THE DICKSON FAMILY, of JOHN DIXON
and wife CATHERINE WILLIARD, 1716 - 2000

(First of all I would like to make a statement to all members of the Dickson Family. I began this Historical/Genealogical work on the Dickson Family over 25 years ago, with an ultimate goal of finding who our first ancestor was that came to the United States, in what year, and from what European country we originated. In my research over the years I have been up many false trails and ran into many brick walls, trying to find our family ancestors. One the main problems of research was caused by the change in spelling of our family name back and forth over the years. Here is a true fact, - the spelling "Dixon" is from England and that is our ORIGINAL family name spelling. The spelling "Dickson" is from Scotland, and we are all of the same big family. We found families with both spellings within each branch, but in our Middle Branch the spelling remained fairly consistant since 1808 as Dickson in most cases. (More about the family name is shown later in this Section One).

All of you who read this account will have to have an open mind and realize as I finally did, that many of the stories we have heard over the years have been mixed and in some cases were not correct. Some of you will become upset as you read this, and say "Well this is not the way Grandpa, or Aunt so-n-so told me that story !!". But, the facts remain, and many of the proof documents have been found. We took everyones version of all the stories, and did our best to come to a concensus as to what really happened, and I hope at least some of you are as happy as I am, now that the year 2000 is upon us, to finally have a 200 year history of our Dickson family). ____________________________________________

(Next I would like to make a list of People and Institutions who helped with research over the years, and I sincerely thank all of them for the effort put into this historical research paper).

(1.) Marshall V. Dickson, Jr., ggrandson of Alfred Webb Dickson, (3rd. son of Charles William Dickson - Middle Branch). Marshall is a fine genealogist in his own right, and he is the one who brought me the information contained in the "Dixie Engle Notes". These Dixie Engle Notes contained information from several sources - Diary of Eleanor (Dickson) Wilson; Missionary Baptist church historical files; National Civil War Archives; 1840/1850 NC census records; Arkansas DAR files; Family stories passed down. _____________________________________________

(2.) Kris Dixon and Betty Green, descendants of Joseph F. Dickson-First Branch. These two persons brought us the information contained in the book, "The Dickson Family Record by John Sherman Dickson - 1957", as well as many other misc. pieces of family information. Betty Green also spent many hours and miles finding and bringing us the new research work done by Carolyn Owen, and the entire family owes Betty a big THANK YOU! _____________________________________________

(3.) Dick Couzins, editor/owner of the "Dickson/Dixon Newsletter". Dick brought Marshall Dickson and I together after years of searching for our lost families. He also brought us in contact with Dr. Heriberto Dixon of New York. _____________________________________________

(4.) Dr. Heriberto Dixon, of New Platz, NY. Dr. Dixon sent us the family history sheet for the Middle Branch which he believed came from an old McDowell Co. history book. The sheet listed all the wives and children of Charles William Dickson - Middle Branch, as well as his parents. Some persons believe this sheet was originally contained in the family bible of Johann Dixon. I personally traced the sheet as coming from the Gosnell family of Va., and have recently found out that the Gosnells are descendants of George Washington Dickson, 16th. child of Charles William Dickson - Middle Branch.

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(5.) Elizabeth Harris, North Carolina State Genweb Coordinator. Elizabeth helped me find the Moravian Church Archive information that contained the marriage records for Johann Dixon and Catherine Williard, plus the birth records for their three sons, Joseph, Charles, and George. _____________________________________________

(6.) Billy Joe Dickson, grandson of William Thomas Dickson. In 1983 Bill gave me census, pension, and other data on our ancestor Charles Bradshaw Dickson, (6th. son of Charles William Dickson). Bill inspired me to keep digging to find our lost family, and I thank him for all his help. _____________________________________________

(7.) My father, J.M. Dickson, who made the trips to Marion, NC, and Jessieville, Ark., checking census and family records, and for telling me all the stories over the years about his grandfather Charles B. Dickson. _____________________________________________

