Born in Keene, New Hampshire, Dickson graduated from Middlebury College of Vermont in 1808.
He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1812 and commenced practice in West Bloomfield, New York.
He resumed the practice of law in West Bloomfield, New York, where he died on February 22, 1852.
His home at West Bloomfield, known as the John and Mary Dickson House, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
[1] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress