Philemon Dickerson

Philemon Dickerson (January 11, 1788 – December 10, 1862) was a United States congressman representing New Jersey, and was later a United States federal judge. He was the brother of Governor, then United States Senator, Mahlon Dickerson of New Jersey. Philemon Dickerson was the father of patent attorney Edward Nicholl Dickerson who had defended Samuel Colt and Charles Goodyear in their patent-infringement suits.

Biography

Born in the Succasunna section of Roxbury Township in Morris County, New Jersey, Dickerson received an A.B. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1808 and read law to be admitted to the bar in 1813. He practiced law in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until 1816, and then in Paterson, New Jersey until 1821. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly (1821–1822). In 1832, Dickerson was elected to the House of Representatives on the Democratic-Republican Party ticket. He served in Congress until he resigned during his second term to accept an appointment from the legislature to be Governor of New Jersey.