(8.) My wife, Eunice Dickson, who spent many many hours helping with the research and making files, and who allowed me to finally purchase a computer to put all this together. _____________________________________________

(9.) Mollie (Dukes) Dickson, my grandmother who died in 1994 at the age of 101. "Mama Dickson" as I called her had a very sharp mind right up until the end and gave us many facts that no one else knew. _____________________________________________

(10.) Jimmy D. Johnson, ggrandson of Martha Elizabeth Dickson, (8th. child of Charles William Dickson). Jimmy brought us totally new information about his line of the family in the Jessieville/Marble community of Arkansas. _____________________________________________

(11.) Lori Lynn (Shotwell) Bowers, ggranddaughter of George Washington Dickson, (16th. child of Charles William Dickson). Lori and her husband Keith have given us totally new informtion about George W., one of the very youngest children of Charles W. Dickson, and whose descendants may hold some of the oldest informtion in the entire family. _____________________________________________

(12.) Betty Jean (Foster) Dill, of Roebuck, Spartanburg Co., SC. Betty Jean Dill gave me the obit. for Archie B. Dickson, Son of "Bailey Gamerwell Dickson". This obit. for Archie B. Dickson who died June 6, 1996, listed his parents as the late Bailey G. Dickson and Nancy (Freeman) Dickson.

This was the first clue ever found since 1865 concerning Bailey G. Dickson, 10th. child of Charles William Dickson, and since the obit. listed all the children of Archie B. Dickson still living in the Moore, SC area, we have now made solid contact with the descendants of this line of the family.

Betty Dill also found the first genealogical data concerning Letty Pharaba Dickson, 11th. child of Charles William Dickson. Letty married Francis M. Freeman, brother of Nancy (Freeman) Dickson who married Bailey G. Dickson, and as of May 17, 2000 I have made contact with a descendant family of Letty (Dickson) Freeman, which is her ggrandson - Robert Daniel Freeman and his wife Nancy. We sincerely thank and will always remember Betty Jean (Foster) Dill as a friend of the family for her help and research. _____________________________________________

(13.) Carolyn Owen, of Hillsborough, NC. Carolyn is a descendant of Joseph F. Dickson, oldest son of John Dixon, and she has devoted many years of research in the Moravina Archives tracing down all the information they contain concerning the "Dixon" family. I wish to give her full credit for finding the first person, (William Dixon), in our family line who came to the United States of America, and for giving us all of the valuable data concerning our family among the Moravians during the 1700's. We appreciate all her time and effort put into the research. _____________________________________________

(14.) And here is a short list of others who helped in one way or another - Jewel (Dickson) Quisenberry and her husband W.C.; Faye (Dickson) Boyd; Opal (Dickson) Thomas; Mae (Dickson) Thornberry; Tamara (Dickson) Leavell; Clarice Guill; Peggy Struble; Betty Young and sister Barbara; Moravian Church Archives; Amarillo Daily News; Mrs. Ralph Farrar; Dr. Lennox Baker; Dr. Robert Corlew; George E. Jackson; McDowell Co., NC Public Library; George Simmons; Dr. Charles Dickson; SCV Post - 648, Terry Lampo, and Sue Weatherly. _____________________________________________

(And now I will begin this story-)

(Children of John Dixon, or John Dickson as he is listed in some records, and his wife Catherine).

Their Three Sons:

(1.)  Joseph Frederick Dickson, b. - April 26, 1804.

(2.)  Charles William Dickson, b. - May 7, 1808.

(3.)  George Christian Dickson, b. - April 7, 1812.

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I first began recieving reports concerning "Johann Dixon and wife Maria Blum" in March on 1998 by e-mail from two persons responding to my genealogy ad on the internet asking for information on the Dickson family from Dysartville, NC. I had read several small mentions about Johann Dixon in the past but had never really made any connection to our family because of the different last name spelling.

