DISCUSSION:  At first thought, one would believe that John would be a son of Samuel Dickens of Wilson Co., TN, however Samuel's son John was not born until 1835 and thus would only have been 5 years old by 1840. Furthermore, Samuel had already moved his family to Illinois at this time.

This 20-30 year old John Dickens of 1840 Wilson appears to have died before 1843, and his son who was 0-5 in 1840 could be the 12 year old "Thomas Dickens" that appears in the household of Josephius and Priscilla Walker in the 1850 Wilson Co., TN Census. Priscilla was the daughter of Eltheldred Horn and Priscilla (Hassell?) - and she could have been the widow of this John Dickens.