Children of John and Rebecca Dixon
John and Rebecca Dixon were the parents
of twelve children. The names of but five of these twelve are
now known and a most diligent investigation fails to disclose
the names of the remaining seven, or anything of historical
value concerning them.
The oldest child was James Purdy Dixon,
He was born at New York City on March 6, 1811, and came to
Illinois with his parents and continued to reside in this state
until his death, which occurred at Dixon on April 5, 1853. He
was married to Fannie Reed at Buffalo Grove, Jo Daviess County,
Illinois, Dec. 7, 1834. Fannie Reed, who was the daughter of
Samuel Reed, was born at Middleton, Delaware County, New York,
July 23, 1815, and died at Chicago, Illinois, Feb. 15, 1898.
They were the parents of eight children.
Another son was John W. Dixon, who was
born in New York City in 1816 and died at Dixon, Illinois, March
19, 1847. He married Elizabeth A. Sherwood at Dixon in 1839. She
was born in New York City on Jan. 12, 1819, and died at Dixon,
Jan. 27, 1895. They were the parents of three children.
Elijah Dixon was the third son of John
Dixon and was born at New York City in 1817 and died at
Janesville, Wisconsin, of pneumonia, on March 15, 1843. He had
never married.
Franklin Dixon died at the age of
sixteen at his parents' home in Dixon. Both the dates of his
birth and death are unknown.
Mary L. Dixon, a daughter, the date of
whose birth cannot be ascertained, married Isaac S. Boardman at
Dixon in 1840, and died in 1850. They were the parents of three
children.
Two children, whose names or ages cannot
be ascertained, died at Galena during the Black Hawk war.
A girl whose name cannot be learned died
of scarlet fever at the age of three and one-half years while
the family were living on what was afterwards known as the
"Doctor Everett Farm'' on the north side of the river, a short
distance west of the city of Dixon.
In addition to the foregoing, four other
children were born of this marriage whose names or places of
birth or death have long ago been forgotten and of whom no
record now remains.
In addition to the foregoing,
practically nothing is now known or can be learned as to the
life of John Dixon prior to the time when he and his family
settled at Dixon's Ferry. Subsequent to that time for many years
he was a historic character in Illinois. His log cabin home on
the banks of Rock River was an open house for all kinds of
people, Indian and white, pioneers, settlers, adventurers,
indeed for all of the persons whom business, pleasure or love of
the wilderness brought to the frontier. He operated the ferry,
kept a tavern, acted as postmaster, was a guide, Indian trader,
and in general was the leading character and first citizen of
this part of Illinois.
During the early years of his life here
there were no neighbors but the Indians, and the strangers
passing through the country were principally en route to the
lead mines in the vicinity of Galena. During this period he
traded extensively with the Indians, exchanging guns,
ammunition, cloth, knives, axes, and other necessaries of life,
for furs. This continued until after the Black Hawk war. Prior
to the outbreak of this war he had established himself in the
confidence of his Indian neighbors to such an extent that there
was but little or no danger of harm to himself or his family
even though the Indians might have been disposed to do violence
to the whites in general. When Black Hawk and his followers went
up the river immediately before the battle at Stillman's creek,
they stopped at Dixon's Ferry and Black Hawk with others of his
followers had dinner at Dixon's home, under the following
circumstances:
Mr. Dixon was at Galena, having gone
there before he knew that there was any probability of their
leaving the vicinity of Rock Island. Mrs. Dixon was at home
alone with their children. The Indians crowded in, filling the
house. She sent for Old Crane, a Winnebago chief. He immediately
came to her assistance and with the aid of Wischick, one of the
chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes, got the intruders out of the
house. At the suggestion of Old Crane, Mrs. Dixon prepared a
meal for the chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes and he, Black Hawk,
Wischick and Kaapapi had their dinner while the remainder of the
band went into camp at the large spring on the south bank of the
river nearly opposite the present site of the Dixon waterworks.
Afterwards it was thought desirable for
Mrs. Dixon and her children to go to Galena and remain until
peace had been restored, and she did so. John Dixon remained at
the ferry for a time and later on went with the army into
Wisconsin and acted as commissary, scout and otherwise until the
close of hostilities. During this campaign he was in the
personal service of Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor and messed with
him and his officers. During this period two of the small
children of Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, whose names cannot now be
learned, died at Galena.
The Dixon home at the ferry was not
closed during all of this period, however. Mrs. Dixon was there
during a portion of the time and their sons, James and Elijah,
were there or in the vicinity, so that the doors were constantly
open for the entertainment and care of those who came. Many men
of note during that period and others whose names are found on
the pages of subsequent history spent days and sometimes weeks
at this frontier cabin. Gov. John Reynolds, General Atkinson and
Lieut.-Col. Zachary Taylor were the leaders at that time, and
among the many others of later note were the then Lieut.
