Based on Henry's location between 1768 - 1789,  John (hereafter called John Sr.) was born in the part of Bute County, NC that became Warren County, NC.  Based on John Sr.'s age in the 1800 Caswell Co., NC Census and following through the 1820 Smith Co., TN and 1840 Jackson Co., TN Censuses respectively, John Sr. was born approximately 1775; He died in Jackson CO., TN between 1840 and 1850. He would have been between 65 and 75 at the time of his death. After leaving NC, John Sr. settled in Smith Co., TN and is enumerated there in 1820.  He is missing from the 1830 census but by 1840, he reappears in the Jackson Co., TN Census.  (UPDATE - See Note #4)

The name of John Sr.'s first wife is not certain, and he appears to have been married at least twice - possibly 3 times. The name of his last wife was: Clarissa Unknown (aka: Cora, and she may have been a "Perkins"). 

 John Sr.'s children were:

Daughter/female (b: NC)

b: 1795-1800,   d: untraced

Daughter/female (b: NC)

b: 1795-1800,   d: untraced

See Myth 1 and Myth 2 associated with John Dickens.

NOTE #1:  Although there is no definitive proof, I have included William (of Caroline) and James M. here as possible sons of John Sr.; Factually = they may or may not have been sons and are shown here under John Sr. as place markers. Please see all of the information for James M. UNSOLVED #7, and William of Caroline UNSOLVED #8. 
 
 NOTE #2:  The IOWA WPA cemetery records show Edward's date of death as January 17, 1904; but include the following notice: "Important notice to researchers: WPA records are known to be incomplete & may contain errors - please use as a guide only".  Since Edward G. Dickens' wife Ann Druscilla is listed as a widow living in her daughter's household "Sophrana Jennings" in 1900, it is believed that Edward's year of death was actually 1894.; For more info on Edward, go to "Howard Douglas Dickens' (HDD) website at:  http://imhdd.ms11.net  scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the link for Edward Glover Dickens. HDD is a descendent of John Sr.
 
NOTE #3:  Joshua married "Manerva Young" - In accordance with another researchers data, Manerva was the daughter of Samuel V. Young and Elizabeth George (who was Samuel's 1st wife). When Elizabeth George died, Samuel then married a Fitzgerald and after her death, Samuel married as his 3rd wife "Elizabeth Dickens", and she was Joshua's sister (the daughter of John Sr.).
 
NOTE #4:  An earlier reference included in this section for John Dickens Sr., originally stated that when John Dickens Sr., was missing from the 1830 census - he could have been the J. Dickens documented in the 1830 Shelby Co., TN Census with no enumeration data in the Males and Females columns, however, after further review of the 2nd page of this census it clearly shows that there was in fact enumeration data in the Slave and Free Persons of Color columns. Thus in 1830 when John Dickens Sr. was missing from the census, he was NOT the J. Dickens of 1830 Shelby Co., TN. 

 
NOTE #5: There is a court record in Rutherford Co., TN which indicates that a John Dickens lived there for a short period prior to and at least until April of 1812; the John of Rutherford Co., TN may have been this John Dickens Sr.   Also, in 1829, a John Dickens was Taxed in Obion Co., TN.  
 
NOTE #6: There is a 10 - 12 year gap between John Sr.'s Children through his first wife who were born before 1800,  and the births of John (1813) and Elizabeth (1814) - so he likely had other children during this gap.