Senator Philemon Dickinson

Philemon Dickinson (April 5, 1739 – February 4, 1809) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician from Trenton, New Jersey, who served as a Continental Congressman from Delaware and as a United States Senator from New Jersey. A member of the Pro-Administration Party during his federal legislative service, he represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from 1789 to 1793, contributing to the legislative process during one term in office at a formative moment in the nation’s history. As a brigadier general and later major general of the New Jersey militia, he was regarded as one of the most effective militia officers of the American Revolutionary War.

Dickinson was born at “Crosiadore,” near Trappe, Talbot County, Maryland, on April 5, 1739, the younger brother of John Dickinson, later known as a Founding Father and prominent political writer. When Philemon was about one year old, his family moved from Maryland to Delaware, where he was raised. He received his early education from a private tutor before attending the College of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1759. After completing his collegiate studies, he read law and was admitted to the bar, although he chose not to enter into active legal practice.

In 1767 Dickinson moved to Trenton, New Jersey, where he established himself on an estate known as “The Hermitage.” On July 14, 1767, he married his first cousin, Mary Cadwalader (1746–1781), a member of the prominent Cadwalader family of Pennsylvania. The couple had two children: a daughter, Mary (1768–1822), and a son, Samuel (1770–1837). In Trenton, Dickinson became a leading figure in local society and public affairs, positioning himself for the political and military responsibilities he would assume during the Revolutionary era.

With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Dickinson entered military service in the patriot cause. In 1775 he was commissioned a colonel of the Hunterdon County militia in New Jersey. The following year, in 1776, he was elected a delegate to New Jersey’s Revolutionary provincial congress, participating in the political reorganization of the colony as it moved toward independence. On January 20, 1777, at the Battle of Millstone (also known as the Battle of Van Nest’s Mill) near Somerset Court House, New Jersey, Dickinson led about 400 New Jersey militiamen in a successful raid on a British foraging party, capturing roughly forty wagons of supplies and several prisoners. His leadership in this and other actions enhanced his reputation as an effective militia commander.

In June 1777 Dickinson was appointed a major general in command of all New Jersey militia, a position he held for the remainder of the war. In November 1777 he led approximately 1,400 men in a raid on Staten Island. Although Loyalist General Cortlandt Skinner anticipated the attack and repulsed it, Dickinson’s force killed several enemy combatants and took 24 prisoners, including officers and men of the New Jersey Volunteers such as Lieutenant Jacob Van Buskirk, Lieutenant Edward Earle, and Surgeon John Hammell. His militia also took part in the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778, where they helped obstruct the retreat of British forces toward New York. That same year, on July 4, 1778, Dickinson served as second to his cousin John Cadwalader in Cadwalader’s duel with General Thomas Conway, an episode arising from the internal disputes within the Continental Army leadership.

Following the war, Dickinson continued his public service in both state and national capacities. In 1782 and 1783 he represented Delaware in the Continental Congress, reflecting his family’s longstanding ties to that state. He then returned to New Jersey politics and was elected to the New Jersey Legislative Council (the upper house of the state legislature) from Hunterdon County for the sessions of 1783–1784, serving as vice president of the Council in both years. In 1784 he was appointed a member of the commission charged with selecting the site for the permanent national capital, a body that helped lay the groundwork for the eventual establishment of Washington, D.C.

Dickinson’s federal legislative career culminated in his service in the United States Senate. When Senator William Paterson of New Jersey resigned, Dickinson was chosen by the New Jersey legislature to complete Paterson’s unexpired term. He served in the Senate from November 13, 1790, to March 3, 1793, during the First Congress and into the early years of the Second Congress. Identified with the Pro-Administration Party that supported the policies of President George Washington and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, Dickinson participated in the early development of federal legislation and institutions, representing the interests of New Jersey and contributing to the shaping of the new national government.

After his term in the United States Senate ended in 1793, Dickinson retired from national office and returned to his estates near Trenton. He devoted his later years to managing his properties and remained a respected figure in New Jersey public life, though he did not again hold major elective office. Philemon Dickinson died at his home in Trenton on February 4, 1809. He was interred in the Friends Burying Ground in Trenton, New Jersey, closing a life that had spanned the colonial, Revolutionary, and early national periods of American history.