The two persons who responded to my ad were "Kris Dixon" from Maryland, and "Betty Green" from Florida, and they told me that they had a family genealogy book titled - "The Dickson Family Record, by John Sherman Dickson - 1957". From that little book they sent me the following information......."The oldest person listed, and the first in our family to immigrate to this country was "Johann Dixon", who came from Sheffield, England". They also passed on that Johann's wife was Maria Blum from Amsterdam, Holland and Pennsylvania. Also mentioned were the three sons of Johann, - Joseph F. Dickson, Charles W. Dickson, and George C. Dickson.

After carefully trying to verify this information I found that most of it was correct. It gave us the correct name of the three boys, and also gave us the state, county, city, and years of their births. But I also found that the Mother of the three boys was not Maria Blum as indicated. We also now know from other research that John Dixon was born at Salem, NC, but his father William Dixon was from Yorkshire, England making him the first person to come to the United States in our family line.

****(I had already reviewed the information contained within the Dixie Engle Notes, and they referred to a woman listed in the 1850 McDowell Co. NC, census who was named "Catherine". Catherine is listed in that 1850 census under the name of the third son "George C. Dickson", as living with him and she is shown as age 75, at Dysartville, NC. All three brothers, Joseph, Charles, and George are listed on that census and their age makes a perfect match on their birth dates. Next in 1852, a land transaction for the second son Charles, makes a special provision for this same person, "Catherine". And finally I recieved the family history sheet from Dr. Heriberto Dixon, giving us all the wives and children of Charles William Dickson (second son of Johann), and at the top of that sheet is listed the parents of Charles W. to be "John Dickson and wife Katherene". That was more than enough evidence that I needed to go into Stokes Co. NC, and start looking for a wife for John Dixon with the first name of Catherine).

After working with Elizabeth Harris, North Carolina State Genweb Coordinator, for several days we came up with the answer on Catherine, and found that she was the real Mother of the three sons of John Dixon.

John Dixon may have used the name "Johann Dixon" but we found the best data to this date on him among the archives of the Moravian Church at Salem, which was a German speaking organization with members primarily from Germany, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, and England. The first name "Johann" is the Dutch/German spelling of the given name "John". His last name "Dixon" is the English spelling of our family name, and the Moravian church noted that all persons in their membership who came in the 1700's into NC, with the last name of "Dixon" were indeed from England. In every instance where his name is listed in the Moravian archives it is shown as "John Dixon".

The Moravian church moved many of their members from Europe to the United States during the 1700's because of religious persecution from the dominant church in Europe today.

****(The John S. Dickson-1957 book states on pg.-4 that the older generations of the Dixon/Dickson family at Dysartville had a very noticeable English/Dutch accent to their speech. And I myself heard stories passed down from the older generations that people in the family at Dysartville spoke with a heavy Dutch/German accent).

*****(NEW INFORMATION RECIEVED - May 28, 2000) Betty Green Moody has just completed an interview with Carolyn Owen of Hillsborough, NC. Carolyn Owen is a descendant of Joseph Frederick Dickson, 1st. son of John Dixon. Betty was able to obtain new information, which Carolyn Owen has researched and documented over a long period of years from the Moravian Archives concerning the Dixon family. The new information comes from "Records of the Moravians in North Carolina, by Adalaide L. Fries, M.A., and was published by NC Historical Society.", and contains as follows - The oldest member of the Dixon family to come to the United States was "William Dixon" b. - June 4, 1716 Yorkshire, England, and d. - March 7, 1764, and he is buried at Gods Acre Cem. at Bethabara, Salem, NC. The wife of William Dixon was Christina (Orchard) Dixon, b. - Oct. 13, 1733, d. - Aug. 21, 1779, origianally from Oldsman Creek, New Jersey, and the marriage date for William and Christina was Aug. 25, 1755.

William Dixon was originally from Hunstel, Yorkshire, England, and he sailed from London on March 1, 1749, to New York on the ship "Irene" and arrived on May 12, 1749.

The children listed for William and wife Christina are: -

(1.) Christina Dixon - b. - Oct. 4, 1756.

