Manuscript Group 13, Guide to the Mahlon Dickerson and Philemon Dickerson Papers 1774-1922 (bulk 1830-1850)

Series I dates from 1782-1922, with bulk dates of 1830-1840, and consists of the correspondence, diaries, professional papers, financial documents, contracts, maps, study notes, and poetry of Mahlon Dickerson.

The majority of the correspondence in this series consists of letters received by Mahlon Dickerson, and highlights his time as Secretary of the Navy and to a lesser extent, his time as governor of New Jersey and as a U.S. Senator. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by author and then by date, and also includes a smaller number of letters written or saved by Dickerson. New Jersey politics, along with national election campaigns and Jacksonian and Van Buren politics are discussed throughout the correspondence. As a result, Dickerson’s support of the Democratic Party and of Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, and Lewis Cass for president are all documented. Specific political issues of the time, such as the Second Bank of America, the Bankruptcy Bill of 1841, the Protective Tariffs of 1828 and 1832, and Southern nullification are highlighted, as is Dickerson’s strong support of protective tariffs and the iron industry. There are also a large number of letters to Dickerson both as senator and as secretary of the Navy requesting recommendations and/or military or political appointments. Correspondents on these topics include John Quincy Adams, Joseph Anderson, William Ashbridge, Samuel J. Bayard, Jonathan Dayton, Theodore Frelinghuysen, Albert Gallatin, Thomas Hart Benton, James Buchanan, John C. Calhoun, Lewis Cass, Lewis Condict, William H. Crawford, George Mifflin Dallas, James Iredell, Louis McLane, Robert Lee, James Madison, James Monroe, William S. Pennington, John Randolph, Philip Reed, Samuel L. Southard, Martin Van Buren, and Gideon Wells.

Dickerson’s role as secretary of the Navy is also documented in such topics as the building and maintaining of dry docks, ports, and navy yards in New Jersey and New York; the organization of an exploring expedition to Antarctica; naval pensions; mechanics’ rights to a shorter workday; naval contracts; and the decapitation of a figure head of Andrew Jackson on the U.S. Constitution in July of 1834. Correspondents on these topics include Jesse Duncan Elliott, B. Franklin, Andrew Jackson, Jeromus Johnson, Laurence Kearny, Amos Kendall, George McDonald, William S. Osborn, James Kirke Paulding, Samuel Swartwout, Martin Van Buren, Jacob Treadwell Walden, Garret Wall, and Samuel Welles.

Other professional topics in Dickerson’s correspondence include the iron industry of New Jersey, Dickerson Mine, the manufacturing of Colt guns in New Jersey, and patent infringements, particularly that of Oliver Evans’ steam engine for mills, and Robert Fulton and John R. Livingston’s steamboat engine. These topics are covered in the letters of William Ashbridge, Frederick Canfield, Roswell L. Colt, Oliver Evans, Thomas R. Lacey, and John R. Livingston.

The correspondence also contains one bound volume of letters between Mahlon Dickerson and his brother Silas, dating from 1794-1806 when Mahlon was in Philadelphia and Silas was in Stanhope, New Jersey. The brothers discuss their professional careers – the law career of one and the manufacturing business of the other; their political careers, for both are early Democrats and involved in local and state government; their concerns over their younger siblings; and general family matters such as health updates and daily news. The letter book strongly documents the close relationship between the two brothers.

The papers also contain four hand-written volumes of Mahlon Dickerson’s diary, dating from 1782-1809 and 1832-1852. The diaries give an almost daily account of Dickerson’s life from his education as a boy to his retirement from public office. Early entries discuss his legal education and career, his participation in the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, and his move back to New Jersey. His various professions are detailed, including his work at the Dickerson Mine and his numerous public offices, including his sixteen years as a senator and his service as secretary of the Navy. The diary includes an account of the duel to the death between Congressmen William J. Graves and Jonathan Cilley in 1838 and an eyewitness account of the attempt on President Andrew Jackson’s life in 1835. The papers contain typescript copies of three of these four volumes, and a typescript copy of excerpts from Dickerson’s 1809-1819 diary, which is located at Rutgers University.

