Clement C. Dickinson


Clement Cabell Dickinson was an American lawyer and politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Missouri.

Biography

Dickinson was born on December 6, 1849, in the courthouse of Prince Edward County, Virginia, to Asa Dupuy Dickinson and Sallie Cabell Dickinson. He was educated by tutors and at private schools, and in June 1869, he graduated from Hampden-Sydney College. He worked as an educator, teaching at schools in Kentucky and Virginia, as well as in Clinton, Missouri, where he moved to in September 1872. While an educator, he studied law, being admitted to the bar in 1875. From 1877 to 1882, he was prosecuting attorney of Henry County, and from 1882 to 1884, he was Clinton's city attorney.
A Democrat, Dickinson represented Henry County in the Missouri House of Representatives from 1900 to 1902, and represented Missouri's 16th Senate district in the Missouri Senate from 1902 to 1906. He was an administrator of the State Normal School from 1907 to 1913. A candidate from Missouri's 6th congressional district, he first served in the United States House of Representatives from February 1, 1910, to March 3, 1921, filling the unexpired term of David A. De Armond following his death. He served other nonconsecutive terms, from March 4, 1923 to March 3, 1929; March 4, 1931 to 1933; and 1933 to January 3, 1935. By the time he left Congress, he was the oldest member of Congress, with newspapers erroneously naming him Dean of the United States House of Representatives. He was noted for his fiscal policy, serving on the United States House Committee on Ways and Means; he voted against toll fees for ships in the Panama Canal and against the single tax.
After serving in Congress, Dickinson returned to working as a lawyer in Clinton. He married Matilda "Mattie" Emily Parks. He had three children, including Mary Cabell Dickinson, wife of academic administrator Uel W. Lamkin. He died on January 14, 1938, aged 88, in Clinton. He is buried at the Englewood Cemetery. He was one of the final living witnesses of Jefferson Davis' inaugral address, in 1862.