As a boy Dickinson spent most of his time working on the family farm but by studying often at home he was able to complete high school and at the age of eighteen qualified to be a teacher.

After his one term in the State Senate, Dickinson was elected the 35th lieutenant governor of Michigan in 1914 and later re-elected to this office.

During his twenty one and a half months in office, a law was passed which made it mandatory for public school teachers to take an oath of loyalty to the government.

Also during his term, gambling and open bars were contested and the Michigan National Guard was activated for service in World War II.

He died two years after leaving office at the age of eighty-four in Charlotte and is buried at the Maple Hill Cemetery of that town.