John Dick (June 17, 1794 – May 29, 1872) was an American politician and judge. He represented Pennsylvania as a Whig, a member of the Opposition Party and a Republican in the United States House of Representatives.

Biography

John Dick was born on June 17, 1794, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With his parents, he moved to

Meadville, Pennsylvania Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania. The city is within of Erie and within of Pittsburgh. It was the first permanent settlement in Northwestern Pennsylvania. The population was 13,388 at the 2010 censu ...

while less than a year old, in December 1794. He attended and received his education at the common schools. He served as major of the First Battalion of the

Pennsylvania Militia The Pennsylvania National Guard is one of the oldest and largest National Guards in the United States Department of Defense. It traces its roots to 1747 when Benjamin Franklin established the Associators in Philadelphia. With more than 18,000 per ...

in 1821. Dick then served as colonel of the First Regiment in 1825 before becoming brigadier general of the Second Brigade, Sixteenth Division of the Pennsylvania Militia in 1831. After his militia service, he moved into mercantile business and banking, establishing the banking house J.&J.R. Dick in 1850. He subsequently served as associate judge of Crawford County, Pennsylvania and was a supporter of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad. Dick also served as a trustee of Allegheny College and president of Crawford Mutual Insurance Company. Dick was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Whig in 1852 for the

33rd Congress The 33rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1853, ...

. He was reelected in 1854 as an Opposition Party candidate to the

34th Congress The 34th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1855, ...

. In 1856, Dick was reelected as a Republican to the

35th Congress The 35th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1857, ...

. He was renominated by the Republican Party in 1858 but withdrew his name from the election and resumed business interests. He was married, November 16, 1830, to Jane Torbett, and had six children. Son George was as cadet at West Point in 1850, assigned to duty in Texas in Col. Robert E. Lee’s regiment, and died in 1856. Son J. Henry died at the age of eighteen. His son, Samuel Bernard Dick, was a Union Colonel in the Civil War. Dick died in

on May 29, 1872, and was interred in Greendale Cemetery.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick, John 1794 births 1872 deaths Politicians from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Whigs Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century American politicians Opposition Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Burials at Greendale Cemetery