(2.) Elizabeth Dixon - b. - Mar. 25, 1759.

(3.) Joseph Dixon - b. - Oct. 19, 1761.

(4.) John Dixon - b. - Dec. 23, 1762, d. - Mar. 1832, and is buried at Mt. Home Baptist Cem., Burke Co., NC.

The two girls were born in Penn. and both boys were born at the Moravian settlement at Friedland near Salem, NC. William Dixon and his wife ran the general store at the Moravian settlement, and we know that Joseph Dixon returned to Penn. and became an Dr., where as John Dixon did travel back to Penn. for several years with his brother Joseph, and returned to the Salem area later where he worked as first a teacher in the Moravian school and later became a Leather Tanner by trade).

In a letter sent directly to me in early summer 1999 from the Moravian archives it shows the birth date for "John Dixon" was Dec. 23, 1762, and "Catherine Williard" was born on Sept. 24, 1772. He did not show up at Salem, NC, until 1785 or shortly there after, with the record showing him as "single". John Dixon is shown as purchasing land in the Friedburg settlement, and also shows the marriage of John Dixon to Catherine Williard as Sept. 14, 1802. This then would make Catherine 30 years old and John Dixon 40 years old when they married in Salem.

Catherine Williard's name as listed in German in the Archives is "Anna Catharina Williard", with her parents listed as Johann George Williard, and wife Eva (Laurer) Williard. The Williard family genealogy is listed on the internet dating back to the 1650's in Germany, and it does list the marriage between Catherine Williard and John Dixon.

Even more important was the vitals search I requested from the Moravian Archives wherein they sent the following births of Catherine Williard by John Dixon. Their sons were listed in German as, (1.) Joseph Freidrich Dixon, b. - April 26, 1804, (2.) Carl Wilhelm Dixon, b. - May 7, 1808, (3.) George Christian Dixon, b. - April 7, 1812.

And for those of you who are wondering about the name of the second son, who would be my middle-branch line, "Carl Wilhelm" is the German spelling for "Charles William" so we are right on the money.

Next we checked the census records for Stokes Co., NC, and found the John Dixon family listed on the 1810 census, as having two male children under age 10, - one male Head of Household named "John Dixon" age-(over 45), - one female, age - (between 26 and 45).

And on the 1820 census for Stokes Co., NC, it lists one male Head of Household named "John Dixon" age-(45+), - one male child under age of 10, and two male children between age 10 to 16, and one female, age - (45+).

***(I inquired why Catherines name was not listed on these two census records and was informed that women were not listed by name at that time in the state of NC on the census roles).

This is the ONLY family with the name "Dixon" on the 1810 and 1820 census for Stokes Co., that has a perfect match for age and name, so there is no doubt in my mind, it has to be them.

We do not know for sure why the family name shows up as "Dickson" when they reached Burke/McDowell counties, but Elizabeth Harris believed it was because many German speaking families changed their names between 1780-1830 to blend in better with the English speaking community. My personal belief is that it was caused by the "Clerks" who wrote all the records in Burke/McDowell counties, who at that time were mostly Scotch/Irish. In Scotland and Ireland our family name is always spelled "Dickson" and this is the spelling most of the clerks were using at the time.

The transition of the spelling of the name of the boys father, John Dixon, is a perfect example of the genealogy headache that a person gets while trying to research a family. When he married in Salem he was using John Dixon, and even later we found documents with his name as John Dickson.

Also, we do not know the exact date that the family left the Salem area and moved down to Burke/McDowell near what is today Dysartville, but I do know when Charles William Dickson-Middle Branch married his first wife since it is recorded in Burke Co. marriage records as (Feb. 8, 1830 to Elizabeth Adaline Bradshaw). This makes me belive that the whole family came to Burke Co. in 1828-1830 when the Burke Co. gold rush began and this event is what most likely drew them to the area. The Dixie Engle notes tend to back this assumption showing all three brothers did own land and were in the gold mining business at that time.

