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{{short description|American jurist and military officer}}
'''Franklin Archibald Dick''' (May 2, 1823 – February 18, 1885) was an American lawyer, politician and military officer during the [[American Civil War]]. He served as a Republican member of the Missouri state legislature and worked with [[Francis P. Blair Jr.]] to oppose slavery in Missouri. He served as volunteer assistant [[adjutant general]] to Brigadier General [[Nathaniel Lyon]] in the struggle to prevent [[Missouri secession]] to the Confederacy that resulted in the [[Camp Jackson Affair]]. He also served as Missouri [[provost marshal general]] and lieutenant colonel under Major General [[Samuel Ryan Curtis|Samuel Curtis]]. After the war, he worked as a law partner with [[Montgomery Blair]] at the [[Blair House]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]

==Early life and education==
Dick was born in [[Chester, Pennsylvania]] on May 2, 1823, the only son of Archibald Thomas Dick and Hannah Rogers. He entered the [[University of Pennsylvania]] at the age of sixteen in 1839<ref>{{cite book |title=University of Pennsylvania - Biographical Catalogue of the Matriculates of the College |date=1894 |publisher=Press of Avil Printing Company |location=Philadelphia |page=130 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GNe6AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA312 |access-date=30 March 2021}}</ref> as a law student. He graduated in 1842 and moved to the then frontier town of [[St. Louis, Missouri]], where he practiced law from 1844 to 1861. He worked as an assistant editor at the [[St. Louis Democrat]] newspaper.<ref>{{cite book |title=Proceedings of the Delaware County Historical Society, Volume 1 |date=1902 |publisher=Delaware County Historical Society |location=Chester, Pennsylvania |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BdPTAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA8 |access-date=30 March 2021}}</ref> He was an active supporter of the movement to abolish slavery and joined the [[Free Soil Party]] in 1849. He became a member of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] upon its founding in 1854. In 1857, he was elected to the Missouri legislature and voted for the end of slavery in Missouri.{{sfn|Martin|1877|p=403}}

He married Myra Madison Alexander{{sfn|Martin|1877|p=404}} on November 25, 1851. Myra's sister, Apolline, was married to [[Francis Preston Blair Jr.]], a Missouri congressman and [[Unionist politician (American Civil War)|Unionist]] leader. Dick helped organize the business affairs of Blair when he fell into debt after the 1857 depression.{{sfn|Adamson|2016|p=}}

==American Civil War==
===Camp Jackson affair===
{{Main|Camp Jackson affair}}
After the election of President Lincoln, the pro-secessionist governor of Missouri, [[Claiborne Fox Jackson|Clairborne F. Jackson]] was expected to lead Missouri to secede from the Union.{{sfn|Martin|1877|pp=397-398}} Dick, Blair and other pro Union advocates in the city of St. Louis were concerned that Jackson would take possession of the [[St. Louis Arsenal]] and use the large stock of arms kept there to support Confederate leaning militias.{{sfn|Martin|1877|p=398}} Blair and Captain (later brigadier general) [[Nathaniel Lyon]] transferred the arms from the St. Louis Arsenal to [[Alton, Illinois]] to prevent their capture and usage by pro-confederacy militias.<ref>Peckham, James. ''General Nathaniel Lyon, and Missouri in 1861: A Monograph of the Great Rebellion''. New York: American News Company, 1866. https://archive.org/details/gennathaniellyon01peck</ref>

In mid-April 1861, Jackson wrote to Confederate President [[Jefferson Davis]], asking for heavy artillery to breach the walls of the arsenal.<ref>Gerties, Louis S., ''Civil War St. Louis'', University of Kansas Press, 2001, p93</ref> Around May 1, Jackson called up part of the Missouri Volunteer Militia (MVM) for "maneuvers" near St. Louis, under the command of Brigadier General [[Daniel M. Frost]]. The MVM set up Camp Jackson, about {{convert|4.5|mi|km}} northwest of the arsenal.

