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Categories: Continental Army generals | Continental Congressmen | United States Senators | 1739 births | 1809 deaths
Philemon Dickinson
Philemon Dickinson (April 5, 1739–February 4, 1809) was an American politician.
Dickinson was born in Maryland. When he was one his family moved to Delaware. He was educated by a private tutor until he went to the University of Pennsylvania, from where he graduated in the first class in 1759. He then studied law, and was admitted to the bar, but never practised. In 1767, Dickinson moved to Trenton, New Jersey. He served as an officer during the American Revolutionary War, rising to the rank of Major General in the New Jersey militia.
In 1782 and 1783 he represented Delaware at the Continental Congress. He was a member of the commission that selected the site for the national capital in Washington, D.C. in 1784. When William Paterson resigned from the U.S. Senate, Dickinson was chosen by New Jersey to finish Paterson's term. He served in the senate from November 23, 1790 to March 3, 1793. After his service in Congress he returned to look after his estates until he died in 1809.
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