Tuesday, December 17, 2019

The Other Dixon Family in Edwards Coun



Back in the 1800’s, there was one other Dixon family in Edwards County. They were based in West Salem (named after the town in North Carolina, not Salem Illinois. It isn’t west of anything.). West Salem had it’s own newspaper until the end of the 1800’s and had it’s own high school. There was a downtown area. (There were actually several downtowns in Edwards County besides Albion, but Albion was the county seat.) West Salem is the home of the Moravians. A Christian sect that originated in Germany. There was eventually a German-speaking church and an English-speaking church, but they shared the same church building! There did not appear to be any significant animosity between those of German ancestry and the many folks of English ancestry in Edwards County.

And they had a harness and saddle shop, owned by a J. Dixon. Not James, John or Jay. Always just J. Dixon. He advertises in The Albion Journal for months at a time. Occasionally there is a very brief mention related to the business.

And there is an announcement of a celebration of the 20th wedding anniversary. And you will have to read the next post to see the names of their two (or at least two of their) kids.

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