Davis agreed to Jackson's request and delivered two [[Field artillery in the American Civil War|12-pound howitzers]], two [[Siege artillery in the American Civil War|32-pound siege guns]], 500 muskets, and ammunition. MVM officers met the shipment at the St. Louis riverfront, and transported them to Camp Jackson.{{sfn|Parrish|1998|p=100}}

Lyon wanted to scout Camp Jackson for himself. Dick borrowed a dress, shawl and bonnet from his mother in law in order to disguise the general. Dick provided the carriage and Lyon was able to observe the camp from inside the carriage disguised as Dick's mother in law and reported back that secessionist flags were flown within the camp and Confederate guns were located at the camp.{{sfn|Parrish|1998|p=100}}

On May 10, 1861, Lyon, Blair, and other Unionists met in Dick's law office and decided to capture Camp Jackson. At Lyon's urging, Dick served as his volunteer assistant adjutant general during the Camp Jackson affair.{{sfn|Martin|1877|p=400}} Lyon, with the Home Guards and a U.S. regular Army company, captured several hundred secessionist state militia which had been positioned to seize the Arsenal. The [[Camp Jackson Affair]] gave the Federal cause a decisive initial advantage in Missouri but also inflamed secessionist sentiments in the state.<ref>Phillips, Christopher. ''Damned Yankee: The Life of General Nathaniel Lyon''. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1990.</ref>

Dick was sent by Blair to Washington to convey concerns to President Lincoln about General [[William S. Harney]]'s leniency in dealing with secessionists.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parrish |first1=William Earl |title=A History of Missouri: 1860 to 1875 |date=1973 |publisher=University of Missouri Press |location=Columbia, Missouri |isbn=0-8262-1286-7 |page=17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UWSDb2GKOU0C&pg=PA17 |access-date=31 March 2021}}</ref> Montgomery Blair took Dick to meet with President Lincoln and Secretary of War [[Simon Cameron]]. Dick had been directed to lobby for Nathaniel Lyon's ideas for the protection of St. Louis, ask for Lyon's confirmation as brigadier general, and request Harney's removal.{{sfn|Parrish|1998|pp=104-105}} Dick returned to St. Louis with Lincoln's promotion for Lyon effective May 17, and an order for Blair to remove Harney at his discretion.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Reavis |first1=L.U. |title=The Life and Military Services of Gen. William Selby Harney |date=1878 |publisher=Bryan, Brand & Co., Publishers |location=Saint Louis |pages=374–376 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ueIEAAAAYAAJ |access-date=4 April 2021}}</ref> When Harney met with the former governor and head of the [[Missouri State Guard]], [[Sterling Price]], the Union supporters led by Blair delivered the orders on May 30, 1862, which opened the way for Lyon to take control of troops in Missouri.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Monachello |first1=Anthony |title=Missouri in the Balance - Struggle for St. Louis |url=https://www.historynet.com/missouri-in-the-balance-struggle-for-st-louis-march-98-americas-civil-war-feature.htm |website=www.historynet.com |date=23 September 1998 |access-date=4 April 2021}}</ref>

Dick continued to write letters to Lincoln with updates on the state of affairs in Missouri.

===Provost marshal general===
After Camp Jackson was disbanded, Missouri was under [[martial law]], and remained so for the entire Civil War. Dick served on the Board of Assessments which identified and fined Southern sympathizers. Through his participation in the seizure of goods and banishment of Rebels and their families, he earned the hatred of many old St. Louisans, Conditional Unionists, and Rebels.

On November 5, 1862, Dick was commissioned by Governor [[Hamilton Rowan Gamble]] as aide-de-camp to Major General Samuel Curtis with the rank of lieutenant colonel. General Curtis assigned Dick as provost marshal general for the Department of Missouri which included the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and sections of Illinois and Tennessee. In this position, Dick was responsible to keep order in the state and oversee the local provost marshals, enforce Curtis's orders for the [[Confiscation Act of 1862]], banish and assess disloyal persons, and supervise prisons and prisoners.{{sfn|Martin|1877|p=403}}

