Alfred Dixon

Alfred Dixon was the youngest of John Dixon Sr and Anne Dixon’s five surviving children. He was born on 3 March 1835 near Leeds and was baptized on 29 March 1835 at St. Peter’s parish church.

He was about 6 when he sailed to America with two brothers and an older cousin.

He married Fanny Ann Christy (1840-1926) on 3 August 1859 in Crawford County, Illinois. They lived in Edwards County at the 1860 census and later moved to Olney in Richland County, Illinois.

They had two girls: Hattie A Dixon (1860-1937) and Lillie Ada Dixon (1874-1934). Both married and had children. See Ancestry for more details.

He was buried in Olney, but there are conflicting dates of of death. Either 24 July 1874 or 22 July 1871.

Joseph Dixon Sr

 Joseph Freemont Dixon, later known as Joseph Sr, was the fourth surviving child of John Dixon Sr and Anne Dixon. Much has been written about him and there are articles about his wife and children already in the blog.

He was born 15 September 1832 near Leeds and was baptized on 14 October 1832.

He traveled with two brothers and an older relative, John Hodgson, to America, landing in New York on August 16, 1841.

One of his children, known in the family as “Joe” Dixon, actually Joseph Freemont Dixon Jr, was my grandfather’s father.

Another child was Eliza Hannah Dixon, an ancestor of Gary Whisenhut, who is writing a book which will includes sections on many of our common ancestors.

Joseph Sr handled his father’s estate, took care of his mother, and helped many of his children throughout their lives, including having them live with he and wife Grace Shaw Dixon. His youngest child, Mary Elizabeth Dixon, was blind. He and Grace moved to be near her at the Illinois School for the Deaf and Blind, the only time that he lived anywhere other than in Dixon Precinct of Edwards County, Illinois.

He died on 8 November 1917.

John Dixon Jr

John Dixon Jr was the third child of John Dixon Sr and Anne Dixon. Or was he? There are records of a child baptized at St. Peter’s parish church on June 28, 1827 who dies on 25 October 1829. The child’s name is John Dixon. John Dixon Jr. was born on 25 October 1829, the same date as the other child’s death, and baptized on 27 December 1829. I have not been able to see these records, but if they aren’t both the children of the same couple, John Sr and Anne have a very unusual gap in childbirths.

John Dixon Jr was 12 or 13 when he sails with two younger brothers and an older cousin to join his parents and two older siblings in Edwards County.

He is 21 at the time of the 1850 census.

He marries Margaret Elizabeth Conner (1839-1875) in 1859 in Edwards County. He remains in Edwards County the remainder of his life. They have one son, John W. Dixon (1860-1892), who lives with John Jr. after his mother dies and then with cousin John H. Marshall.

John Dixon Jr operated a grain mill and lists his occupation as a “millwright” on a census report.

Land records indicate that John Jr. died sometime between August 1872 and 1875. Notice that his wife dies in 1875. His brother Joseph Dixon Sr folds his estate into that of their father which means that the funds would support their mother during her life and then be allocated to the heirs of John Dixon Sr, which includes the Dixons and Marshalls.

James Franklin Dixon

James Franklin Dixon is the second oldest of John Dixon Sr and Anne Dixon’s children. He was born near Leeds in July of 1823 and baptized at St. Peter’s parish church on 15 September 1823. He also presumably immigrated to America with his parents and older sister Hannah around 1840 when he was about 17 years old. His younger brothers came later in the company of an older cousin.

His history is a little sketchy, but much is known. He appears to live in Vigo County, Indiana in 1850 with another family, perhaps the family of his boss, and has a wife and son. His occupation is listed as “finisher”. The wife is listed as “Anna M” and the son is listed as “Charles H”. Nothing is known about them beyond this census data.

He marries Mary Ann Conour (1822-1915) on June 7, 1855 in Richland County, Illinois.

He lives in Edwards County at the 1860 census and dies around August 1867, just after the birth of his youngest child. His probate records are at the Gallatin County, Illinois courthouse according to Ancestry.

James Franklin Dixon and Mary Ann Conour Dixon have 5 children: John Alfred Dixon (1856-1941), Elizabeth J. Dixon (1858-1883), Hettie M. Dixon (1861-1936), Mary Adeline Dixon (1861-1943) and Ella Nora Dixon (1867-1920). All but Elizabeth live long lives, marry and have children of their own. See Ancestry for details.

Mary Ann Conour remarries fairly quickly, having many young children. She eventually follows one of her children to California.

I suspected for many months that James had died in a civil war battle near Atlanta in the Union army, but his probate and date of death indicate otherwise. It is possible that he was a coal miner, as southern Illinois, like southern Indiana, had some coal mining areas.

