John Harper Dawson, the son of John A. and Julia Peters Dawson, grew up in rural southwestern Pennsylvania. Dawson attended the University of Pittsburgh before transferring in 1935 to Adrian College, from which he graduated in 1938. In 1941, Dawson married fellow Adrian alum Virginia Bates; the couple would have two children. Dawson was a 40-year-old Methodist minister in Pittsburgh when he returned to Adrian in 1955 to serve as the college's president. He would hold that position until 1978. Following retirement, Dawson remained active in the community and published two books. John Harper Dawson died on April 20, 2002.

During the American Civil War, the 17th Virginia Cavalry was organized at Salem, Virginia in January, 1863, through a combination of three newly raised companies with seven companies which had been in the 33rd Battalion of Virginia Cavalry. The 17th served in the Jenkins-McCausland Brigade, seeing action in the Gettysburg Campaign and in western Virginia. The regiment served in the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain, in Early's Shenandoah Campaign, and at Appomattox.