Jefferson Davis, Capt. and Private Abraham Lincoln, Lieut.
Robert Anderson, Edward D. Baker, Albert Sidney Johnston, Gen.
Winfield Scott and his aid, Lieut. Joseph E. Johnston. In later
years many of those whose names are mentioned in telling of
their experiences in those days have related their kindly
feeling and gratitude towards Father Dixon for his kindness to
them while they were at his home.
John K. Robison in an article entitled
"Early Times at Dixon's Ferry,'' published in 1880, has to say:
"While Father Dixon carried the United
States mail from Springfield to Galena the streams were
unbridged, not even "corduroyed; ' swamps undrained; roads
almost impassable; houses few and far between. Snow storms were
more severe and the cold more intense than in later years. In
the winter of 1830 and '31 (the winter of the deep snow) the
snow averaged three feet deep from New Year's Day to the 15th of
March. No track was kept open from one settlement to another,
and it was with great difficulty that roads were kept open even
in densely settled districts. Fifteen and eighteen to
twenty-seven miles were the usual distances between the homes
along the route. On one of the longer routes during tins
memorable winter, Father Dixon and some of the stage passengers
were so benumbed with cold and nearly frozen, as to be unable to
get out of the conveyance. After a good warming and hot coffee,
however, all were able to resume their journey.
"During the Black Hawk war Father Dixon
had the contract for supplying the army with beef to the time of
the final battle of the Bax Axe River. His place on the march
was in the rear of the army, and from the time Wisconsin River
was crossed many times he was left so far behind as to be out of
supporting distance. It so happened on the march, that at one
time midnight was passed before he came to camp. He was hailed
by the sentinel with the snap of the lock of the gun in the
sentinel's hands, and these words: "Who comes there?' Father
Dixon replied: "Major of the Steer Battalion.' The soldier gave
the order: "Major of the Steer Battalion, march in. 'This sally
of wit on both sides was the foundation of Father Dixon's
military title. Another time he had been off the trail hunting
one of his beeves, and on again returning to the trail he
suddenly found himself face to face with two Indians, who were
as much astonished at the meeting as he was. It was no time for
ceremony. All were armed; Father Dixon lowered his gun, and
walking about five rods, gave his hand to the nearest savage,
saluting him in Winnebago. The Indian replied in Winnebago.
Father Dixon and both the Indians were alike overjoyed at this
unexpected good fortune, Father Dixon, that he was per-mitted to
save his scalp for another day; the Indians that they had found
someone understanding their own language, under whose influence
they could safely be introduced to General Atkinson, for whom
they had important dispatches. Their life was in danger if seen
by a soldier, and they felt their peril and were in serious
embarrassment about how to approach the army.
"Father Dixon's age, and experience with
all classes of men, should have qualified him to safely
criticize and distrust humanity, but he had no apprehension of
imposition; he took human nature as it fell from the hands of
the infinite God. His estimate never tallied with the evil;
never tired of being wronged, and as a consequence he was often
disappointed in men. Obliging to all, hospitable and kind to the
needy and helpless in every condition, he often trusted
strangers and travelers from whom he never received anything in
return. It was no unusual thing, when the circumstances of
travelers were told Father Dixon, for him to allow his ferry and
hotel bills to remain unpaid, and to give them provisions and
funds necessary to complete the journey, many dollars were given
away in this manner. His unselfishness manifested itself in good
will to all men; the Indian or the child looked to him for
favors and kindness and was not turned away empty.
"Mrs. Dixon was one of the few women,
who could and did adorn any position in life in which she was
placed. Her person was rather under size, exhibiting no marked
peculiarity. She was intelligent far above the age and
circumstances surrounding her, and had a warm heart and ready
hand for every good word and work alike. Devout and fervent in
all the holy exercises of religion and morality; ardently
attached to the church to which she belonged, she gave her hand
to all who bore the name and character of that great Christian
body. Her moral worth, talents, virtue and her whole life, was
one of devotion to Christianity. She was Solomon's ideal of
glorious womanhood before he was corrupted by the false glare
and glitter of a false religion and an impure life. I record her
life as the one to whom I owe more than any other, except mother
and wife. As an early reminiscence of Mrs. Dixon's rare tact and
knowledge of character, shall I venture to write that in the
dead of winter, preceding the Black Hawk war, the Prophet from
Prophetstown, Black Hawk, and a chief from Rock Island whose
name I have forgotten, held a council at Dixon's Ferry, and then
and there negotiated with the Pottawatomies for the occupancy of
the Spotted Arms' town near the present site of Rockford. Meal
time came three times a day, to which the chiefs at the Council
fire were invited as guests of Mrs. Dixon. She presided as
waiter, and to allay any fears of her guests, sat down and ate
and drank with them. The perfect lady was reminded by Black Hawk
as spokesman, of her goodness, and he called the attention of
the other chiefs to her care and politeness to them."
