• Born: 19 Apr 1779, Milton CT
• Died: 9 Mar 1852, Milton CT

  General notes:

Silversmith and portrait painter

  Events in his life were:

• Apprenticed about 1797 to Isaac Thompson in Litchfield CT
  

• He worked before 1802 as a silversmith in Litchfield CT
  Though he apparently set aside silversmithing for painting soon after completing his apprenticeship, he is known to have produced some silver.
  ¹⁴

• He worked after 1802 as a portrait painter in New Haven CT
  Having abandoned silversmithing, he first advertised his services as a miniature painter in a New Haven newspaper of May 27, 1802.
  His earliest known painting is signed and dated 1803. During his nearly 50 year career as a miniaturist, Dickinson kept a work book which has enabled art historians to trace the development of his career. Included are the names of 1500 subjects he painted, as well as dates, places, and in some cases, prices charged. Because of the relatively high cost of his miniatures, he had to travel widely throughout the eastern states and into Canada to find clients.
  Throughout his career, he returned to Milton at fairly regular intervals to visit his family and paint Litchfield residents and students at the Tapping Reeve Law School and Miss Sarah Pierce's Female Academy. He also traveled to Charleston SC, and in later years, to Washington DC where he painted miniature portraits of members of Congress and their families.