Dick moved his family back and forth from St. Louis to Philadelphia for safety during the war, though he had to return to his law practice in St. Louis to earn a living.{{sfn|Parrish|1998|p=97}} He was superseded as provost marshal general by [[James Broadhead|James Brodhead]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barrett |first1=Joseph Hartwell |title=Life of Abraham Lincoln, Presenting his Early History, Political Career, and Speeches In and Out of Congress; Also a General View of His Policy as President of the United States With His Messages, Proclamations, Letters, Etc. |date=1865 |publisher=Moore, Wilstach & Baldwin |location=Cincinnati |page=542 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7xcAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA542 |access-date=30 March 2021}}</ref>

==After the war==
[[File:Franklin Archibald Dick gravestone in Laurel Hill Cemetery.jpg|thumb|Franklin Archibald Dick gravestone in [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]]]]
After the Civil War ended, at the urging of [[Francis Preston Blair|Francis P. Blair Sr.]], Dick practiced law with [[Montgomery Blair]], working out of offices in the Blair House on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the [[White House]]. The Blair House is now the official guest house for the White House. Dick purchased a summer home he named "Hillside" near [[West Chester, Pennsylvania]].{{sfn|Martin|1877|p=403}} Dick died on February 18, 1885, and was interred in [[Laurel Hill Cemetery]] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.<ref>{{cite web |title=Franklin A Dick |url=https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/franklin-a-dick?id=OJkNRkyz |website=remembermyjourney.com |publisher=webCemeteries |access-date=2 January 2025}}</ref>

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book
| last = Adamson
| first = Hans Christian
| year = 2016
| title = Rebellion in Missouri 1861: Nathaniel Lyon and His Army of the West
| publisher = Pickle Partners Publishing
| isbn = 9781786256423
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sM5vCwAAQBAJ
}}
* {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JVUJpGINVx4C| title=Troubled state | author=Franklin Archibald Dick, Gari Carter| publisher=Truman State University| year=2008| isbn=978-1-931112-74-1 }}
* Gerteis, Louis. [https://books.google.com/books/about/Civil_War_St_Louis.html?id=tKNHPgAACAAJ Civil War St. Louis], Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2001
* Laas, Virginia Jeans. Wartime Washington: The Civil War Letters of Elizabeth Blair Lee. Urbana:University of Illinois Press, 1999
* {{cite book
| last = Martin
| first = John Hill
| year = 1877
| title = Chester (and Its Vicinity,) Delaware County, in Pennsylvania
| publisher = Wm. H. Pile & Sons
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5Kg-AAAAYAAJ
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Parrish
| first = Warren Earl
| year = 1998
| title = Frank Blair: Lincoln's Conservative
| publisher = University of Missouri Press
| location = Columbia and London
| isbn = 0-8262-1156-9
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pBhLfdJi44gC&pg=PA97
}}
* Winter, William C. The Civil War in St. Louis: A Guided Tour. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, 1994

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[https://www.loc.gov/resource/mal.4246300/?st=gallery Library of Congress - Abraham Lincoln papers: Series 2. General Correspondence. 1858-1864: Franklin A. Dick to Montgomery Blair, Monday, January 26, 1863 (Affairs in Missouri; endorsed by Francis P. Blair, Sr.)]
*[https://mohistory.org/collections/item/D03229 Missouri Historical Society - Letter signed F.A. Dick, Head Quarters, Department of the Missouri, Office of the Provost Marshal General, St. Louis, MO., to Colonel Wm. T. Mason (William T. Mason), January 19, 1863]
*[https://mdh.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/msa/id/12065/ Missouri State Archives - Letter, from Franklin A. Dick, Washington D.C. to Benjamin Gratz Brown, January 23, 1872]
*[https://digital.shsmo.org/digital/collection/amcw/id/121/ The State Historical Society of Missouri - Missouri, Monroe County. Provost Marshal's Papers, 1862-1865]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dick, Franklin Archibald}}
[[Category:1823 births]]
[[Category:1885 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:19th-century American newspaper editors]]
[[Category:Adjutants general of the United States Army]]
[[Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)]]
[[Category:Lawyers from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Republican Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives]]
[[Category:Missouri Free Soilers]]
[[Category:People from Chester, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People of Missouri in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:United States Army Provost Marshal Generals|Dick, Franklin Archibald]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni]]

Franklin Archibald Dick - Revision history

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