religion, but respected those who he believed were religious. It is said that on one occasion, when some persons at his table were speaking slightingly of religion and lightly of the inconsistencies of religious people, he called their attention to an excel- lent lady, known to them all, the widow of his brother Silas, with the remark that there was one person at least whose piety was unquestioned. The remark was so just that it concluded the talk on that subject.
None of the decisions rendered by him while on the supreme court bench of New Jersey are found in the re- ports, there being very few cases of any kind reported at that time. He no doubt contributed to the newspapers of the day; but, otherwise than this and in his published speeches while in the Senate, he left no published work behind him. At the time of his death obituary notices were published in many of the State papers-perhaps the best in the Trenton True American and the Newark Daily Advertiser. Short sketches of his life may be found in "The Biographical Encyclopedia of New Jersey," in Drake's Biographical Dictionary and in several other compendiums of biography. Several excellent portraits have been preserved of him in the Dickerson family and a small engraving has been taken from one of them.
Sincere in his professions and unyielding in his con- victions of right, generous and faithful in his friendships and consistent in his political faith, his unbroken popu- larity for so many years with the people he represented can easily be accounted for. Few lives present so con- stant a succession of political services, and seldom have political honors been more worthily bestowed.
THE HINCHMAN FAMILY.
Joseph Hinchman, the first of that name of whom we have knowledge, had sons Joseph, James and William Joseph was surgeon and James surgeon's mate of an English ship of war during hostilities with the French in 1757. Joseph married Anna Griffing. Their children were John, James, Nathaniel, William and Joseph.
The last named was born in Jamaica, Long Island, August 28th 1762. At that place his father established a hospital for poor persons afflicted with the smallpox, and attended them himself. He died when his son Joseph was quite young.
The latter when about 16 years old enlisted in the patriot army. He was in several severe engagements, and suffered the privations and hardships of the winter en- campment at Morristown. When his term of enlistment expired he studied medicine with his uncle, James Hinchman, in Florida, Orange county, N. Y., and com- menced his medical practice at Minisink. On the 20th of December 1787 he married Zerviah Seely, a daughter of B. Seely, of Milford on the Delaware. He removed to the town of Chemung, in the county of Montgomery, afterward Tioga, in June 1788, settling upon what has since been known as the Louman farm. In 1793 or 1794 he removed to Newtown (now Elmira), where he had an extensive practice as a physician and surgeon.
By a commission which is dated February 18th 1795 he was appointed by Governor George Clinton sheriff of the county of Tioga, which then comprised within its limits Chemung, the present county of Tioga, Broome and a portion of Chenango. On the 13th of November 1800 he was appointed by Governor John Jay commis- sioner to inspect and improve the road leading from Catskill landing, in the county of Greene, to Catherines- town, in the county of Tioga.
In personal appearance Dr. Hinchman was of medium size and florid complexion. His manners were affable and pleasing, and at the same time his energy of character was remarkable.
He died July 23d 1802, having secured to himself many warmly attached friends. Among his intimate friends not belonging to the medical profession was Guy Maxwell, one of the leading business men of the vicinity in which he lived and died, in honor of whom the doctor named one of his sons.
Dr. Hinchman was a prominent member of the ma- sonic order. In an upper room of his dwelling house, which was close by the old court-house, the fraternity held its regular meetings. It was there that many of the old pioneers took upon themselves the first obligations of the order.
Dr. Hinchman was the first person buried in the new burying ground at Newtown. His disease was a nervous fever, of two weeks' continuance.
Zerviah Hinchman, the widow of Dr. Hinchman, died May 17th 1810. The date of her birth, not before men- tioned, was October 17th 1771.
Their children were: Stella, born October 25th 1788,
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THE LIFE OF GUY M. HINCHMAN.
married John H. Avery; Lesbia, born May 10th 1791, married William Platt; Hiram, born. December 20th 1793, died December 23d 1797; Guy M., born Novem- ber 29th 1795, married Susan G. De Camp, died Febru- ary 13th 1879; Zerviah, born and died September 13th 1797; Felix, born February 21st 1799, married Catherine Palmer.
G. M. HINCHMAN.
Guy Maxwell Hinchman was for many years better known than any other man in Dover, perhaps than any other man in Morris county. He came into the town- ship when Dover was in its infancy, and contributed to its growth till his death, in 1879. He never held a polit- ical office, but was superintendent of the iron works of Dover, president of the Union Bank, and actively con- cerned in all the improvements and in the prosperity of the place. He was a man of extensive information, of sound judgment, and refined taste. He cultivated the choicest private flower garden in New Jersey. No profes- sional horticulturist could excel him in bringing a delicate flower to perfection. He was quite athletic in his youth, and his agility did not forsake him in his age; for in his 84th year he could mount his horse and ride as gracefully in the saddle as a juvenile equestrian. His penmanship was very superior, and to the close of life he could write and draw with the pen as perfectly as in earlier days.
He died of pneumonia, after a brief sickness, Febru- ary 13th 1879, in his 84th year. During the winter months of that year he read the Bible entirely through three successive times. At his own request his former pastor, Rev. B. C. Megie, preached his funeral sermon from Gen. xxv. 8-" He died in a good old age, an old „man and full of years."
Fortunately he has left us a sketch of his life, written in March 1876, which will be found below. Though long for these pages it will be read with interest as a biogra- phy, while at the same time it illustrates other matters of Dover history.
With profound gratitude to my Heavenly Father for his innumerable blessings, at the request of my children, I sit down in my 8ist year to record a few facts that have transpired during my long and not very eventful life.
I was born in Newtown, Tioga county (now Elmira, Chemung county), in the State of New York, on the 29th day of November 1795, and received my Christian name from Guy Maxwell, merchant, a prominent citizen and among the first settlers of Newtown, and who, in consid- eration of my name, presented me with a hundred acres of land lying at the head of Seneca Lake. My parents were Joseph Hinchman and Zerviah Seely, who were united in marriage December 20th 1787. Their children were six in number, Stella, Lesbia, Guy, Zerviah, Hiram and Felix. Zerviah and Hiram died in infancy. My father was the first physician that located in Newtown, and I think the first in the county of Tioga. * * *
My father died in July 1802, in the 40th year of his age, and was interred in the burying ground in the then west- ern part of the town. Now, as I am writing, I have re- ceived information that the remains of those interred in the old burial ground, which is now in the heart of the city, must be removed to the new Woodlawn Cemetery.
The Academy of Medicine of Elmira, at a meeting held in November last, passed a resolution, and appointed a committee, of which Dr. William C. Wey is chairman, to superintend the removal of the remains of Dr. Hinch- man and Drs. Mosher and Bliss. * * *
During the year 1807 my mother became the wife of Mr. Isaac Baldwin, of Chemung, and removed to his home. * * * On the 17th of May 1810 my mother died, in the 38th year of her age, and was interred by the side of my father at Newtown.
I remained in Mr. Baldwin's family until the latter days of August 1810, when, as it had been my mother's request that I should reside with my uncle Mr. James Hinchman, I started in company with my uncle Samuel S. Seely for New Jersey, traveling on horseback. Our route was down the river to Wilkes-Barre, at which place we parted company, he going by way of Columbia to Philadelphia, where he had business, and I by way of Easton, Pa., distant from Wilkes-Barre 60 miles, which I accomplished between the rising and the setting of the sun. It was thought to be a good day's ride, but it was
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