David Catchings Dickson

David Catchings Dickson (1818–1880) was an American politician and physician in early Texas who served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas and as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. He was also a State Senator and unsuccessfully ran for governor of Texas.

Dickson was born 25 February 1818 in Pike County, Mississippi. In 1830, Dickson’s family moved to Georgetown in Copiah County, where he later married Sophronia L. Magee. Dickson attended medical school in Lexington, Kentucky, and after graduating in 1841, moved, as part of a large group, to the Montgomery County, Texas, community of Anderson (present-day Grimes County). Dickson served as a surgeon for the Army of the Republic of Texas. He served as a Justice of the Peace for Montgomery County beginning in 1845.

Sometime before 1850, Dickson had remarried, to the former Nancy Ann E. Magee.^[1]

Dickson served in the House of Representatives in the First, Third, and Fourth Texas Legislatures. In the Fourth Legislature, Dickson was elected Speaker of the House, defeating fellow representative Hardin Richard Runnels 30 votes to 27 on the tenth ballot.^[2] In his acceptance speech, Dickson promised to work on eliminating debts incurred by the Republic of Texas and passed on to the state.^[2]

In 1853, he was elected lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket with governor Elisha M. Pease. In 1855, with the backing of the American “Know Nothing” Party, he ran for governor against Pease, but was defeated.

Dickson returned to the House in 1859 for the Eighth Texas Legislature. On 16 November 1859, he moved that an interpreter be provided for Representative Basilio Benavides of Webb County, an action which prompted outcry from the Dallas Herald. By the end of the Legislature, Dickson had decided not to run again for a House seat.

Dickson served as an officer of the local militia company during the Civil War, but when State Senator Anthony Martin Branch stepped down to serve in the Confederate States Army in 1862, Dickson was elected to complete Branch’s term.^[3]

After the war, he was appointed financial agent of the State Penitentiary in Huntsville by Governor James Webb Throckmorton and served in that capacity from 1866 to 1867. During his time in Huntsville, Dickson attended to the inmates when a yellow fever outbreak occurred.

Dickson died on 5 June 1880, and is buried near his home in Anderson. Dickson was a Mason.

Notes

1. ^ "Grimes County, TX Federal Census" (Transcription of 1850 U.S. Census for Grimes County, Texas). Archived from the original on 2006-10-29. http://web.archive.org/web/20061029032509/http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tx/grimes/census/1850/pg00725.txt. Retrieved 2007-01-15.  Also, Handbookof Texas article.
2. ^ ^{a b} (pdf) Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Texas: Fourth Legislature.. Texas. Legislature. House of Representatives. Austin, Texas: Printed by Cushney & Hampton, “State Gazette” Office.. 1852. pp. 5–7. http://www.lrl.state.tx.us/scanned/members/speeches/speakers/4_0_Dickson.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-15. 
3. ^ Members of the Texas Congress, 1836-1845 ; Members of the Texas Legislature, 1846-2004. (Revised edition ed.). Austin, Texas: Secretary of the Senate : Senate Engrossing and Enrolling : Senate Publications. 2005. OCLC 58045309. 

References

• David Catchings Dickson from the Handbook of Texas Online

Texas House of Representatives
Preceded by Unknown	Member of the Texas House of Representatives 1846–1847	Succeeded by Unknown
Preceded by Unknown	Member of the Texas House of Representatives 1849–1853	Succeeded by Unknown
Preceded by Unknown	Member of the Texas House of Representatives 1859–1861	Succeeded by Unknown
Political offices
Preceded by Charles G. Keenan	Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives 1851–1853	Succeeded by Hardin Richard Runnels
Preceded by James Wilson Henderson	Lieutenant Governor of Texas 1853–1855	Succeeded by Hardin Richard Runnels
Texas Senate
Preceded by Anthony Martin Branch	Texas State Senator from District 17 1863–1866	Succeeded by Benton Randolph

Persondata
Name	Dickson, David Catchings
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1818
Place of birth
Date of death	1880
Place of death