Robert H. DICKSON, b. 1843
ROBERT H. DICKSON.
Robert H. Dickson, living on section 30, Monroe township, is one of the few remaining veterans of the Civil war who, when the Union became imperiled, put aside all business and personal considerations in order to respond to the country's call and aid in defending the old flag. He has for many years been identified with agricultural interests in Mahaska county and is now the owner of an excellent farm of
one hundred and thirty acres. Few have longer resided in this county than he, for he dates his residence here from 1843. His birth occurred in Sangamon county, Illinois, July 12, 1843, and he was only three months old at the time of his parents' removal to Iowa. His father, Nathan C. Dickson, was born in Sangarnon county, Illinois, where he was reared and followed farming. He was married there to Nancy A. Crowder, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of Matthew T. Crowder, who was horn in Virginia. For six years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Dickson resided in Illinois and thence came to Iowa in 1843. He secured a claim from the government, comprising one hundred and sixty acres of land in Monroe township, which he improved but one hundred and twenty acres were afterward taken from him, so that he retained only forty acres of the original tract. He later bought more land and eventually sold out and went to California, where he remained for three years, after which he returned to Iowa and purchased the farm upon which Robert H. Dickson now resides. Here he built a good residence and developed a good farm. He had to clear much of the land, but in course of years he placed it under cultivation and his farm became a valuable property. Unto him and his wife were born six children, all of whom reached adult age. The father at the time of the Civil war enlisted for service in Company J, of the Thirty-third Iowa Infantry, and died of fever at Brownsville, Arkansas, while serving with the Union army.
Robert H. Dickson spent his boyhood and youth upon the old homestead, acquiring a common-school education and through the periods of vacation working in the fields. He, too, became a soldier, enlisting in his eighteenth year as a member of the Iowa Volunteer Infantry, at Oskaloosa. The regiment rendezvoused at Keokuk and joined General Grant's forces at Shiloh. Mr. Dickson participated in the battle at that place and also in the
engagements at Hollow Springs, Vicksburg,
Champion Ridge and the march to the sea under
General Sherman. He likewise took part in the
engagement at Peach Tree Creek under
McPherson. He was in the hospital at Quincy,
Illinois. with fever for three months, but he was
never captured and at the close of the war was
mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, and
honorably discharged at Burlington, Iowa.
When his military service was over Mr.
Dickson took up his abode upon his mother's
farm and was married September 28, 1865, to
Miss Ella Bolton, a native of this county and a
daughter of Abraham Bolton, who was born
in England, whence he emigrated to New York.
He afterward lived in Illinois and subsequently
in Iowa, but both he and his wife are now
deceased. After his marriage Mr. Dickson rented
land for two years and then purchased a tract
of forty acres, which he afterward sold. He
then again rented for two years, on the
expiration of which period he bought eighty acres
in White Oak township. After disposing of
that property he returned and purchased the
interest of the other heirs in the old homestead,
whereon he has since resided. He had to clear
much of the land and has fenced and improved
the place, building here two good barns and a
tenant house. Also there are buildings for the
shelter of grain and stock. He has altogether
a model farm, its fields being highly cultivated,
while the latest improved machinery aids him
in his work.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Dickson have been born
five children but Joseph T. died at the age of
thirty-seven years and Bruce A. when three
years old. The oldest surviving member of the
family is Dora, the wife of Charles Bass, a
farmer of Monroe township living upon the
the place adjoining her father's. Frankie is
the wife of Charles Mateer, of Oskaloosa, and
Rella is at home. Mr. and Mrs. Dickson
attend the Methodist Episcopal church at Rose
Hill, of which Mrs. Dickson is a member. He
belongs to the Grand Army post and to the Odd
Fellows lodge at Rose Hill. His political view
accord with republican principles, and he has
voted for each presidential nominee of the party
since casting his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln.
He has served as a member of the township hoard and as school director and is a
gentleman who at all times is worthy of the trust
and confidence reposed in him. An active,
business career has made him one of the substantial
citizens of his community and investigation into
the methods that he has followed and the policy
which has guided his actions serves to add to
the luster of his good name.
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from Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa by Manoah Hedge
The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. 1906
Past and Present of Mahaska County, Iowa
Mahaska County, Iowa Genealogy
Iowa Genealogy
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