Green Berry Dickson

Full Name:  Green Berry Dickson

Birth Date:  July 16, 1845

Died:           March 5, 1941

Spouse:      

Biography:

Green B. Dickson was born in Chambers County, Alabama, on July 16, 1845. On July 1, 1861, he enlisted in Company E of the 14th Alabama Infantry in the Confederate Army. His company became a part of the army of Northern Virginia, and he was discharged from the Confederate Army on July 17, 1865. His service record shows that he was reported missing in action in the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. He was actually wounded in the left leg by a minnie ball and was taken prisoner by the Yankees. He was kept prisoner until exchanged on April 27, 1864. He was in Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, and that is where he received his wound. He said that he laid on the battlefield the remainder of that day and throughout the night before he received any attention, and that he did not believe that it was possible for a human being to suffer as he suffered that afternoon and night. The next day following Pickett’s Charge, he was taken by the Yankees as a wounded prisoner, given medical attention, and was kept a prisoner for almost a year. After the war, he went back to Alabama and then went into Tennessee and lived in the same community with the Andrews family, who afterwards came to Titus County and settled around Cookville. Green Dickson says while in Tennessee, that Dolph Andrews and one of his brothers got in a fight with some Yankee soldiers and killed some of the soldiers. Green Dickson, fearing that the Yankees might think that he was implicated in the fight, immediately left and came to Texas. He came to Titus County and remained in this county until his death on March 5, 1941.

After coming to Titus County, he purchased some land about 3 miles northwest of Mt. Pleasant in the Forest Grove community and lived there for a number of years, and was probably living there when he was first married. He and his wife had four children, all boys, and these were Ed, Will, Charlie and Harry. His first wife died in 1895, and he married a second time, but he and this second wife had no children and she died in 1939.

There is perhaps no man that ever lived in Titus County that was loved and respected by the citizenship of Titus County as was Green B. Dickson. In 1882, he was elected Sheriff of Titus County and held this office for 18 consecutive years. He was a fearless officer and without a doubt always performed every function required of him as a Sheriff. He then served 8 years as Tax Assessor of Titus County, and 12 years as County Treasurer. He could have held office in the county as long as he lived if he had desired.

He was the last Confederate veteran in Titus County, and he and his wives and children are buried in the Masonic Cemetery in Mt. Pleasant.

March 5, 1913 Dallas Morning News

Saved by Confederate Foe,

Texas Confederate Vet,

Old Officeholder, Dies

Shreveport, La/. March 5 (AP), - G.B. Dickson, 95, for forty years a public official of Titus County, Texas, and a Confederate veteran died at his home on Mount Pleasant, Texas, Wednesday.Funeral rights will be held at Mount Pleasant at 3 p.m. ThursdayDickson served twenty-two years as Titus County Sheriff, eight years as County Tax Assessor and ten years as County Treasurer, declining re-election at the end of a term Dec. 31, 1936.A native of Chambers County, Alabama, where he was born in 1845, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and was a soldier of the Army of Northern Virginia.  He was wounded at Gettysburg in July, 1863, and was left with a canteen of water to die, but a Federal patrol found him, took his prisoner and attended to his wounds, there by saving his life.Surviving are four sons, C.D. Dickson, Caddo; Judge Ed Dickson, Mount Pleasant; Will Dickson, Mount Pleasant, and Harry Dickson, Midland , Texas, and one sister in California.

Green Dickson, 95,

Titus Confederate,

 Dies at His Home

MOUNT PLEASANT,  Texas, March 5, - Green B. Dickson, 95, known all over Titus County as Uncle Green, died at his home Wednesday morning.  He was the only surviving Civil War veteran in the county.  Born in Chambers County, Alabama, he enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 and served in the Army of Northern Virginia.  On the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg he was wounded in the right leg and lay on the battlefield until the next day, when he was captured.  Later he was released in an exchange of prisoners.

After the war was over he returned to Alabama, then to Titus County in January, 1877.  In 1880, at a special election, he was named Deputy Sheriff and became Sherriff and Tax Collector of Titus County in 1882.  He held that office eighteen years and retired in December, 1900.  Later he served eight years as Tax Assessor and twelve years as County Treasurer, retiring from public life in 1932 with a record of more than forty years' service with the county.

For the last several years, on his birthday, Mr. Dickson's friends commemorated the event with an open house in his honor.

He is survived by four sons, Ed and Will Dickson of this city, Charley Dickson, Shreveport, and Harry Dickson, Midland, and a half-sister, Mrs. Laura Gardner, Oklahoma.

Funeral services will be held at the Methodist Church at 3 p.m. Thursday.  Burial will be in the Masonic Cemetery.