Series I also includes a small number of professional and financial documents of Mahlon Dickerson. There are two dockets dating from 1795-1801 and 1800-1809 documenting Dickerson’s career as a lawyer, and a folder of notes on commerce and manufacture documenting his interest and involvement with the Senatorial Committee on Manufacturers. There are also a small number of professional certificates, receipts, accounts, bank notes, contracts, maps of Morris County, study notes, poems, newspaper clippings, and genealogy charts of the sovereigns of Europe.tter book strongly documents the close relationship between the two brothers.

Series II dates from 1803-1860, with bulk dates of 1835-1845, and consists of the correspondence, professional papers, financial documents, and contracts of Philemon Dickerson.

As in Series I, the majority of the correspondence consists of letters received by Philemon Dickerson documenting his careers as a lawyer and statesman. The letters have been arranged alphabetically by author and then by date, and largely discuss New Jersey politics. There are also letters regarding Dickerson’s legal cases, and numerous requests for recommendations or political appointments for such offices as postmaster and steam boat inspector during his time as governor of New Jersey. Other issues brought to Dickerson’s attention include the Bankruptcy Bill of 1841, miners’ rights to mineral property in New Jersey, protection of the land rights of Louisiana residents during the switch from French to American rule, the Camden and Woodbury Railroad, and the relocation of various regiments along the southwestern frontier. Correspondents of Philemon Dickerson include Pruden Alling, Samuel Beardsley, F.W. Brinley, Joseph Wheeler Camp, Lewis Cass, Roswell L. Colt, John L. Daniel, Richard Dennis, Mahlon Dickerson, Samuel Doughty, John F. Ellis, William Gale, George Griswold, Robert William Harris, Wanton R. Hazard, Joseph C. Hornblower, H.J. James, Louis McLane, Henry Nicoll, Ephraim F. Ogden, Aaron Peck, J.A. Phillips, Joseph C. Potts, Stacy G. Potts, Martin Rouen, B. Livingston Ship, Silas Stilwell, Elias Van Arsdale, Levi Woodbury, and Joseph A. Yard.

The professional papers in the series largely document Dickerson’s legal career. The series contains Dickerson’s docket from 1815-1826; U.S. District Court documents, which include court calendars, marshal bonds and oaths of office, and juror summons; and case files from Dickerson’s time both as a lawyer and a judge. The latter files include cases argued by Aaron S. Pennington (1800-1869), another Paterson lawyer and possibly Philemon Dickerson’s partner or co-counsel. This group of documents also contains a list of deputy marshals for the 1840 census in New Jersey and notes and pamphlets on Congressional legislation dealing with the repeal of a pilot law (1837), pensions for widows (1838), naval pensions (1840), protective tariffs (1840), and a general bankruptcy law (1841).

Lastly, Series II contains a smaller number of financial documents, largely receipts, bills, notes, and bonds, and a number of contracts. While the contracts are mostly miscellaneous, possibly dealing with Dickerson’s legal cases, there is a deed for the sale of land in Paterson, New Jersey to Philemon Dickerson and Aaron S. Pennington.

– Court Calendars

The final series dates from 1774-1859, with bulk dates of 1845-1855, and consists of the correspondence and professional papers of various members of the Dickerson Family, particularly Edward Nicoll Dickerson and his brother-in-law, and probably law partner, John M. Gould.

Series III contains letters written to Augustus Canfield (1801-1854), David Sealy Canfield (1774-1830), Frederick Canfield (1810-1869), Mary “Polly” Dickerson Canfield (1778-1830), Edward Nicoll Dickerson (1824-1889), John B. Dickerson (1786-1822), Jonathan Dickerson (1747-1805), Silas Dickerson (1771-1807), and John M. Gould. The majority of this correspondence is between family members and deals with family updates, worries over money, upcoming marriages, deaths, and illnesses. The correspondence of Edward N. Dickerson and John M. Gould, however, deal with their professional lives and consist of discussion of various law suits and requests to the court clerk, a capacity in which both served.

The professional papers in this series also document the legal careers of Edward N. Dickerson and John M. Gould. The papers contain case files of the two lawyers, which largely consist of patent infringement suits, and include documents from Goodyear vs. Day (Fed. Cas. No. 5569), one of Dickerson’s most important cases.

Lastly, this series contains two contracts of John M. Gould dealing with property transfers and a “private memorandum book” kept by Mahlon Ford Dickerson from 1816-1822. The latter is a journal tracking mostly monetary events in Dickerson’s life, such as the dissolution of his partnership with his uncle Mahlon Dickerson in M.F. Dickerson and Company, a general store in Succasunna, New Jersey.