Samuel Fowler Dickinson

Notes:

Husband of Lucretia Gunn Dickinson, son of Nathan & Esther Fowler Dickinson.
Senator Deacon Samuel Fowler DICKINSON was born on October 9, 1775 in Amherst, Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was educated about 1785 in Amherst, MA. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1795 in Dartmouth, MA. After 1795 he was a Legal Aid. The Law Office of Judge Simeon Strong. Where he studied until he was admitted to the bar. He lived in Amherst, MA after 1795. He was Congregationalist after 1796. At the age of twenty-one he was elected deacon and was a church officer all his active life. He was elected as District Representative and Senator about 1820. He was one of the ablest lawyers in western Massachusetts. He was a natural leader of men and quite naturally became prominent in politics. He served his district in the general court in the house and senate for twelve years. His public career was brilliant and he became well known throughout the state. He was an influential Whig leader . Perhaps his greatest public service was the part he took as founder of Amherst Academy and Amherst College. For the college he sacrificed his property, his time and his professional opportunities, and the friends and alumni of that institution held him in the highest regard and his memory is cherished there for his generous and distinguished service to the college. He was for many years the college treasurer. About 1825 he was a Town Clerk in Amherst, MA. He lived in Amherst, MA before 1833. He lived in Cumberland, OH after 1833. Practiced law here but became interested in Lane Seminary and acted as its steward. Later he filled the office of steward for the Western Reserve University. He exercised his benevolence there repeatedly in helping deserving boys through college. His memory is cherished at Western Reserve University with the same affectionate regard and honor as at Amherst. He helped both institutions in the trying days of their early lives. He died on April 22, 1838 in Hudson (grandfather of Emily Dickinson)

Buried:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13981575/samuel_fowler-dickinson

Family/Spouse: Lucretia Gunn. Lucretia was born on 3 Oct 1775 in Montague, Franklin County, Massachusetts; died on 11 May 1840 in Enfield, Hampshire County, Massachusetts; was buried in West Cemetery, Amherst, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

U.S. Congressman. He attended Amherst Academy, graduated from Yale College in 1823, studied law at the law school of Northampton Law School Massachusetts, was admitted to the bar and proceeded to practice law in Amherst, Massachusetts, 1826. He was treasurer of Amherst College (1835-73), a member of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives (1838-39), served in the Massachusetts State Senate (1842-43) and a member of the Governor’s council, (1846-47). In 1853, he was elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress, serving until 1855. Declining to be a candidate for reelection, he practiced law and was again elected a member of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives in 1873 and served until his death age 71. He also was the father of noted poet Emily Dickinson.

Buried:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7675339/edward-dickinson

Edward married Emily Elizabeth Norcross in 1828. Emily was born on 3 Jul 1804 in Monson, Hampden County, Massachusetts; died on 4 Nov 1882 in Amherst, Hampshire County, Massachusetts; was buried in West Cemetery, Amherst, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Famous Kin: American Poet

Notes:

Poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, the first daughter of three children, her father served in the General Court of Massachusetts and later in the United States House of Representatives. Raised in a strict puritanical Massachusetts in a Christian tradition, she would later challenge her parents' beliefs. She attended Amherst Academy, and later, South Hadley Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College). She was considered shy in the presence of strangers, and quit college in 1848 after only one year, to return to Amherst. She never married, and had only a few deep relationships with others, preferring the life of a recluse in her father's house. After college, and for the rest of her entire life, she only left Amherst four times, for quick trips to Philadelphia, Washington DC, or to Boston. During one of the trips, she met Reverend Charles Wadsworth and Thomas W. Higginson, men who would greatly influence her poetry. Like Emily, Wadsworth was a solitary, romantic person, and he and Dickinson shared much in common. They would often write each other, sharing their world, and scholars commonly believe that he was her point of interest in her love poems. In 1862, she desired to publish her poems, and obtained advice from Thomas Higginson, who counseled her against publishing. As a result, only seven of her poems were ever published in her lifetime. As her family and friends began to pass away (in the 1870s and 1880s), her poetry turned more to themes of death. She went into near total seclusion after her father's death in 1874, gaining the local nickname of the "Nun of Amherst." Her health began to deteriorate in 1884, and she passed away in May 1886. After her death, it was determined that she had written a total of 1,775 poems, and they were arranged into four groups, bearing on their themes: Friends, Nature, Love, and Death. Her sister, Lavinia, arranged for her poems to be published posthumously, but the full range of her work was not published until 1955.

Buried:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/282/emily-dickinson