Clues in the News

 Well, it's been a while [over a year!] since I've posted anything to this blog. I blame 2020. If you lived through it, you know what I mean. But please don't mistake my lack of writing as a loss of interest. I have been working on other people's family histories and spending a LOT of time doing a "go-over" of all of my records as I transfer ALL of my data from RootsMagic (frustratingly buggy on my Mac) to Family Tree Maker (which seems relatively stable). It is time consuming, sometimes tedious, and occaisionally, illuminating work.

Adding Some Ancestors

I've had these folks on my list of probable/possible ancestors for a while, and have decided to add them to my tree and do the research to prove the connection. They are all siblings of my 2nd great-grandfather, John Dixon, and I'm basing that "fact" on a source that can sometimes be a bit whimsical with the details – newspaper articles. Some I've been able to bolster up with other sources, some not, but I think I finally have enough information to be comfortable that the relationships are very probably valid.

The Family of John and Isabella (Courson) Dixon, Senior

I don't yet have much information on Isabella Courson, though I've decided that I will connect her to John Dixon, Sr. I do have her death certificate, dated 15 Oct 1878, in which her maiden name is not listed, but it does tell us that she is a widow, aged 77 years and 11 months at the time of her death, that she was born in Elizabeth, NJ to Jacob and Ann Corson.

In the Ancestry.com database, U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701-1970, there is a marriage listed between Isabella Courson and John Dixon, 28 June 1829 at the First Presbyterian Church in Newark, New Jersey. For those of you unfamiliar with NJ geography, Newark cozies right up to Elizabeth, and in 1829 both cities were in the same county, Essex. Census information all seems to roughly agree that the conneciton is valid, though of course I would like some more proof from other documents.

My main sources for John Dixon, Sr., at this point, are a couple of census records. He and Isabella appear with an assortment of children by the appropriate names and ages in 1850, 1860, and 1870. Obviously, more work needs done here, but I feel pretty confident connecting these two individuals, and connecting them with their children, listed below.

Asa H. Dixon (born abt. 1830 - died 1866)

    Asa took the prize in The Social Historian's Rogue or Angel Contest, as I mentioned here. The key bit of evidence that links Asa to my 2x-great-grandfather is the newspaper article about the trial of the man who shot and killed him. The article recounts the witness testimonies, among which is the following account: "John Dixon, Jr., being sworn–Asa Dixon, the deceased was my brother." John refers to Asa as his brother several times during his testimony.(1)

Jacob Dixon (born abt. 1834 - died 1882)

    Jacob (who seems to have also been quite a character) shares the sibling connection, with the evidence recorded in his death notice: "He was fifty-two years of age and a brother of ex-police officer Dixon."(2)

Isabella Dixon (born 1836 - died 1895)

    A child named Isabella appears with John and Isabella Dixon in the 1850 U.S. Census. A marriage record in the Ancestry.com database, New Jersey, Marriage Recods, 1670-1965, shows a union between Isabella Dixon and Henry McAdam lists John and Isabella Dixon as the bride's parents. Isabella suffered a sudden death, described in the newspaper as the result of a great shock, but again, was connected through the family by way of her brother, John. "She was 59 years of age, and sister of Constable John Dixon."(3)

John Dixon (born 1839 - died ?)

    John Dixon was a constable roughly between the years 1876 and 1881, based on a variety of sources like the census (U.S. and NJ State), local city directory, and newspaper accounts that feature him directly. Sources related to the deaths of two of his older siblings make a point of mentioning him as an officer. Interestingly, I still haven't found John's date of death, although he appears to have lived at least until about 1919, when he is listed in the city directory for the first time without an occupation attached to his name.

Mary Sarah Dixon (born 1847 - died possibly 1861)

    Mary Sarah puzzeld me for some time. In the 1850 cenus she was listed as Mary, in 1860 a child of the same age was called Sarah. The New Jersey, Deaths and Burials Index, 1798-1971, on Ancestry.com has a listing for Mary S A Dixon, daughter of John Dixon and Isabel, with a birth date of 1846 and a death date of  1 July 1861. She was 15 years old. The Elizabeth Daily Journal Archive at the Elizabeth Public Library has a start date in 1872, so too late to find any obituary there. I've added Mary Sarah solely on the basis of the two cenus records and that death index.

I feel that some of these connections warrant more documentation.

Next Steps

I have been keeping a running list of records requests for my top notch researcher in New Jersey. I'm hoping at least for death records for Asa, Jacob, Isabella, and Mary Sarah. An official transcript from the trial regarding Asa's death would be lovely too. If the current plague ever gets under control and the archives open back up, maybe I'll get some more information, or at least a few more clues.

Sources

1. "Trial of Deputy Sheriff Simonson for the Murder of Asa Dixon, an Oysterman – Conflicting Testimony,” New York Times, October 24, 1866. New York Times digital archive. Image attached to Asa Dixon on Ancestry.com, on a tree that I, embarrassingly, forgot to record. It appears that others have the same article, downloaded from Newspapers.com.

2.“Death of Jacob Dixon,” Elizabeth Daily Journal, Elizabeth, New Jersey, Vol. XII, No. 3575; September 18, 1882; page 3, column; online images Elizabeth Public Library (http://www.elizpl.org/LocalHistoryResources.html).

3. “The Shock Proved Fatal,” Elizabeth Daily Journal, Elizabeth, New Jersey,
No. 6,627, Friday, December 20, 1895, page 1. Online images (http://www.elizpl.org/LocalHistoryResources.html).