James P. Dickenson has gained a good success in material things in Harney county since his advent here and is one of the substantial and leading stockmen and farmers to-day. He and his family have two good hay farms near the Narrows and also three near Lawen. These fine tracts of land return him annually large amounts of hay and give him opportunity to handle many head of stock.
James P. was born in Grayson county, Virginia, on February 18, 1842, being the son of John and Rosa (Hale) Dickenson. He grew up on the farm and gained his education from the common schools, and in the spring of 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Forty-fifth Virginia, as second lieutenant under General John B. Floyd. He was in the battles of Wytheville, Parisburg, Big Sewell Mountain and Carnifax Ferry, besides many skirmishes. At the end of the year for which he enlisted he retired from the army and went home and was chosen tax collector for Grayson county. Eighteen months later he enlisted in the Twenty-second Virginia Cavalry and took part in the battles of Lynchburg and Luray valley, at which last place his horse was shot from under him and he was captured. He languished in the war prison at Point Lookout, Maryland, until the close of the war, July, 1865. The treatment was sever in the prison. He returned to Grayson county, and in February, 1866, he married Miss Laura A. Milton. He engaged in farming and stockraising until 1872, then came via San Francisco and Portland to Linn county, Oregon. There he farmed until 1888, and then migrated to Crook county, and in 1889 came near to Lawen. He entered a homestead on the Malheur lake and took up raising stock. He resides at Lawen and is a worthy and progressive citizen. Mr. Dickenson is a member of the Stock Association of Harney Valley. To Mr. and Mrs. Dickenson there have been born three children, Mrs. Effie M. Syrne, of Burns; Guy E., at Lawen; Mrs. Rosa C. Kern, of Lawen.