Hannah Dixon Marshall

 I have written previously about Hannah Dixon Marshall, the oldest daughter of John Dixon Sr and Anne Dixon, as her identification was a mystery that took time to solve without having the resources of Ancestry.com.

Here is a summary of what we now know about her life: 

She was born near Leeds and was baptized at St. Peter’s parish church on May 16, 1821. She was about 20 years old when she immigrated to America, presumably with her parents and one brother. Her other three brothers travel a year later in the company of  an older cousin. She lives in Edwards County the remainder of her life.

She marries William Marshall in Edwards County on March 16, 1848. Mr. Marshall dies in 1859. 

Her eldest son, John H. Marshall (1849-1914) is a newborn in the 1850 census. John H. Marshall becomes a steady source of support to both his Dixon and Marshall relatives and he provides a home for many of them throughout the years. He is relatively wealthy.

Sarah Ann Marshall (1851-1871) dies tragically at age 20, which is very rare in the Dixon family. The cause of death is unknown.

Lucy H. Marshall (1853-1914), Mary Lavina Marshall (1856-1920) and William Alfred Marshall (1858-1938) all live relatively long lives and have families.

Hannah Dixon Marshall was a school teacher and a single mom per the 1860 census. She dies tragically on June 19, 1863, leaving several young children. I’m not sure who raises the children, although her mother in law lives later in life with grandson John H. Marshall and it is possible that she helps to raise the kids. Her brother Joseph and wife Grace also help.

There is additional information about all of these individuals on Ancestry, including their marriages, their children, and there residences.

Photos of Joseph Dixon Sr and Grace Shaw Dixon

Update on Dixon Family Genealogy

I previously published a handwritten sketch of the Dixon family tree. The only other summary of the Dixon branch of our family tree was the original information forwarded to me from Curt Thacker when I started the blog. None of the information below is new to the blog at this point, having appeared in various posts, but I haven’t summarized the Dixon branches since.

G1 John Dixon and Ann Stead Dixon and their 5 children emigrate to America from Leeds.
G2 Their children: Hannah (Marshall), James, John (Jr.), Joseph and Alfred
G3 Hannah has 4 Marshal children; John (Jr.) has John W., who lives with his cousin John Marshall later on; Joseph and his wife Grace have 8 children, including: Ada, Alice A., Eliza Hannah, Sarah, Joe (Jr.), Charles, Alfred and Mary; Alfred is married but there is no record of a child.
G4 Joseph (Jr.) and Mina Kershaw’s children include Alice, Stella, Sadie, Loren, Herman, George and Lucy. Joseph (Jr.) marries Kate Green Kellett several years later, but have no children as a couple.
G5 George and Della Dixon have Wilma, Jerry, Jim and Don

Note: I have finished a family tree on Ancestry.com if you want more details or want to look at some source documents that don’t exist elsewhere (probate info, for example).

She’s Hannah Dixon Marshall

This is a revision of an earlier post. John Dixon’s will seems to indicate she has predeceased him and her share would eventually go to her kids once her mom passes. I’ve mentioned earlier coming across a Hannah Marshall in the 1960 census for Dixon Precinct who had 4 Marshall children and one Dixon child living in her single parent household. She was a 39 year old teacher at the time.

Well, sure enough, Hannah Dixon married William Marshall on March 16, 1848! That’s about 8 years after she would have come over from Leeds in 1840 or so. William Marshall died before 1860. The “Dixon child” listed in the 1860 census appears to be an error by the census taker as it matches exactly her son John Marshall, who was her first born child.

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.

Rough Sketch of Dixon Family Tree

I haven’t done a detailed family tree on Ancestry.com. In the meantime, I thought it might help everyone to have a brief outline of the players involved in the Dixon family from the first immigrants to the baby boomers.

G1 John Dixon and Anne Stead
G2 Joseph Dixon (later Sr.) and Grace Shaw
G3 Joseph Dixon (Jr.) and Mina Kershaw
G4 George Dixon and Della Fisher
G5 Wilma Jean (Thacker), Jerry Dixon, Jim Dixon and Don Dixon
G6 Rich, Curt, Tim, Jim and John Thacker; Jay, Lee and Todd Dixon; Bruce and Kent Dixon and Tonya (Hostetler); Joni (Lacey) and Cary Dixon.

Many of you who could be seeing this for the first time are in G7 or G8. There are a couple of mentions of G7 members in the blog. If you attend an IU basketball game you are assured of getting your picture in the blog! Also, joining the military is a lock to get in the blog! Anyone besides Dustin serve?

(Sarah and Randy Dixon are G7. I don’t think we have much on G8 members. Elliot, Zach, and Brody Sain and Willa Dixon are G8.) I feel like the natural thing to do is to let this suffice for G1 thru G5 and get somebody in your more immediate family to start collecting pictures and stories about those and new generations in a separate blog or book.

