Dickerson, Julia Maria

  • Posted on: 5 November 2015
  • By: khughes
Primary Name
First Name: 
Julia
Middle Name: 
Maria
Surname: 
Dickerson
Alternate Names
Nickname: 
Cousin Julia
Alternate First Name: 
Julia Mary
Alternate Surname: 
Vanatta
Van Atta
Fuller Form of Name: 
Julia Maria Dickerson Vanatta
Birth and Death
Birth Info
Birth Year: 
1815
Birth Note: 
PA
Citation for Birth Info: 
Citation Notes: 
http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Julia+Mary&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Dickerson&gsln_x=0&mswpn__ftp=Morristown%2c+Morris%2c+New+Jersey%2c+USA&mswpn=8891&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c1652393%7c0%7c2%7c3244%7c33%7c0%7c2113%7c8891%7c0%7c&MSAV=1&msbdy=1815&msfng=John+B&msfns=Dickerson&_83004003-n_xcl=m&catbucket=rstp&uidh=if4&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=4529499&db=1850usfedcenancestry&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1
Death Info
Death Year: 
1881
Death Note: 
New Jersey
Citation for Death Info: 
Citation Notes: 
http://www.jerseyhistory.org/findingaid.php?aid=0013
Relationships
Marriage Information: 
Marriage and Children Info
Biographical Information
Seward Context: 
Household - familial
Biography and Citation Information: 
Biography: 
  • Julia Mary (Maria) Dickerson was born in 1815 to Dr. Aaron Dickerson and Mary Connaroe, a Philadelphia lady. They settled in Marcus Hook PA where Aaron was a doctor until his death in 1824. "Genealogies of Long Island" says that Julia was consequently brought up by her uncle Mahlon. This is confirmed by a 1850 census, where an 80-year-old "Mahlon Dickerson" lives with a 35-year-old "Julia M Dickerson" in Randolph, Morris, NJ. Julia may have been taking care of her aging uncle, who died and was buried nearby in Succasunna, NJ in 1853 (SOURCE 6). Julia didn't marry for the early part of her life but in 1852 was married to Joseph Van Atta(1809/24-1879), a man with five young children from another marriage (SOURCE 7).
  • Search process:
  • "Cousin Julia" was originally found in 18380314LCC_MJS1: "I had a letter from Julia Dickerson last week, she says she is coming down next week, to make us a good long visit... Cousin Julia is coming..." The obvious first conclusion was that this particular cousin is of MDC's maternal line. MDC's mother is Mary (Dickerson) Canfield, and Mary's only living siblings are brothers: Mahlon (1770-1853), Silas (1771-1807/61), John B. (1786-1822/76), Aaron (1781/3-1824/71), and Philemon (1788-1862). A search for the progeny of these brothers led to a "Julia Mary Dickerson" as found in SOURCE 1.
  • Further search in the New Jersey Historical Society's Dickerson Manuscript Collection (SOURCE 3) turns up a married name, Vanatta, or Van Atta, and a death date of 1881.
  • However, sources disagree upon which of Mary (Dickerson) Canfield's brothers was Julia's father. The Ancestry source (SOURCE 1) and SOURCE 4 assume John B., but SOURCE 2 says Julia was the "daughter of Dr. Aaron Dickerson of Philadelphia." The Census record from 1850 says Julia Mary was born in Philadelphia, and SOURCE 5 corroborates that Aaron was Julia's father in Philadelphia.
    • Citation Type: 
    Website
    Citation URL: 
    SOURCE 1: http://trees.ancestrylibrary.com/tree/58067178/person/46031086981
    Title of Webpage: 
    SOURCE 2: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~prowe/coop/vanatta/vanatta_name_history.htm
    Website Viewing Date: 
    Thursday, November 5, 2015 - 14:30
    Website's Last Modified Date: 
    Thursday, November 5, 2015 - 14:30
    Author(s) or Editor(s): 
    SOURCE 3: http://www.jerseyhistory.org/findingaid.php?aid=0013
    Citation Notes: 
    SOURCE 4: http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/j/e/n/Charles-Jenkins-WV/GENE2-0009.html
    Citation Type: 
    Website
    Citation URL: 
    SOURCE 5: https://archive.org/stream/cu31924028866552/cu31924028866552_djvu.txt
    Title of Webpage: 
    SOURCE 6: http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=Julia+Mary&gsfn_x=0&gsln=Dickerson&gsln_x=0&mswpn__ftp=Morristown%2c+Morris%2c+New+Jersey%2c+USA&mswpn=8891&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c1652393%7c0%7c2%7c3244%7c33%7c0%7c211
    Website Viewing Date: 
    Thursday, November 5, 2015 - 15:30
    Website's Last Modified Date: 
    Thursday, November 5, 2015 - 15:30
    Citation Notes: 
    SOURCE 7: http://www.jowest.net/genealogy/john/arnwine/Arnwine.htm
    Extra information from Google Docs spreadsheet
    Citation for Marriage Info (old): 
    Editorial Information
    Editorial Review: 
    Unverified and Incomplete