James Dixon 1761 - 1828
James Dixon was born on 23 January 1761 in North Carolina, now part of the USA but at that time part of British America. His parents are not known, although at least one source on Ancestry believes his father was also named James and was born in 1740. He married Hannah Downen (1770-1820) between 1788 and 1800, apparently exactly when and where is a matter of some dispute or conjecture. They had the following children:
Robert R. Dixon (1800-1855)
Samuel L. Dixon (1805-1876)
Polly Dixon (1807-1846)
John Robert Dixon (1809-1875)
Martha Dixon (1814-????)
(I haven't found Martha in any of the census records, if she did in fact exist she may have died as an infant)
Most of the trees that list James on Ancestry show that he was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, although there is at least one tree that shows his birthplace as Pitt County, North Carolina instead. I only have two issues with attributing his birthplace to Buncombe County. One is that Buncombe County was not formed until 1791, when James was thirty years old. He may have been born in the area that is currently known as Buncombe County, but it was not known as that at the time of his birth and for many years afterwards. The other issue I have with that area is that in 1761 there seem to have been virtually no white settlers in that area.
In any event, the first census record I've found that I believe with some certainty to show James Dixon is from the 1810 census for Orange County, North Carolina. This is the only census record I've found from 1810 that looks like a match for James and his family. (census image here).
Since I went to the trouble of disassembling the census here's the breakdown by ages and gender that it shows:
Males less than 10 years old: 4
Males between 10 and 15 years old: 2
Males between 16 and 18 years old: 0
Males between 16 and 25 years old: 1
Males between 26 and 44 years old: 1
Males over 44 years old: 0
Females less than 10 years old: 1
Females between 10 and 15 years old: 0
Females between 16 and 18 years old: 0
Females between 16 and 25 years old: 0
Females between 26 and 44 years old: 1
Females over 44 years old: 0
I mentioned earlier that James and Hannah's marriage date and location seemed hard to pinpoint exactly. The reason I bring that up now is that in the 1810 census there is an extra male under the age of 10 (in addition to the three boys we know of), and there are three more unknown males in the census, two listed as ages 10-15, and one listed as age 16-25. If these were in fact older sons of James and Hannah's then it would lend credence to the idea that they were married in either the late 1780s or early 1790s as these could be older sons of the couple. However, if there are older sons of the couple I have not found their names listed anywhere. It is also possible that they are other relatives of the couple (not children) or perhaps not even relatives.
At some point in time between 1810 and 1820 James and his family moved from North Carolina to Posey County, Indiana, where they showed up in the census in Marrs Township. (census image here).
I should say most of the family because Hannah didn't show up in the 1820 census. It is believed she died in Henderson County, Kentucky close to 1820 but I don't know if anyone even knows the year let alone the date, I have been unable to find it.
The only discrepancy I have with this census record is that it seems to understate the youngest (John or John Robert) boy's age by at least a year or two. It's also possible that I have the wrong birth year for him but if that's the case than it also shifts the age of one of the unknown boys in the previous census record. I already mentioned that Hannah apparently died in Kentucky, probably before 1820, and Martha doesn't show up in any census.
BTW, here's the breakdown on the 1820 census:
Males less than 10 years old: 1
Males between 10 and 15 years old: 2
Males between 16 and 18 years old: 0
Males between 16 and 25 years old: 0
Males between 26 and 44 years old: 1
Males over 44 years old: 0
Females less than 10 years old: 0
Females between 10 and 15 years old: 1
Females between 16 and 18 years old: 0
Females between 16 and 25 years old: 0
Females between 26 and 44 years old: 0
Females over 44 years old: 0
Foreigners in household: 0
People engaged in agriculture in the household: 3
James's age is clearly understated in this census. He would have been 58 or 59 but there is still only one older male listed 26-44. Come to think of it, the same thing happened in the 1810 census as he would have been 48 or 49 in 1810. Whether or not the 1810 census is for the right family or not, however, I am 100% sure the 1820 census is for James and his family.
James died on 2 April 1828 in Marrs Township of Posey County. He is buried in Dixon Cemetery at West Franklin in Marrs Township. His son Robert is buried at the same cemetery and there is a Samuel Dixon buried there as well. At the time I wrote this originally in 2011 I wasn't sure which Samuel it was but I now believe it to be James's son Samuel, not his grandson Samuel who I believe is buried at a different cemetery in Posey County.
Other Links
James Dixon page at Find A Grave
James Dixon page on Family Search Dot Org
James Dixon page on Genealogy Locator System database
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