GEORGE FRANKLIN DICKINSON

	George Franklin Dickinson, son of Gaius and Amanda Dickinson, 
was born in Windsor, Broom County, N.Y., July 4, 1839, and departed 
this life January 24, 1917, aged 77 years, 6 months and 20 days.
	He was of a family of nine children, four of whom were half-
brothers and sisters.	
	He lived in New York State until the age of 19, when he 
decided to go West.  Later he returned to the East on foot with a 
drove of cattle for J. U. Bennett, and went to work for the 
Willematic Thread Mills, and later into the Colt's Gun Works making 
guns for the army.  He again came West settling in northern Indiana, 
in which locality he has spent the remainder of his life on farms in 
northern Indiana and southern Michigan.
	June 1st, 1867, he was united in marriage to Miss Phoebe 
Swiger.  To this couple were born five children: Orson, Harry, and 
Mrs. Basil (Geraldine Dickinson) Norton, of Orland; Mrs. Wright 
(Belle Dickinson) McKibben, of Hudson, Michigan; and Earnest, who 
died Jan. 28th, 1895. 
	In 1875 Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson bought a piece of timbered land 
between Orland and Lake Gage, where the happy couple labored to 
clear the land and build a house.  Eighteen years afterward, they 
disposed of the farm and built a house in Orland, where they lived 
in peace and happiness and quiet industry, until Nov. 18, 1906, 
when, almost without warning, after one days's sickness, the mother 
and wife passed away to the great beyond, this coming as a sudden 
shock to the husband and children.  After the mother's departure the 
youngest daughter, Geraldine, kept the home together until August 6, 
1908, when the deceased was married to Mrs. Hattie Fuller, who has 
been a real helpmate in his declining years.  Although being 
somewhat broken in health, he has ever kept his ambitious spirit; 
working when he could not be persuaded that he was unable to work.  
He has been a kind, loving husband and father, more thoughtful of 
his wife and children than himself.  For 23 years he has been 
janitor of the Congregational church, and as regular in his place as 
the clock.  As a rough estimate he has probably rung the old bell 
8,000 times. 
	On December 27th he fell on the icy walks receiving injuries 
which the most skilled physicians could not locate, and on the eve 
of the 24th of January, quietly passed away.
	There remain to mourn their loss, the wife, two sons, two 
daughters, two granddaughters and one great grandson, Richard Orson 
Booth, two half sisters, Mrs. ________ (Lizzie) Neihardt, and Mrs. 
_______(Kate) Gillette, one half brother, Charles, and a host of 
friends and neighbors. 
	Funeral services were held in the Congregational church, 
Saturday, at 2 o'clock, Rev. E. W. Gray, six years his pastor, now 
at Hudson, Mich., officiating.  Interment in the Orland cemetery.
				From the Norton collection

The above information was found in book #5 in the black notebook 
collection, #1 through #22, compiled by Audree Siebel Lewis, located at the 
Steuben County Library, Angola, Indiana.



ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

	George Franklin Dickinson, 04 Jul 1839-24 Jan 1917, married 1st, 
Pheobe (Swiger) Dickinson, 21 Feb 1850-18 Nov 1906, daughter of Wesley and 
Maria M. (Burke) Swiger.  His 2nd wife was Hattie Lazella Black Stuck 
Fuller.

Children:

	Orson C. Dickinson, 1868-1943, married Belle (Cleveland) Dickinson.
	Earnest L. Dickinson, 1870-1895.
	Belle (Dickinson) McKibben, 14 Mar 1873-09 Nov 1965, 1st husband was 
Albert James McKibben, 1868-1903; 2nd husband was Wright McKibben.
	Harry Dickinson, 1877-1928, 1st wife was Lizzie (Martin) Dickinson; 
2nd wife was Edith (Swatzwalter) Holmes.
	Geraldine (Dickinson) Norton, 29 Jan 1889-25 Oct 1971, married Basil 
E. Fisher Norton, 10 Apr 1891-30 Nov 1970.

"Cemeteries of Steuben Co., Ind., 1990" by Audree Siebel Lewis, Vol. I, 
pages 497, 498; Vol. II, page 1367.