If you are not well versed in family history, it may help to print out the chart and have it beside you as you read the articles. I often restate relationships as I write, seemingly ad nauseum, but I think you could still get lost. There are many other relatives that are important members of the family and are often in the blog, but if you know these basics it will help to understand their connection to the Dixon family.

Update: I have completed my Ancestry.com research now.

The immigration of John Dixon and family

We have new evidence, thanks to Gary Whisenhunt, who is working on a book about his Etheridge, Dixon and Shaw relatives. Several records show that these families and the Hodgson family, were friends and relatives in the Albion area and probably in England. John Dixon plus his wife and possibly two children came to America before the remaining children. Gary found names of three boys matching John Dixon Jr., Joseph Dixon (later to be Joseph Sr.,who was George Dixon’s grandfather) and Alfred Dixon arriving on the Kensington, a steamship, in New York in 1841. They appear to have been escorted by John Hodgson, the brother of Grace Shaw, the future wife of Joseph Dixon (Sr.). Grace’s mother sailed with her other nine children aboard the Globe, leaving Liverpool on June 20, 1842 bound for Philadelphia. Her husband was deceased. Her son John was 23 years old and was probably sent ahead to prepare for the arrival of the rest of the family. And, of course, Grace’s mother was Alice Stead Hodgson... sound familiar? John Dixon’s wife was Ann Stead Dixon! Gary’s great grandmother was Eliza Hannah Dixon Etheridge, the daughter of Joseph Dixon Sr and Grace Shaw Dixon, making her George Dixon’s aunt!

Our Hodgson Relatives

If you are reading this, you are a Hodgson, or married to one! That's right, you are a descendent of Thomas Hodgson, who was born in 1790, in England, and died there without making the trip to America. But his wife made the trip. And so did his ten children! Maria Stead Hodgson was counted in the Headingley census of 1941, but in the Edwards County, Illinois census in 1850. Headingley is a neighborhood of Leeds. Several of her children, including daughter Alice, were also counted in the 1850 Edwards County census. No not "Aunt Alice" that us baby boomers remember. "Aunt Alice" was Aunt Wilma's and Uncle Don's aunt who came along a few generations later. Alice Hodgson was born in 1816 to Thomas and Maria Hodgson in Manningham, in Yorkshire. Many of her brothers and sisters were born in Manningham, while the younger kids in the family were born in Burley Mills, a neighborhood of Leeds. Alice was already married before they came to America. There is a cite showing they sailed on June 20, 1842 and appear on the Globe passenger list. Alice Hodgson married Joseph Shaw before she sailed to America. They had seven children, including a daughter named Grace, the oldest of the bunch. Grace was born in 1837, so she was about five when they sailed to America. Grace Shaw married into the Dixon family after she grew up in Edwards County, marrying Joseph Dixon in 1858. Joseph was born also in England and came with his father John and his mother to what is now known as Dixon Precinct in Edwards County, outside of Albion. Joseph and Grace (Shaw) Dixon had five children of their own in Dixon Precinct. The oldest was a girl named Alice... still not our "Aunt Alice". Then a girl Ada. Then another girl Sarah. And then a boy, Joseph F. Dixon, who was the father of my grandfather George Dixon. (Then another boy, Charles, the uncle who let my grandfather and grandmother stay with them when they were first married!) Here's the link to the whole Hodgson family tree. I haven't found a way to copy this PDF document, which is available on the web. Just Google Hodgson Clan if the link doesn't work. I don't know who prepared this very detailed history of the Hodgson family, but sure appreciate their work. I'll eventually reach out through Edwards County relatives to see if I can track it down. Note: I definitely will have to track down a Hodgson family representative. After cross-checking what we already know about the children of Grace and Joseph Dixon (Sr), the Hodgson chart leaves out a few kids. You can check elsewhere in the blog... remember that the blog is searchable by using the search box in the upper left hand corner of the green title page... and find the obituaries for Charles Dixon and a brother not mentioned in this account... Alfred Dixon.

Great Picture of Charles Dixon

Kathy Ferguson recently sent me a picture of a sharply dressed young man who was very important in our family history. It’s my grandfather’s uncle, Charles Dixon. Charles was a brother of Joe Dixon (Jr). Uncle Charles, as an older gentleman, gave shelter to my grandparents after they were married. They were young and couldn’t afford a place of their own. I previously posted the obituary for Charles. I wish I had a few stories to tell us more about what kind of person he was… although we know he must have been a decent fellow.

Update: The blog has a couple of very interesting stories about Charles in his younger, single days thanks to the local newspaper from the time that is now online. I have many blog entries detailing all of the family related articles from the late 1880’s through the early 1900’s.

George Dixon's Cousin Melvin

Melvin Dixon was the son of George's Uncle Charles.

He was 5 years older than George, but they surely played a little together in Dixon Precinct.

