Yes, I am terrible and missed February, Black History Month. But, you know, African Americans make history every month, including in Bethlehem.
And please note that neither of the men pictured here are James Dickson. I do not have a picture of him, but like to imagine he looks like one of these handsome gentlemen. Both daguerreotypes date to about the time Dickson married.
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| Unidentified man. Library of Congress |
Lately, I’ve been researching James Dickson. Dickson lived
in the hamlet of Slingerlands just about his whole life, from about 1850 until
his death in 1907. He came to my attention in connection with John I.
Slingerland and the work I’ve been doing regarding the Slingerland Family
Burial Vault project. I’ve been writing first person monologues for the Friends
of the Vault reenactment fundraiser, and trying to find the voice of James
Dickson.*
Dickson’s story touches on matters of race and wealth and
privilege. You see Dickson was a black
American living in a rural, white community around the time of the Civil War
and beyond. Allow me to share some of
the facts that I know about Dickson, and perhaps together we can weave and/or
imagine his story.
I first encountered him in the 1850 U.S. Census while
looking for John I. Slingerland**. Head
of household is John I. Slingerland (age 46, male, white, farmer, real estate
worth $20,000, born in N.Y.) Below him is his second wife Sarah (more commonly
known as Sally) age 35. Then his children ranging from age 23 to age 6: John,
Betsy, Maria, Elizabeth, William. Then is John Hay age 23. All of these folks have a W under the race
column. Then in the same household is
James Dixson, age 16, a farmer with a prominent B after his name. Now the questions begin.
Why did John I. take him in?
Was it for routine labor on the farm? Was it scandalous – an
illegitimate son perhaps? Was it related
to John I.’s anti-slavery sentiments? Was it even related to the fact that John
I’s father, also John, owned slaves on this self-same property? The town of Bethlehem has a record book that
confirms that John Slingerland senior manumitted and set free a man named Sam
on April 17, 1818 and a man named Thomas Jackson on June 21, 1824. (Emancipation in New York was not complete
until 1827.)
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| Unidentified man. Library of Congress. |
I’ve read John I.’s account book from 1853 to1855 and while
he refers to Jack (aka James Dickson) often, I don’t believe Jack was employed
as a laborer. There are many entries
like this one dated January 30, 1854 “Cash for Jacks gloves” or my favorite
from March 24, 1855 “Cash to Jack Lost on bet.” And this one surely has a story
behind it July 3, 1855 “Cash to Jack he Whent to N York and Got Robed.”
In the same journal there are pages of entries regarding
hired hands such as Marton the Dutchman, Mike the Irishman and Sam Pit. The
entries include details about when their work was complete and their accounts
settled. Also included was when work was missed as in these entries about Sam
Pitt. “August 26, 1854 1 day whent fishing” and “June 2, 1855 lost 1 day to go
to Guilderland you and your wife to show your new coat” Then there is this
entry from August 26, 1854 tying Dickson and Pitt together, but makes us
uncomfortable today to read “1855 June 27 Cash to Sam Pit he Went with Jack to
Albany to See Darkies Dance.”
Also supporting the fact that Dickson was more than a hired
hand is this entry “Marton the Dutchman began to work the 17th of March
1853 for 7 ½ months at 13 Dollars per month and is to pay Jack one and a half
Dollars per month for house rent.” Dickson
must have occupied his own house. There are also entries where Dickson pays
John I. for agricultural items, like loads of hay, bushels of rye and barrels
of potatoes. The hay suggests that he was
keeping horses or maybe a dairy cow.
The house rent and loads of hay leads me to the fact that
John I. specifically listed James Dickson in his last will and testament dated October
22, 1861. Here’s an excerpt:
“I give devise and
bequeath to the colored man James Dixon and to his heirs and assigns forever,
all that certain lot and house situate in the town of Bethlehem County of
Albany bounded on the north by the land of James B. Wands and west by the
Oliver Road and on the South and east by the fence which now encloses said lot,
continuing about three fourths of an acre of land.”
Searching for more facts about James Dickson, I turned to
the newspaper websites and promptly turned up a stark example of mid-19th
century racism. Versions of the article
were carried in several papers in the spring of 1857. Referred to as Jack
Slingerland, Dickson was described as a “pure blooded African” “a sort of
protégé of Hon. John I. Slingerland” and “black as the ace of spades.” The
heart of the story was that he eloped with Sarah England, who is described as
the “white daughter of a neighbor” and a “buxom lass”. Also noted was “Jack is 23, the young lady
17.” Reading these descriptions, one
must remember that this was the time in American history when the nation was
ramping up towards the Civil War. Matters of race and color, freedom and
justice were brewing and stirring all over the country.
More searching turns up James Dickson’s obituary published
in the Altamont Enterprise February 1,1907. It is a much more positive article. “No man
in this community was better known or more respected…for thirty-seven years he
was employed by the Hon. Wm. H. Slingerland as general manager and was always
faithful and honest. He is survived by
his widow and one son.” Did you catch
the part about his widow? I like the
fact that James and Sarah Dickson’s marriage outlasted the naysayers, and the
nasty newspaper articles about their elopement. They were married almost 50
years. The obituary makes no comment
about the color of Dickson’s skin.
Other tidbits about Dickson turn up in the papers. Here’s one from the Enterprise dated
February 21, 1902 “We are indebted to James Dickson, better known as “Jack,”
for his kindness in running the snow plough through the heavy snow-fall Tuesday
morning.” Or this one from April 19,
1895, “Mr. Theodore Halsdorf, who sprained his ankle by the falling of a
scaffold on James Dickson’s barn, is still confined to his room.”
Another fact about James Dickson that emerged is that he
registered for the draft in 1863 but did not get called up. Other African Americans from Bethlehem, like
Peter Dickson and Samuel Jackson, enlisted and served with the 26th
U.S. Colored Troops. I wonder if Peter
and James were cousins.
James and Sarah Dickson and their son George, and grandson
George, show up regularly in the U.S. and New York census reports. James always has a B, Sarah always has a
W. Interestingly their son George is
listed with a M for mulatto in 1870 and 1880, but in 1905 when I next can
identify him in the census, he is labeled with a W.
These are the facts from primary sources, and per usual they
leave more questions than answers. I
like to wonder about James and Sarah’s life in the hamlet of Slingerlands. I get the impression of a small family living
in a community slowly changing from rural to suburban. There are hints of Sarah’s involvement with
the local church, trips to New York City and gardening on their plot of land. I
wonder about their interactions with the socially prominent Slingerland family.
I wonder how the effects of the social upheaval of the Civil War affected the
family.
And finally, I’ll leave you with the last lines of James
Dickson obituary.
“Farewell Jack, kind husband and father, faithful servant,
good neighbor and true friend – peace to your ashes.”
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| James Dickson's obituary appeared February 1, 1907 in the Altamont Enterprise. |
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| Dickson's headstone at Bethlehem Cemetery. Unfortunately, Sarah Dickson's name and dates were never added. |
*Nicknamed Jack, James Dickson’s last name is sometimes
spelled Dixon.
** John I. Slingerland (1804-1861) is a scion of the
Slingerland family in Bethlehem, a well-to-do landowner and farmer, former U.S.
Congressman and N.Y. Assemblyman, Anti-Renter, abolitionist, husband of
Elizabeth and then Sally, father of five.