Many years afterwards a bill was pending
in the Senate to award Mr. Dixon a quarter section of land for
services rendered during this war. Some opposition was
encountered and Senator Jefferson Davis taking part in the
debate did much towards securing the passage of the measure. The
following extract from the debate in the Senate indicates very
clearly that Senator Davis and Senator Trumbull felt well
acquainted with the services rendered by Mr. Dixon in the early
days:
"Mr. Lyman Trumbull: I ask that that
bill may be put on its passage. I will remark that the chairman
of the committee on public lands, with whom I had a
conversation, stated that he reported adversely on this bill to
grant a land warrant to Mr. Dixon, for the reason that the
testimony before the committee did not seem to be sufficient of
his having rendered any service. He was not enlisted in the
service, but he performed valuable service in the Black Hawk
war, furnished supplies, and acted as a guide and interpreter.
He is an old man over eighty years of age, and is now in very
reduced circumstances. Some of his friends have made this
application to get the old man a land warrant; and he comes, I
think, within the spirit of the law. The Senator from
Mississippi (Mr. Jefferson Davis) who served in that war knows
him personally, and perhaps he would make a statement to the
Senate of his knowledge of the services for which it is proposed
to grant a land warrant to this poor old man.
"Mr. Jefferson Davis: As stated by the
Senator from Illinois, I do know this individual personally, and
believe him to be a very honest man, and I should have great
confidence in his statements. He was one of the first pioneers
in the country near what is now the town of Dixon, formerly
known as Dixon's Ferry. He lived there in an isolated position
when I first knew him. His house was reached by crossing a wide
prairie country inhabited only by Indians. He was of great
service in the first settlement of the country. He was of
service to the troops when they ascended the Rock River in the
Black Hawk War. For some time a post was established at or near
his house. He was of service at that time furnishing supplies
and giving information in regard to the country, and afterwards
taking care of the sick. In a liberal spirit towards camp
followers, we have since that time provided for packmen, for
teamsters, and for clerks, giving them bounty land warrants
equally with the soldiers who were serving in the same campaign.
I think the only objection in this case is the want of
testimony; but I have such confidence in the individual together
with my recollection of the circumstances, that I would say that
he was within the spirit of the law, and I should be glad
because of his many services in the first settlement of that
country, to see him thus rewarded."
In 1834 a Government survey was made of
the present township of Dixon and shortly thereafter Mr. Dixon
entered from the Government and afterwards acquired patents to
the lands now comprising the ''original town'' of Dixon and the
''original town" of North Dixon.
In 1835 at his request, a survey and
plat of the town of Dixon was made by a man by the name of
Bennett, of Galena, and the original plat filed at Galena which
was the county seat, Dixon then being a part of Jo Daviess
County. This survey included about forty acres of land extending
from Rock River to one-half block south of Third street and from
one-half block east of Ottawa avenue to one-half block west of
Peoria avenue.
Afterwards, in the year 1840, a new
survey and plat of the "original town'' of Dixon was made by
Joseph Crawford at the request of John Dixon, Smith Gilbraith,
and S. M. Bowman and Lane, who owned the land which was thus
subdivided, and this plat is the one that was subsequently used
in the conveyance of town lots. In 1842 Mr. Dixon had Joseph
Crawford survey and lay out the town of North Dixon on land
belonging to him on the north side of the river.
The tracts now occupied by the
courthouse square, market square and John Dixon Park were
dedicated by him to public use and many lots now of great value
were given away by him to settlers. When the first courthouse
was built in Dixon, in addition to furnishing the site, he
donated eighty acres of land which was sold and the proceeds
used in helping to erect the building. Other lots were sold at
small prices so as to induce settlement and building until
finally he had disposed of practically all that he owned without
any particular profit to himself.
In 1838 after a general system of
internal improvements was adopted by the state, Mr. Dixon was
appointed by Governor Duncan as one of the board of
commissioners to fill a vacancy'' caused by the death of Colonel
Stephenson and subsequently he was elected by the Legislature as
a member of the board.
