Fred George Dickerson, mechanical engineer, inventor, businessman, and trustee of Lawrence College, was the son of Henry J. Dickerson and Harriet Amelia Porter of Mayfield, New York. Henry Dickerson was, in turn, the son of Mary Ann Hart and James Dickerson of Gloversville, New York and later of Appleton, Wisconsin. The Henry Dickersons were the parents of three sons, two of whom died in infancy. The youngest, Fred George, was born on June 4, 1868, ten years after the family located in Appleton.
Harriet Porter Dickerson died in Appleton in 1908 at age 80. Her obituary lists Fred George as her only survivor and because the collection documents the fact that Henry Dickerson was then living in Niagara Falls, it is likely that the couple were separated or divorced. Fred George Dickerson attended Lawrence College, graduating in 1893, and he continued to be involved with collegiate musical groups after his graduation. Later he became a member of the college's board of trustees. About 1900 Dickerson settled in Austin, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He married Rena Reed, and they became the parents of Fred Reed Dickerson.
About 1910 Dickerson successfully patented a machine for canning evaporated milk, the so-called Dickerson Milk Filler. Fred Reed Dickerson later stated that his father was a practical inventor, who also was responsible for the invention of a pin clock, a folding car seat, and a pecan sheller, but that only the milk filler was financially successful. Fred George Dickerson died on September 10, 1922.
