His uncle taught him machine work and drafting, and in 1850, Dialogue moved to Camden, New Jersey.

He married Mary Easby of Philadelphia in 1850, and they had four children: John Dialogue Jr., who eventually took over his father's shipbuilding works, and three daughters, Adelaide, Stella, and Lillie.

Despite being a Democrat, Dialogue ran unsuccessfully for New Jersey state senator from Camden in a voting district that was strongly Republican.

In 1854, he purchased the Elias Kaighn foundry where his workers performed general machine work, as well as building Corliss stationary engines under a special license for the inventor.

By the late 19th century, the Dialogue & Company shipyard was quite large and had the honor of doing reconstruction work on the famous USS Constitution.