The State of Illinois entered into an
extensive scheme of public improvement, consisting largely in
the construction of railroad and of river improvements in aid of
navigation. A railroad through the state was projected which,
among other places, was to run via Dixon, Elkhorn Grove, and
Savanna to Galena. A vast amount of work was laid out and but
little completed, although a debt of over ten million dollars
was incurred by the state.
From Galena to Savanna much of the
grading for the proposed railroad was completed. Mr. Dixon as
commissioner had charge of the payment of the wages of the men
engaged on this work in northern Illinois and it was his duty to
get the money at Springfield and bring it or cause it to be
brought to the place where the men were employed.
He drew a draft for $11,500 on the
Treasurer at Springfield and entrusted it to a man by the name
of Hamlin for collection. Hamlin made the collection and
immediately absconded. Hamlin was pursued for weeks by James P.
Dixon, Elijah Dixon and Smith Gilbraith and finally captured at
Baltimore, Maryland, but when arrested had disposed of the
money. John Dixon in the meantime had made up the loss with his
own funds and was never reimbursed for the loss.
In 1840 Mr. Dixon went to Washington to
make application for the removal of the United States land
office from Galena to Dixon and through the influence of his
friends there with whom he had become acquainted in the Black
Hawk war times he was presented to President Van Buren and
secured the order for the removal of the office.
An instance of his courage and
self-possession is told in connection with the early history of
Ogle County. In 1838 in what is now the town of Pine Creek, in
Ogle County, a claim had been "jumped" by some men who had no
right of possession of the property. Courts were scarce, the law
did not always afford a prompt and certain remedy for wrongs
suffered, and, as a consequence, the well disposed and honest
people of the frontier as it then was were obliged to enforce
the law themselves without the aid of the processes of the
courts.
The claim had been taken possession of
by a party of men with a known reputation as lawbreakers and
whose names are familiar to those acquainted with the annals of
the "Banditti of the Prairie." They were notorious characters
and had built a log house with loopholes for their rifles and
had laid in a supply of provisions and numbered ten or twelve of
the worst characters of the country.
It was thought necessary for the peace
and security of the neighborhood that they be captured and their
rendezvous destroyed.
Under Mr. Dixon's leadership a force was
organized. The body met at Washington Grove, about two miles
distant from the cabin. The men in the party gathered from
Dixon, Grand Detour and Oregon, among those from Dixon being
John Dixon, his son, James P. Dixon, Smith Gilbraith and others.
They were armed with guns and axes and when they approached the
fortified cabin were warned by the inmates that if they advanced
beyond a certain limit they would be shot.
At this challenge John Dixon and Hugh
Moore of Grand Detour volunteered to break in the door and they
ran past the dead line up to the cabin itself, reaching it
without injury. Dixon and Moore battered down the door of the
cabin and the other members of their party coming up attacked
the walls and roof, pulling them down. The men inside seeing
that it would be useless to continue the fight, surrendered, the
building was torn to pieces and burned and its inmates escorted
out of the county.
On another occasion a few years
afterwards four men took possession of a log cabin standing upon
a preemption claim belonging to another person near the place
where the Chicago and North-western Railway Company station at
Dixon now stands. A party armed with rifles went to dispossess
them. Mr. Dixon went with the party but was armed only with his
pipe. The men inside of the cabin were armed and threatened
violence. Mr. Dixon alone walked up to the door of the cabin and
was told to leave or he would be shot. However, he held his
ground and through much patience and persuasion and long pipe
smoking finally induced the inmates to surrender.
Immediately after coming to Ogee's Ferry
Mr. Dixon found that the Indians were drinking whiskey to excess
and he interested himself in their behalf by attempting to
discourage that practice. He had ardent supporters among some of
the Indian leaders and equally as determined enemies. One of the
latter named Dah-Shun-Egra, while drunk, attacked and attempted
to kill him with a muskrat spear. Dixon stood his ground and
after a struggle disarmed the Indian, although for a time in
great peril. His coolness at this time of danger and his evident
willingness to fight when necessary gave him a high standing for
courage with the Indians.
Mr. Dixon in his early life was a Whig
but became a republican when that party was formed. He attended
the first republican convention at Bloomington in 1856 and made
a speech at the convention at the time of the organization of
the party.
The last public office held by him was
that of president of the board of trustees of the town of Dixon.
On March 7, 1853, he was elected as one of the trustees of the
town and was by the trustees chosen as president of the board,
and served as such for one year.
Mrs. Dixon died on Feb. 11, 1847 and
their son John W. Dixon died but a few days thereafter, on March
19, 1847. The oldest son, James P. Dixon, died on April 5, 1853.