All these things combined should leave no doubt as to who the real parents were of the three boys. There is no doubt at all in my mind - they are John Dixon and Catherine Williard.

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The contents of the John S. Dickson-1957 book are very sketchy, and have very little about my Middle-Branch, but there is more than enough to link us all together.

(1.) Joseph Frederick Dickson, b. - April 26, 1804, at Salem, Stokes co., NC. His first wife was named Elizabeth (Massey) Dickson, b. - Nov. 7, 1807.

Their Children:

George, b. - 1828; Charles, b. - 1829; Salina, b. - 1831; Mary Ann, b. - 1833; Simeline, b. - 1835; Grayson, b. - 1838; Sarah, b. - 1842; James, b. - 1844; Nancy, b. - (no date); Henry, b. - 1849; Frances, b. - 1850; Don Lee, b. - (no date); Margaret Jane, b. - (no date).

Second wife was Annie (Templeton) Dickson, and no children by her.

Joseph F. Dickson is reported to be buried at Spruce Branch, NC, in the Cedar Grove Cem.

Elizabeth Massey Dickson is reported to be buried in Hendley Cem. in McDowell Co. NC.
 

(2.) Charles William Dickson, b. - May 7, 1808, at Salem, Stokes co., NC. ****(The John S. Dickson-1957 book says little is known about Charles William, and his brothers lost touch with him. Word of mouth kept coming back and we have heard he has married at least twice, and these are the names of his children that we know of -

Lance Dickson, Bailey Dickson, Monroe Dickson, George Dickson, and Tima Ann Dickson. Charles William Dickson died at Clifton Mill #1, and is buried at Clifton, Spartanburg Co., SC.).

****From several other sources we in the Middle-Branch know that Charles William Dickson was in fact married three times, and he had several children by each wife, making a grand total of 18 all together.

His 1st. wife was Elizabeth Adaline (Bradshaw) Dickson, and her children were -

Lanson, b. - 1831; Lensetta, b. - 1832; John, b. - 1835; Alfred, b. - 1837; Joseph, b. - 1838; William, b. - 1842; and Charles Bradshaw Dickson, b. - 1844.

The 2nd. wife was Martha M. (Norton) Dickson, and her children were -

Martha E., b. - 1846; Sarah J., b. - 1848; Bailey G., b. - 1850; and Letty P., b. - 1852.

The 3rd. wife was Lavinia (Croff) Dickson, and her children were -

Pernelly Lucinda, b. - 1860; Elfonzo Monroe, b. - 1861; Kasa Clarinda, b. - 1863; Tima Ann, b. - 1866; George Washington, b. - 1868; Immanuel Jackson, b. - 1871; David Madison, b. - 1874.

(More about all these wives and children is listed in Section Two of this history paper). ***(As of May 17, 2000, the old family Bible of the Middle-Branch has been found, and is held by the descendants of Bailey G. Dickson. I firmly believe this is the original Bible of Charles William Dickson, and contains entries in his own hand showing parents, wives, and all of his 18 children. First time ever copies were made and arrived in my possession on May 22, 2000. These copies contained information on 3 of the children we had never known).
 

(3.) George Christian Dickson, b. - April 7, 1812, at Salem, Stokes co., NC.
His wife was Elizabeth "Betsy" (Patton) Dickson, and their children were -
Thomas Christian Dickson, b. - 1851, William Webster Dickson, b. - 1854, and Juda Dickson.

George and Betsy Dickson are reported to be buried in the Dysartville, NC Cemetery.

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*****(As of Oct. 25, 1999, we have made solid contact with descendants of all three branches of this hugh family started by John Dixon and his wife Catherine Williard. This brings us all back together for the first time in 150 years and a hugh reunion is now in the planning for the summer of the year 2000 at Dysartville, NC). _______________________________________________

See SECTION TWO - The Children of Charles William Dixon
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July 18, 1999 - (Updated May 28, 2000) - (SECTION ONE)
Compiled by Johnny M. Dickson, Jr., at Hedley, Donley County, Texas.

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