Last Will and Testament of John Dixon

John Dixon, the husband of Anne Dixon, and my grandfather George’s great grandfather, died in 1868. He choose his son, Joseph Dixon (Sr.) to be the executor of his will. The file is lengthy, but is available on Ancestry.com. The file is labeled John Dixon Senior. He used a prominent lawyer, Mr. Strawn, and signed by making his mark.

He decreed that all of his assets should go to the care of his surviving wife Ann (his lawyer’s spelling!). He expressed the intent that all remaining assets at the time of her death should be split evenly, with 1/5 going to: The children of daughter Hannah Marshall, the children of son James Franklin Dixon, to son John Dixon (Jr.), to Joseph Freemont Dixon, and to son Alfred Dixon.

From this and other evidence it appears that Hannah Dixon Marshall died earlier in the year and that James Franklin Dixon was also deceased.

Probate was an unusual procedure, in that Joseph actually seemed to keep the case open, filing a report each year documenting earnings and expenses for the remainder of his mother’s life. Expenses mostly related to her care and always involved a larger sum for “boarding” and a smaller amount for clothing. In some years there were medical expenses for his mom. During this time his brother John Dixon (Jr.) died and he seemed to fold the remaining assets of of his brother into the account, as the brother probably left the assets to his mom. I still need to check on the status of John Dixon (Jr)’s son John W., who lived with his cousin John Marshall in Dixon Precinct as a 20 year old. Alfred pays back a note and there was an amount forgiven from a loan that the estate of James was unable to repay.