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John DICKSON was born 06 March 1800 (or possibly 1801) in Londonderry, Ireland, to Jane and Robert DICKSON.[1]
John's mother may have been Jane DOUDLE (1783-1849) who is buried in Pugwash, and John is said to have had four siblings who also emigrated to Cumberland County: Nancy, Helen, Thomas and William.[2]
John married Jenny ATKINS (or Jane AIKINS). Jenny was born in Ireland 12 Feb 1798[3]. About 1830, after the birth of their first two daughters, John and Jenny emigrated to Nova Scotia and settled in the River Philip valley, perhaps near Rockley or Roslyn. Sometime about 1850 the family moved to Claremont, above the Valley Road between Springhill and the village of River Philip. Dickson Road, which runs up Claremont today, is named for this family.
John and Jenny's children were:[3]
John died 06 Sep 1874 of "typhus fever" and Jenny died 09 Feb 1878. They lie in the Hillside Cemetery in Springhill.
A note on spelling: As usual, surnames were distinguished principally by sound in the 19th century, and even the bearers of the names were usually not dogmatic about the spelling. The most usual spellings of this surname were "Dixon" and "Dickson". Records in a family bible which apparently belonged to Thomas Dickson initially use "Dixon" and then switch to "Dickson" sometime late in the century.
In contrast, the surname "Dickinson" (and several variants all with three syllables) seems to have been distinct from Dickson -- at least to the bearers of the names, though not always to clerks and record-takers.
[1] From John's death record. His occupation is also
described there as "blacksmith".
[2] Information regarding John's siblings and their families
comes to me through my father's contacts with Mr. Leonard Lewis,
Mrs. Marney Thompson and Mrs. Catherine Dickie. There is not a great deal of
corroborative evidence for this. A letter written
from Charles C. Stewart of Mount Pleasant to John Dickson of Claremont in 1863
refers to "your sister Nancy." It hardly amounts to proof, but does give us
confidence in the accuracy of the family traditions.
[3] Most of these dates are from Thomas Dickson's
family bible.
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This page was last updated 2004 May 06.