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 DICKINSON DICKSON 91 tricts of that state. She opposed the reelec- tion of President Lincoln in 1864, and advo- cated the election of Horace Greeley to the presidency in 1872. For several years she has held a place among the regular lyceum lectur- ers, and has spoken in almost every part of the country. She has published a novel entitled "What Answer?" (Boston, 1868). DICKINSON, John, an American statesman, born in Maryland, Nov. 13, 1732, died in Wil- mington, Delaware, Feb. 14, 1808. He studied law in Philadelphia, and subsequently at the Temple, London, and on returning to America practised with considerable success. Being elected to the Pennsylvania house of assembly in 1764, he evinced unusual capacities, and was a ready and energetic debater. At the same time he became known by his publications upon the attempts of the mother country to infringe the liberties of the colonies. In 1765 he was elected a deputy from Pennsylvania to the first colonial congress, and drafted the reso- lutions passed by that body. In 1768 he pub- lished his " Farmer's Letters to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies," which were repub- lished in London with a preface by Benjamin Franklin, and subsequently in French in Paris. He was a member of the first continental con- gress in 1774, and of the state papers put forth by that body some of the most important, in- cluding the "Declaration to the Armies," the two petitions to the king, and the "Address to the States," were the production of his pen. He, however, opposed the adoption of the declaration of independence, believing that the movement was premature, and that compro- mise was still practicable, and was one of the few members of congress who did not sign it. So unpopular did he become with his constitu- ents for his course on this occasion, that for several years he was absent from the public councils, although in the interim he signified his devotion to the American cause by serving as a private soldier in Delaware. In 1779 he returned to congress as a member from Dela- ware, and wrote the "Address to the States" of May 26. He was subsequently president of the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania suc- cessively, and a member of the federal conven- tion for framing a constitution. In 1788 ap- peared his "Fabius" letters, advocating the adoption of the new constitution. Another series over the same signature, on the relations of the United States with France, published in 1797, was his last work. His political wri- tings were published in 2 vols. in 1801. DICKINSON COLLEGE, the name of a college of the Methodist Episcopal church, situated at Carlisle, Pa. It was founded in 1783 as a Presbyterian institution, and named after John Dickinson, president of Pennsylvania, in con- sideration of his valuable gifts for its establish- ment, and his great personal interest in it. It remained Presbyterian till 1883, when, in con- sequence of the embarrassments caused by the division of that church, it was transferred to the Methodist Episcopal church. The Pres- byterian presidents of the institution were Charles Nisbet (elected in 1784), Robert Da- vidson (1804), Jeremiah Atwater (1809), John M. Mason (1821), William Neill (1824), and Samuel M. How (1830) ; the Methodist presi- dents, John P. Durbin (1833), Robert Emory (1845), Jesse T. Peck (1848), Charles Collins (1852), Herman M. Johnson (1860), Robert L. Dashiell (1868), and James A. McCauley (1872). The list of graduates contains the names of President Buchanan, Chief Justice Taney, and Postmaster General Creswell. During the year of the centenary of American Methodism (1866) its endowment fund was increased to $100,000. A scientific and a law department have recent- ly been established ; also a Biblical course for students preparing for the ministry. In 1873 there were 7 professors, 2 tutors, and 87 students. The college consists of three buildings ; it has a valuable scientific apparatus and libraries containing about 30,000 volumes. In the junior and senior years divergences from the classical course are allowed, either in favor of the He- brew language for those studying for the min- istry, or in favor of the natural sciences. A complete catalogue, containing names of the presidents, professors, trustees, and graduates from the foundation, was issued in 1864. DICKSON, a N. county of Tennessee, bound- ed N. E. by Cumberland river, and drained by several of its affluents ; area, about 650 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 9,340, of whom 1,677 were colored. It has a rolling surface and a tolerably fertile soil. The Cumberland riv- er, along its border, is navigable by steam- boats, and it is intersected by the Nashville and Northwestern railroad. The chief pro- ductions in 1870 were 36,130 bushels of wheat, 319,085 of Indian corn, 58,810 of oats, 98,798 Ibs. of butter, and 462,130 of tobacco. There were 1,622 horses, 1,917 milch cows, 3,698 other cattle, 6,925 sheep, and 11,557 swine ; 4 flour mills, 4 saw mills, and 2 manufactories of pig iron. Capital, Charlotte. DICKSON, Samuel Henry, an American physi- cian, born in Charleston, S. 0., in September, 1798, died in Philadelphia, March 31, 1872. He graduated at Yale college in 1814, and after- ward studied medicine in Charleston and at the university of Pennsylvania. He was in- strumental in the establishment of a medical college in Charleston, and on its organization in 1824 became professor of the institutes and practice of medicine. In 1832 he retired, but in the following year, on the reorganization of the institution as the medical college of the state of South Carolina, he was reflected. In 1847 he was called to the professorship of the practice of medicine in the university of New York, which he filled till 1850, when he re- sumed his professorship in the medical college of South Carolina. In 1858 he became pro- fessor of the practice of medicine in the Jefier- son medical college at Philadelphia. He con- tributed many papers to various medical jour-