Recently, Ancestry revealed that Taylor Swift is related to the famous reclusive poet Emily Dickinson. According to Today, this is because they both share an ancestor - a 17th century English immigrant who was an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut. That man was Taylor's 9th great-grandfather and Emily's 6th great-grandfather.
Now, you're probably wonderding: how is Romeo involved? Well, a prominent citizen who lived in the 1800s was Nathan Dickinson.
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| Nathan Dickinson (1799-1861) |
Nathan was born on March 21, 1799 in Amherst, Massachusetts. The Past and Present of Macomb County by Robert F. Eldredge described him as "a self-educated as well as a self-made man" due to his "board, practical knowledge and ... earnest effort and persistency of purpose a competence that numbered him with the substantial residents of his adopted state."
In other words, he was a hard-working man, well-liked, and knew a lot of things.
He came to Macomb County in 1836 and settled in Romeo two years later. Throughout the years that he resided in the village, Nathan became an extensive landowner since he owned property in various parts of the state, including a house on 277 North Main Street and some land on Prospect Street. In addition, he was a merchant. He organized the firm Dickinson, Giddings & Newbury, which carried a vast general stock of goods. In 1838, he established a supply store and engaged in the lumber business in Lapeer County. He would be active in the merchantile business until his retirement in 1846.
He contributed to a lot of different institutions in the area like churches. In fact, the only known picture of Nathan (see above) comes from a time capsule that was buried beneath the First Congregational Church in 1876. It's a part of of the First Congregational Church Collection.
However, his biggest contributions to Romeo was with two schools: the Romeo Branch of the University of Michigan and the Dickinson Institute. Nathan helped establish the former in the early 1840s. To learn more about that school, check out our post about it here. As for the latter, in 1852, former Romeo Branch principal Isaac Stone, Jr., wanted to organize a Union School, and he needed the funds as well as a new building in order to make that happen. Luckily, Nathan donated three and a half acres of land that faced Prospect Street. Moreover, he contributed one thousand dollars for the new school (in case you're wondering, that's $40,054.16 in today's money). Because of this generosity, it was named Dickinson Institute when it was incorporated in 1855. The Dickinson Institute ran for 12 years before closing in 1867 when it became the Romeo High School.
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| The Dickinson Institute with the Gray House on 273 Chandler Street in the back |
Nathan would end up donating $2,075 to the school during his lifetime. Sadly, he didn't get to see the end of the Dickinson Institute since he died on April 4, 1861 in Romeo.
This brings us back to our main question: how is Nathan Dickinson related to Taylor Swift? Well, Emily was his second cousin once removed. They shared a great-grandfather, who was also named Nathan. This means that the 17th century English immigrant mentioned earlier would have been Nathan's 5th great-grandfather.
So, if you ever walk by the green space facing Prospect Street or by the residence on 277 North Main, remember that Taylor Swift's ancestor was once there and contributed so much to the Village of Romeo.
To learn more about Nathan Dickinson, you can contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org or call (586) 690-4890.
Source: Ancestry, The History of Macomb County, Michigan by M.A. Leeson and Company, p. 631, A History of the Romeo Community School District 1824-1976 by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli, p.20-22, Past and Present of Macomb County by Robert F. Eldredge, p. 337-338, and Today.com