Joseph Dobson Sr. was born in England in about 1720. Trained in Britain as a physician, he immigrated to Virginia in 1753 before eventually settling in what is now Burke County, North Carolina. There he operated a plantation and also trained young men in the area in the medical profession, including Joseph McDowell of nearby Quaker Meadows. During the American Revolution, Dobson often provided medical services to the Patriot cause, most notably in October 1780 when several wounded soldiers came to him for care after the Battle of King's Mountain. After the war Dobson served as a clerk of the superior court for Burke County from 1782 to 1785 and later was the county entry taker, or land agent. He died in Burke County in about January 1791.