His decease left John Dixon childless. The father of twelve
children he had outlived all of them. The remainder of his life
he made his home with Elizabeth A. Dixon, who was the widow of
the deceased son, John W. Dixon, in North Dixon, at a house
belonging to her, at the intersection of North Jefferson Avenue
and Bradshaw Street.
For many years after the Indians left
Illinois some of them came each year to visit him. This
continued for years after he moved to the home in North Dixon. A
delegation would come nearly every summer from their home in
Wisconsin, by canoe down the Rock River. They would go from the
river to his house, make a camp in his yard and remain there
smoking their pipes and visiting for a few days and then take
their canoes back up the river to their homes. It was on one of
these visits that Father Dixon presented one of the Indians with
what was said to have been the only over-coat that he ever had.
He never wore an overcoat, so it is said, but in his old age
someone presented him with one, but he declined to use it,
claiming that he never had used and had no need for such things
and as he felt that it was useless to him he presented it to his
Indian friend.
Mr. Dixon was to the end of his life in
excellent bodily and mental health. As late as in 1873, when
eighty-nine years of age, he served on a grand jury in the
United States District Court at Chicago.
Shortly before the death of Mrs. Dixon
and when nearly sixty years of age he divided the greater
portion of the real estate which remained in his possession
between his two surviving sons and during the remainder of his
life was not particularly active in business affairs. His
physical and mental vigor, however, were in a great measure
retained until his decease.
In May, 1876, he was taken ill with what
was to be his last sickness and in July 6, 1876, he died, at the
age of ninety-one years, eight months and twenty-eight days. His
body was taken to the courthouse in Dixon, where it lay in state
until the funeral. In the newspapers published at that time it
is stated that upwards of ten thousand persons attended the
funeral, the courthouse square and the streets adjoining being
crowded to such an extent that the voices of the speakers at the
ceremony could not reach the outskirts of the crowd.
The Dixon Sun in reviewing his career
and paying tribute to his memory, in its issue of July 12, 1876,
among other things, said:
"John Dixon is dead. On the 11th of May,
nature with a sudden stroke disengaged the cord that bound him;
the old ferryman softly drifted away from the shore of time over
the rippling waters and on last Thursday morning at half-past
seven he landed on the other side, never to return. John Dixon.
His name is memory. For mental gifts, mild disposition and
performing purpose there will cluster around it the same
recollections that now enshrine and hallow the name of
Washington. Some great men may be honored for their success,
others may be praised for their achievements; but this humble
man gained that which transcends all honor and exceeds all
praise, that which wealth cannot command or position bestow;
that which is due only to virtue and honest worth, our affection
and esteem.
"We will not attempt his eulogy, it is
inscribed in every heart that knew him, his deeds are a portion
of the country.
"To live in hearts we leave behind Is not to die.
"His name need not be inscribed in the
Pantheon of history; as long as the waters of the Rock River
continue to flow; as long as its valley blooms or this city
lasts; as long as there is a pen to write or a tongue to utter;
and when towering monuments with which grandeur now mourns over
departed pride have lost their marble pomp and are crumbled into
ruin and decay; when men now great for their wealth are
forgotten and their earthly labors and deeds have perished John
Dixon will live in memory, cherished and revered."
On the day succeeding his death a public
meeting was held and the following resolutions, drafted by Judge
John V. Eustace, were passed and were subsequently passed and
adopted at a meeting of the city council and recorded in the
minutes of the proceedings of the council:
"We, the people of Dixon, called upon to
mourn the departure of him who gave our city its existence and
its name, desire to place among its records this testimonial of
our appreciation of his virtues. His neighbors, many of us who
have known him for a third of a century and who, during all that
time, have looked up to him and loved him as a father, with one
accord have assembled to pay this tribute to his memory.
"John Dixon, after a life extended far
beyond the limit ordinarily assigned to man, at the ripe age of
nearly ninety-two years, one-half of which had been passed in
this town, so loved by him, whom he had made, has departed from
this scene of his earthly labors. He outlived all that were by
the ties of blood nearest and dearest to him, his weary
pilgrimage at last is ended. He has gone to them in the summer
land.
"A man of great strength of mind, force
of character and determination of purpose, yet he has lived and
died without an enemy. Forgetful of himself he lived for others,
a pure and unselfish life. He was the noblest work of God, an
honest man, and he.
So lived, that when the summons came to
join
The innumerable caravan that moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chambers in the silent halls of death.
He went, not like the quarry slave, at night
Scourged to his dungeon, but sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approached the grave
Like one that wraps the drapery of his couch
About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.".
Pure and simple-minded, faithful and true in all the relations
of life,
he has gone to his rest and his works do follow him.'
John Dixon, Lee
County, Illinois
Account books of John Dixon
Lee County
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