Joseph Dickson

Joseph Dickson

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 1st district
In office March 4, 1799 – March 3, 1801
Preceded by	Joseph McDowell, Jr.
Succeeded by	James Holland
Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives
In office 1809–1811
Preceded by	John Tipton
Succeeded by	John Cocke
Member of the North Carolina Senate
In office 1788-1795
Personal details
Born	April 1745 Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	April 1825 Rutherford County, Tennessee
Political party	Federalist
Spouse(s)	Margaret McEwen
Children	Robert Dickson
Military service
Service/branch	Colonial and state militias
Years of service	1780s
Rank	Brigadier general
Battles/wars	American Revolution • Kings Mountain (1780)

Joseph Dickson (April 1745 – April 1825) was an American politician and soldier who represented North Carolina's 1st district in the United States House of Representatives from 1799 to 1801, and would later serve in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

He was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, though eventually moved with his parents to Rowan County, North Carolina. He was engaged in cotton and tobacco planting. He was commissioned captain in the Continental Army under Colonel Joseph McDowell in 1780, and at the Battle of Kings Mountain as major of the “Lincoln County Men”. He would eventually rise to the rank of brigadier general in the North Carolina militia. Dickson was elected clerk of the Lincoln County Court in 1781, and was a member of the North Carolina Senate from 1788 to 1795. During this time, he was appointed to the commission to establish the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was elected as a Federalist to the Sixth Congress in 1798, representing North Carolina's 1st district.

Dickson moved to Tennessee in 1803 and settled in that portion of Davidson County which subsequently became Rutherford County. He was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1807 to 1811, serving as speaker the last two years. He died in Rutherford County, and is interred on his plantation northeast of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.