CHARLIE C. DICKESON

 The following bio was taken from page 177 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited And used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

 What’s in a name?  The family name of Dickeson has been quietly disputed through several generations.  Brothers often spell their names differently.  My grandfather’s brother spelled the name “Dickerson,” and my grandfather spelled it without the “r”.  My mother and daddy went to Laurel, Mississippi and found Dickeson on the old tombstones.  One of Daddy’s brothers’s spelled his name with an “r.”

 Charlie Calhoun Dickeson, my great grandfather, came to Texas about 1878, from Laurel Mississippi.  The family left about a hundred-acre farm to come to Texas.  They never returned and it was later learned that the farm was sold for taxes.

 Charlie Dickeson lived near Overton, Texas.  He met and married a widow, California Whittington Smith.  She had three children and they had eight children of their own. 

 The first son born to Charlie and California was my grandfather, Hillyer C. Dickeson.  He was born on a farm in Rusk County near Overton in 1878.  Later the family moved near Kilgore.  Here he met and married Emily Chandler.  They moved to Palestine, where Hillyer worked for the railroad.  They had a son that lived only one day.  They moved back to Rusk County near Kilgore.  Here they bought a farm.  My grandfather cut the timber from this farm, took it to the mill to be cut and dried, hauled it back, and later built a two-story house with the timber.

 My father, Dan Hillyer, was born here.  Chandler was born in 1902; Gaines in 1904; Elfin in 1906; Ruby Mae in 1909; Dan in 1912; and James (Jim) in 1914.  In 1914, the farm was sold and the family moved to Joinerville, where they bought a farm.  Here Wayne was born in 1925, and Jim now lives on this farm.

 My daddy went to Miller School, later named Gaston.  While attending a basketball game at Farmers Institute, he met my mother, Sybil Elizabeth King.  Daddy rode a horse about six miles to see my mother.  Mother finished at Farmer’s Institute and graduated at Henderson.

 My parents were married on a Saturday at 11 o’clock, January 12, 1935.  Mother and Daddy bought a farm at Joinerville, where they farmed and raised cattle.  Daddy later sold John Deere tractors for a company in Tyler.  He decided to operate a business of his own and began Dickeson Brothers Contractors.  His younger brother, Wayne, was his partner.  He sold this business to go into politics.  He was elected Commissioner of Precinct 1, and Mother and Daddy sold the farm at Joinerville and moved to Henderson.  Here Daddy was elected to Commissioner of Precinct 3, a position he still holds.

 My brother, Gaines, and I were both born on the farm at Joinerville.  We graduated at Gaston School as our father did.  We both went to Kilgore College and Stephen F. Austin.  Gaines was killed in a car accident in 1963.  I graduated and taught at Overton and Leverett’s Chapel.  I married Charles Dean, of Overton, and we have three children:  Patrice, Chris, and Mike.  Charles and I stay very busy with our children, garden, and cattle.

 Submitted by:  Daneen Dickeson Dean