DICKSON, Andrew Flinn, clergyman, b. in Charleston, S. C, 9 Nov., 1825 ; d. in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 1879. He was graduated at Yale in 1845, studied theology at Lane and Yale seminaries, and was ordained as a Presbyterian in 1853. His first church was at John's Island, S. C, where nine- tenths of his congregation were negroes. He then held pastorates at Orangeburg, S. C., New Orleans, La., Wilmington, N. C, and Chester, S. C, was district secretary of the American Sunday-school union in 1855-'7, chaplain in the Confederate army in 1861-'5, and had charge of the Southern general assembly's colored theological institute at Tuscaloosa, Ala., from 1876 till his death. He published " Plantation Sermons" (1856-60) ; " The Temptation in the Desert " (1873) ; and " The Light, is it Waning f" which gained a prize offered by Richard Fletclier (1878).
DICKSON, Cyrus, clergyman, b. in Erie count v.
Pa., 30 Dec, 1810; d. in Baltimore, 11 Sept., 1881.
He was graduateil at Jefferson college in 1837,
licensed to preach by Erie presbytery in 1838,
and held pastorates in Franklin, Pa., Wheeling,
Va., and Baltimore, Md. Washington college
gave him the degree of D. D. in 1858. After the
union of the old- and new-school branches of the
Presbyterian church, in 1870, Dr. Dickson was
chosen permanent clerk of the general assembly,
and soon afterward secretary of the board of home
missions, also representing the board at the Pan-
Presbyterian council in Edinburgh, Scotland, in
1877. His death was the result of overwork. A
memoir of him was published bv Rev. Samuel J.
M. Eaton, D. D. (New York, 1883).
DICKSON, James A., actor, b. in London,
England, in 1774; d. in Boston, Mass., 1 April,
1853. He made his first appearance on the stage
in Boston, Mass., in 1794, as Saville in " The Belle's
Stratagem," and first appeared on the New York
stage, at the John street theatre, 18 Aug., 1797, as
John in '• The Spoiled Child." Afterward he be-
came eminent as an actor of comic old men. He
was manager of the Boston theatre in 1806, and
continued so, with various partners, for many
years. He married Miss Harrison, sister of the
celebrated Mrs. Pownall, and retired from the
stage in the character of Kit Cosey in " Town and
Country," 14 April, 1817.
DICKSON, James Anderson Ross, Canadian
clergyman, b. in Tranent, Scotland, 23 Oct., 1839.
He came to Canada in 1857, was educated at the
Congregational college, Toronto, and at McGill
college, Montreal, being graduated in 1865. Im-
mediately afterward he was called to the Con-
gregational church in London, Ontario, where he
remained for six years, during three of which he
edited the " Gospel Message." In 1871 he was
called to the Northern Congregational church,
Toronto, where he remained until 1879, when he
became a Presbyterian. While in Toronto he was
given the highest office in the gift of the Congre-
gational church, being elected chairman of the
Congregational union of Ontario and Quebec in
1877. In 1879 he was called to the pastorate of a
Presbyterian church in Gait. He has been a pro-
lific writer for religious journals, and many of his
sermons and essays have been published.
DICKSON, John, statesman, b. in Keene, N. H.,
in 1783 ; d. in West Bloomfieid, N. Y., 22 Feb.,
1852. He was graduated at Middlebury in 1808,
and while reading law at Milton, N. Y., in 1808-12,
taught languages and mathematics. He was ad-
mitted to the bar and practised law in West
Bloomfieid, N. Y., from 1813 till 1825, in Rochester,
N. Y., from 1825 till 1828, and subsequently in
West Bloomfieid. He was a member of the New
York assembly in 1829-30, and of congress from
1831 till 1835. In February, 1835, he is said to
have made '• the first important anti-slavery speech
ever made in congress." He was known as " Hon-
est John Dickson," and was the author of a work
entitled " Remarks on the Presentation of Several
Petitions for the Abolition of Slavery and the
Slave-trade in the District of Columbia '"' (1835).
DICKSON, John Robinson, physician, b. in
Dungannon, county Tyrone, Ireland, 15 Nov.,
1819; d. on Wolfe island, St. Lawrence river,
Canada, 33 Nov., 1883. He was educated in Bel-
fast and Glasgow, studied medicine in his native
town, and came to Canada with his family in 1838.
He was graduated at the medical department of
the University of New York in 1843, returned to
Canada, settled in Kingston, and became promi-
nent as a surgeon. From 1846 till 1854 he was
visiting physician to the Kingston general hospi-
tal, then for two years visiting surgeon, becoming,
in 1856, clinical lecturer, which place he resigned
in 1860 to be reappointed clinical lecturer on
surgery in 1861. In 1854 he was active in found-
ing the medical department of the University of
Queen's college, where he was chosen dean of the
medical faculty and professor of surgery, and
during his visit to Great Britain, in 1860, he ob-
tained a recognition of the medical degree of
Queen's university. In 1863 he was appointed
surgeon to the provincial penitentiary in Kings-
ton, and in 1869 became medical superintendent
of Rockwood lunatic asylum. While holding
these offices he prepared regularly " Prison Re-
ports " and " Asylum Reports," and, in accordance
with his suggestions, the condition of those con-
fined there was materially improved. Chief
among the reforms was the introduction of a sys-
tem of voluntary labor among the insane, and the
abolition of the use of alcohol and beer. In 1866
the medical department of Queen's college became
the Royal college of physicians and surgeons in
connection with Queen's university, for which he
obtained the necessary charter, and of which he
was appointed president and professor of surgery,
offices which he held through his lifetime. Dr.
Dickson was a member of numerous societies, and
held the degrees of M. R. C. P., London, M. R. C. S.,
England ; also F. C. P. S., Kingston, and F. R. C.
S., Edinburgh. He published numerous scientific
papers and public addresses in English and Cana-
dian medical journals.
DICKSON, Samuel Henry, physician, b. in Charleston, S. C, 20 Sept., 1798 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 31 March, 1872. His father, who was of Scottish descent, emigrated from Ireland before the Revolution, and fought in that contest under Gen. Lincoln. Samuel was graduated at Yale in
1814, and, after studying medicine in Charleston and at the University of Pennsylvania, received his diploma from the latter in 1819. He soon had a large practice in Charleston, and in 1833 delivered a course of lectures on physiology and pathology in that city before about thirty medical students. He was active in securing the establishment of a
medical college in Charleston, and on its organization, in 1824, became professor of the institutes and practice of medicine. He resigned his chair in 1832, but in the following year, on the reorganization of the institution as the medical college of South Carolina, was re-elected. He was professor of the practice of medicine in the University of New York in 1847-'50, but in the latter year resumed his chair in Charleston. From 1858 until his death he held
the same chair in Jefferson medical college, Phila-
