Orphaned in Baltimore at 11, and a Cabin boy in the Mediterranean at 13, John Dickson spent his life at sea. Shipwrecked off the coast of North Africa, he spent 6 months in an Algerian Pirate’s prison. An American forced into serving in Admiral Horatio Nelson’s navy, he fought Napoleon’s fleet in the Battle of the Nile. Escaping the British Navy, he went on a two-year whaling trip to Greenland.

By 1808, Dickson was in Erie, married Susan Gillespie, and opened his first public house on French Street in 1812. General Mead’s American troops were boarded at Dickson’s Hotel. At the beginning of the War of 1812, Dickson was placed in charge of the navy yard at Black Rock near Buffalo NY. Dickson was part of an expedition on October 8th, 1812 that captured two British ships. One of the ships, the brig Caledonia played a key role for the Americans in the Battle of Lake Erie.

After the war, Dickson acquired the Caledonia, renamed it General Wayne, and used it to ship cargo and travelers on the Great Lakes. John Dickson’s tavern at 2nd and French Streets was known as the “Exchange Coffee House” and later the “Steamboat House”. It became the center of entertainment for Erie’s 950 citizens. Dickson’s Tavern was a place to conduct business, to get a loan, a place for political debates, and early Irish Catholics even hosted mass here once a month, for 10 years before the first Catholic church was built. John Dickson even hosted a large banquette for the Marquis de Lafayette when he visited on June 3, 1825.

John Dickson died in Houston, the Republic of Texas, in 1839, and Susan Dickson died in Erie in 1865.

These are the highlights of "Exploits of John Dickson … written from his own journal by his daughter Mrs. James Hoskinson." Published in the Gazette of Erie on February 15, 1885. This document offers a rare first-hand glimpse into John Dickson’s incredible life, and life in Erie during the War of 1812.

While very little from this period of Erie’s history remains, the tavern Dickson built is still intact. Restored in 2022, and is now 4,500 net sq. ft. of office space available for rent.