David Catchings Dickson

Who was David Catchings Dickson?

David Catchings Dickson was an American politician and physician in early Texas who served as Lieutenant Governor of Texas and as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. He was also a State Senator and unsuccessfully ran for governor of Texas.

Dickson was born 25 February 1818 in Pike County, Mississippi. In 1830, Dickson’s family moved to Georgetown in Copiah County, where he later married Sophronia L. Magee. Dickson attended medical school in Lexington, Kentucky, and after graduating in 1841, moved, as part of a large group, to the Montgomery County, Texas, community of Anderson. Dickson served as a surgeon for the Army of the Republic of Texas. He served as a Justice of the Peace for Montgomery County beginning in 1845.

Sometime before 1850, Dickson had remarried, to the former Nancy Ann E. Magee.

Dickson served in the House of Representatives in the First, Third, and Fourth Texas Legislatures. In the Fourth Legislature, Dickson was elected Speaker of the House, defeating fellow representative Hardin Richard Runnels 30 votes to 27 on the tenth ballot.