Melvin was quite the entreprenuer. Take a look at the list of businesses he owned or co-owned.

He died at the "young" age of 76.

Alfred Dixon

George's Uncle was born in Dixon Precinct of course. But he moved in the early 20's to Texas. He moved back to Albion after his wife died. George and Della had probably already moved to Anderson by then.

The obituary does not give the date of his death. He was the second “Alfred Dixon” in our family in the early years in America. The family made a habit of naming children after siblings or parents of the newborn children. It actually helps when trying to do geneological research.

He was a rural mail carrier in Edwards County and had worked for the postal service while in Texas.

The article says that he was one of 8 children of J.F. Dixon Sr. and Grace Shaw Dixon, so our geneology chart may be more complete than we last thought. (His brother Charles Dixon's obituary says there were 10 children.)

George's Uncle Charles Dixon

Charles Dixon, son of Joseph Freemont Dixon (Sr.) and Grace Shaw Dixon, was a brother of George's father Joe Dixon (J.F. Dixon Jr.).

George and Della lived with his uncle Charles after they were married in June of 1925, according to the wedding announcement.

Uncle Charles lived in town, and George was working in town at the First National Bank of Albion.

The obituary for Charles Dixon indicates that he was survived at the time of his death in 1944 by two of his siblings, Alfred and Mary. It also says that he was one of ten children.

Kate Dixon Obituary

Kate Green Kellett Dixon, the second wife of Joe Dixon (Jr), lived and died in Edwards County. Her father was a very important person in Edwards County, serving as sheriff for several years. There wasn’t a lot of crime at the time, but the sheriff handled all of the public money at the time, collecting taxes and paying bills owed by the county.

She was 75 years old when she died in 1942. She lived with her daughter when she died. Joe passed in 1933.

She had two sons living in California, and was survived by 5 siblings, including two sisters and three brothers, all of whom lived right there in Albion or Grayville.

Her first husband, Frank Kellett, died in 1899. Thus both Joe Dixon and Kate Dixon were single parents for most of their children's growing years.

She is buried in Ridge cemetery in Dixon Precinct.

Joseph Freemont Dixon, Jr.

Joe Dixon (J.F. Dixon, Jr) was my great-grandfather and the father of George Dixon.

I have trouble keeping the life stories of Joe (Jr.) and his father, Joseph Freemont Dixon (Sr.) straight in my head.

The obituary that I was given on my recent trip to Albion helped a lot to clarify things.

Joe died at age 69, of a stroke. He had suffered a stroke three years previous to the fatal stroke.

He was a farmer... he was the son and grandson of farmers. My grandfather was the first in the line not to become a farmer.

He later joined as a partner in a monument business, which may explain the nice grave markers in Ridge cemetery. He also owned the Red Hill service station, just outside of Albion on Highway 15. He lived in town during his later years.

He was also he first in our line to be born in America, and he was born right there in Edwards County.

He married Mina Kershaw, and they had 7 children. Two died before becoming adults, leaving my grandfather and four sisters as adult children.

Mina died a few months after giving birth to their youngest child, Lucy, in 1901.

He married Kate Green Kellett, who had four kids of her own from a previous marriage.

I don't recall ever hearing about the fact that my grandfather George had a stepmother, even though he was in his early teens when his father remarried.

Joe Dixon died on September 28, 1933, when my dad Jerry was just 4 and 1/2 years old.

Joseph Freemont (Joe) Dixon Jr.

Joe Dixon was my grandfather George Dixon's father. He married Mina Kershaw, George's mother, and had several children. He lived in Dixon Precinct, where he farmed and had other business interests. Among these was a monument business and the Red Hill filling station, on Hwy 15 outside of Albion.

Like Uncle Warren's station in Anderson, it still stands, but has been renovated completely and looks nothing like the original building.

Joe Jr. and Mina are buried in Ridge Cemetery, along with his parents and grandparents.

Joseph Freemont Dixon Sr.

Joseph Freemont Dixon Sr. was born in 1832, and came over to Albion from Leeds with two brothers and an older cousin after his parents had already immigrated. He married Grace Shaw, a Yorkshire girl, and the sister of that cousin. Grace came to America with her mother and her other siblings after Joseph sailed with her older brother.

He lived to an old age, and was working when an accident caused his death. Joseph Sr. died as a result of injuries he suffered when thrown under his horse-drawn wagon loaded with coal and was run over. The team was frightened by the noise of an oncoming train, and Joseph tried to keep them calm and from running off by holding onto the reins, but he could not and was thrown under the wheels. It broke his hip and caused internal injuries. He died three hours later.

They are buried together in Ridge Cemetery, in Dixon Precinct. Among their children was Joseph Freemont Dixon Jr., known as "Joe" Dixon...the father of my grandfather George.