Mahlon Dickerson

Mahlon Dickerson ( born April 17, 1770 in Hanover, Morris County, New Jersey; † October 5, 1853 in Succasunna, New Jersey ) was an American politician and 1815-1817 Governor of the State of New Jersey. Between 1817 and 1833 he represented his state in the U.S. Senate; 1834 to 1838 he was Secretary of the Navy under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.

Early years and political rise

Mahlon Dickerson enjoyed a private education and then studied until 1789 at the College of New Jersey, later Princeton University emerged from the. After a subsequent law degree, he was admitted in 1793 as a lawyer. In 1794 he was involved as a member of the militia of New Jersey at the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. After that he settled for some time in Philadelphia as a lawyer. Later he moved his practice to New Jersey.

Dickerson's political rise began in Pennsylvania. In 1802 he was commissioner for the settlement of bankruptcies ( Commissioner of bankruptcy ) in that State. From 1805 to 1808, he served as Adjutant General Director of the militia of Pennsylvania and 1808-1810 he was town clerk of the city of Philadelphia. In 1810 he moved into the Morris County in New Jersey. Dickerson was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson. From 1811 to 1813 he was a deputy in the Parliament of New Jersey, which was then known as State Assembly. Between 1813 and 1815 he was both secretary and a judge at his state Supreme Court.

Governor and U.S. Senator

In the years 1815 and 1816 Dickerson was selected by the New Jersey Legislature for one year as governor. During his tenure, New Jersey, the first U.S. state has ever approved of protective tariffs. It was then that the first steps for the construction of the Delaware - Raritan Canal were initiated. After he was elected to the U.S. Senate, Dickerson resigned as Governor on 1 February 1817.

In Congress, Dickerson became effective on March 4, 1817 as a Class 2 senator in the footsteps of John Condit. After a re-election in 1823, he retained this office until January 30, 1829. On this day he resigned to simultaneously take on a new mandate in the Senate as a Class 1 Senator. This mandate he took over from the late 28 January Senator Ephraim Bateman. Overall, he was thus between 4 March 1817 and the March 3, 1833 Member of the Senate. He was Chairman of the Archives Committee ( Committee on Library) and a member of the Committee on Trade and Industry ( Committee on Commerce and Manufacturers ).

During his time in Congress, the political landscape changed in the United States. His Democratic- Republican Party dissolved itself and Dickerson joined the new Democratic Party of President Andrew Jackson.

Minister in the Cabinet Jackson

After the end of his time in the Senate he was a member of the Executive Council of New Jersey, emerged from the later of the New Jersey Senate. In 1834 he turned down an offer from the President to go as an American ambassador to Russia. Jackson then appointed him in June 1834 as the new Secretary of the Navy in his cabinet. This office he retained under Jackson's successor, Martin Van Buren to June 1838. In 1840 he became a judge at the Federal District Court for the District of New Jersey. In 1844 he was a delegate at a meeting to amend the state constitution. Mahlon Dickerson died in 1853. His younger brother Philemon ( 1788-1862 ) was from 1836 to 1837 and Governor of New Jersey 1833-1840 with interruptions deputy in the House of Representatives of the United States.