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From History of Anderson County by Louise Ayer Vandiver, page 205
Captain of Company E, State Reserves, in the War Between the States. His service was along the coast of North and South Carolina. It was said of him by his contemporaries that he knew Macomb's tactics by heart, and that he could handle a company or a battalion with the ease and skill of a West Pointer. Under the old militia regime he commanded a company in the Fork for many years, and was a conspicuous figure at battalion and regimental musters.
Occupation: farmer
Religion: Presbyterian and Methodist
Benjamin Franklin, Mathew Dickson's fourth child, was born July 13, 1814, and married Matilda Jane Gantt, in March, 1848. He was a farmer all his life, and from the time he began working on the farm until he wore out in his old age, he never missed a crop, a period of nearly 70 years. He was fond of military affairs, and for many years was Captain in the old militia. He served with the State troops of South Carolina during the last year of the Civil War as Captain of Company E, Second Battalion, South Carolina Reserves. In personal appearance he was of erect carriage which he maintained to within a year or two of his death, six feet tall and normal weight 150 pounds. For a long time he was a member of the Presbyterian church, but late in life he united with the Methodists. He died August 17, 1900, and was buried at Smith Chapel, in Fork Township, Anderson County, South Carolina, beside his wife, who died suddenly September 30, 1896. He had but two children, James Walter and William Alexander.
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