When the reservation was opened for the settlement of white people and for the improvements of civilization, the subject of this article was one of the first to avail himself of the privilege of taking a homestead and accordingly four and one half miles east from Melrose, we find him living now, the owner of a good farm, where he displays thrift and industry in raising both the fruits of the field and stock, and also in handling a fine threshing outfit in the harvest seasons of the year.
Joackiam L. Dickinson was born in Iowa, on January 3, 1868, being the son of Oren and Susan (Larson) Dickinson. The father was a soldier in the Civil War. The mother was born in Norway. Our subject grew to young manhood and received his education in Iowa, studying in the winters and assisting his father in the summers.
When he was sixteen, the family settled in Whitman County, Washington, and gave their attention to farming and raising stock for six years when another move was made, this time transferring their residence to Latah County, Idaho. There they lived for about seven years, or until the opening of the reservation, when they came and took land, our subject securing a good quarter, as described above.
In 1887, Mr. Dickinson married Miss Etta B. Michaels, a stepdaughter of Mrs. A. A. Anderson. Mrs. Dickinson was born in Kansas, in 1870, and has one brother. George W. Michaels. Mr. Dickinson has the following brothers and sisters, Rudolphus S., Joacquin, Dormie A. Key, May Yarbrough, Sophia Wright, Alfred and Chester. The following named children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson, Pearl, May, Alto, Loy, and Levi.
Mr. Dickinson is a Republican and is on hand at the caucuses and conventions to voice his principles. He has been on the school board for the past twelve years and is a wheel horse in the labors of keeping up good schools and in the improvement of educational facilities in general, as he has opportunity. Mr. Dickinson is a man of integrity and enterprise, is a patriotic citizen and the recipient of the good will and esteem of all who know him.
Back to: Nez Perce Biographies
Source: An Illustrated History of Northern Idaho, Embracing Nez Perce, Idaho, Latah, Kootenai and Shoshone Counties, Western Historical Publishing Company, 1903