My Genealogy Hound

Col. J. W. Dickinson, planter and attorney, Arkansas City, Ark. No name is entitled to a more enviable place in the history of Desha County than the one that heads this sketch, for it is borne by a man who has ever been honorably and usefully identified with the interests of this county, and with its advancement in every worthy particular. The Dickinson family is an old and honored one, and the ancestors, who were early settlers of New York, were also ably represented in the Revolutionary War. Col. J. W. Dickinson owes his nativity to Madison County, Tenn., where his birth occurred in 1832, and is the son of W. B. and Margaret (Reid) Dickinson, both natives of North Carolina. The mother died in 1855 and the father in 1876. They were the parents of six children—five sons and one daughter—only three of whom are now living: H. L. (who resides at Milan, Tenn.), Maggie (now the wife of Dr. S. H. Donaway) and the Colonel. The ones deceased were: Dr. B. F. (who was an eminent physician and surgeon, and who filled that position in Gen. Vaughan’s brigade for the Confederate service in 1862-65; he it was who amputated Gen.Vaughan’s foot on the battlefield at Franklin during the hottest of the engagement; he died in Arkansas City in 1879, after a residence here of six years; aside from his practice he was also a very successful merchant). W. B. (who died in Sikeston, Mo., in 1863, and was hospital steward, and a prominent physician), and W. W. (who died in 1857, and who was a school teacher by profession). Col. Dickinson was reared and received the rudiments of an education in Madison County, but subsequently attended school at Bethel College, Carroll County, and later finished his education at Clinton, Ky., graduating at the age of twenty years. He then began teaching, and first entered upon his duties as an educator at Bluff Springs, Gibson County, Tenn., and was principal of the school at that place from 1852 to 1863. In 1863 and 1864 he was on his plantation a few miles from where he taught school, and in 1865 he moved to Memphis, Tenn., where he was engaged in the commission business under the firm name of Dickinson & Co. He remained here until 1873, and in 1874 he moved to Arkansas City, where, in connection with planting, he also practiced law, a profession of which he had made a study a number of years previous. In fact, he had studied for the law, but during his younger days preferred teaching, and was never actively engaged in his legal practice until coming to Arkansas City. Col. Dickinson, though one of the most prominent, as well as popular men in the county, has never sought any particular political preferment. He was elected treasurer of Chicot County, in 1876, and served in that office for two years in a highly satisfactory manner. In 1879 he represented Chicot County in the Lower House, and was the first man to bring up the bill for the erection of an insane asylum, which bill was passed, but was vetoed by Gov. Miller on account of its location at Hot Springs. Hon. H. M. McVeigh introduced and passed the same bill two years later. During the late war the colonel volunteered his services and was made major of the Sixth Tennessee Infantry, but circumstances afterward transpired which prevented him from serving. The colonel was married in 1855 to Miss Mary L. Wright, of Tennessee, and the daughter of Levi and Mary (Shaw) Wright, who were early settlers of Tennessee. The former died in 1861 and the latter in 1850. To Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson were born seven children, three of whom are now living: J. W., Jr., (mayor of the city), W. W. (who is president of Dickinson Hardware Company, at Little Rock), and C. F. (who is attending school at Little Rock). Col. Dickinson can be numbered among the large land owners of the county, and has several large plantations, well improved and well stocked. He is one of the largest tax-payers in the county. He is a liberal contributor to all worthy enterprises for the development of city or county, and is a public-spirited citizen. He is a member of the A. F. &. A. M. and R. A., Arkansas City Lodge No. 296. In politics he is Democratic. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.