Charles Monroe Dickinson, author, poet, journalist, diplomat, lawyer. Presidential Elector for New York, 1896; Presidential Elector for New York, 1896; U.S. Consul General in Constantinople, 1897 to 1906; Diplomatic Agent to Bulgaria, 1901 to 1907. Dickinson was educated at the Fairfield and Lowville Academies, and accepted a teaching position in Haverstraw on the Hudson, which he held until 1864. In 1864 he left for Binghamton, New York, and studied law with the Honorable Daniel Stevens Dickinson. Mr. Dickinson practiced law in Binghamton and in New York City until 1878, when he became editor of the Binghamton "Republic" Newspaper and in 1880, he became its owner and publisher. As publisher of the Binghamton Republican he helped to organize several small news organizations into what would become the Associated Press. Mr. Dickinson also wrote poetry, and in 1889 his book of poems, "The Children and Other Verses", was published. The title poem was one which found its way into many school texts of the period.
In 1897 he was appointed the U.S. Consul-General to Turkey and, in 1901, diplomatic agent to Bulgaria. As the agent to Bulgaria, he was authorized by President Roosevelt to contend with the grave situation concerning Miss Ellen M. Stone, and American missionary kidnapped in Bulgaria and subsequently ransomed. In 1906, he became a member of the board to draft regulations for the American Consular Service, and was appointed American Consul-General at Large. On July 31, 1907, after the death of his wife, he resigned his diplomatic post. Mr. Dickinson was related by marriage to the family of Rudyard Kipling, and in 1915 Rudyard's son John went missing during fighting in the Gallipoli Penensula. He was never found and presumed dead. Mr. Dickinson used his influence and contacts throughout the Near East region to assist in the search, as reported in the Trenton Daily Times, November 11,1921.