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Caswell County Genealogy
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 1740 - 1782 (42 years)
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| Name |
Dixon, Henry [1, 2, 3] |
| Title |
Colonel |
| Suffix |
Jr. |
| Birth |
1740 |
Granville County, North Carolina  [1, 2] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Name |
Hal |
| Reference Number |
8668 |
| Death |
17 Jul 1782 |
Caswell County, North Carolina [2, 3] |
| Person ID |
I8522 |
Caswell County |
| Last Modified |
16 May 2024 |
| Family |
Wynne, Martha Frances, b. Abt 1745, Virginia |
| Marriage |
15 Sep 1763 |
Halifax County, Virginia [2, 3] |
| Reference Number |
60387 |
| Notes |
- U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
Name: Henry Dixon
Gender: Male
Spouse Name: Martha Frances Wynne
Spouse
Birth Place: VA
Spouse Birth Year: 1743
Marriage Year: 1763
Marriage State: VA
Number Pages: 1
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| Children |
| | 1. Dixon, Roger d. Abt 1795 [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 2. Living |
| | 3. Living |
| + | 4. Dixon, Wynne, b. 1766, Redhouse, Caswell County, North Carolina d. 24 Nov 1829, Henderson County, Kentucky (Age 63 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| | 5. Dixon, Robert, b. 1770 d. 1800 (Age 30 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| + | 6. Dixon, Henry, b. 1777, Caswell County, North Carolina d. 1858, Henderson County, Kentucky (Age 81 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
| + | 7. Dixon, Susannah, b. 1782, Caswell County, North Carolina d. Bef 1840, Bedford County, Tennessee (Age < 57 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
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| Family ID |
F4558 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
16 May 2024 |
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| Notes |
- Henry (Hal) Dixon, Jr. (1740-1782)
(for larger image, click on photograph)
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Henry Dixon commanded Caswell county militia in the fierce struggles of the South. It was said of his troops that they fought at Camden as long as a bullet remained in their belts. May have been Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dixon. Lt. Col. Henry Dixon. Note discrepancy in birth year.
See: Lieutenant Colonel Henry ("Hal") Dixon, Jr. (1740-1782)
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Dixon, Henry ("Hal") (ca. 1750 - 17 July 1782), Revolutionary War officer, was born in the part of Granville County that later became Orange and then Caswell, the son of Henry Dixon, Sr. Little is known about his life before the outbreak of the American Revolution. In 1763 he married Martha Wynne in Halifax County, Va. That Dixon had received some militia experience is clear, for when North Carolina was charged to form its first units of the Continental line in September 1775, he was commissioned captain of the First Regiment. He rose through the ranks quickly, becoming a major in July 1776 and a lieutenant colonel in May 1778 (amidst some controversy from several more senior officers). In the spring of 1778 the North Carolina legislature appointed Dixon "Inspector General over Militia," a post he held for the remainder of the war. His considerable duties involved raising militia units, equipping them for action, and coordinating their service with the Continental command. He was in close contact with Generals Jethro Sumner and Nathaniel Greene in the defense of the southern states.
In June 1779 Dixon was severely wounded at Stono Ferry near Charleston, S.C., in the campaign commanded by General Benjamin Lincoln. As the war moved into North Carolina, he played a key role in raising militia to meet the British advance. In 1781 he fought in the actions at Wetzell's Mill and Guilford Court House and was wounded again at Eutaw Springs, S.C. He never recovered from the injuries and died at home the next year. Dixon left his wife and seven children and apparently the family moved west to Tennessee and Kentucky. A grandson, Archibald Dixon, succeeded Henry Clay as senator from Kentucky.
Source: Miller, Mark F. "Henry (Hal) Dixon)." Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 2 D-G. William S. Powell, Editor. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986. Pages 75-75. Print.
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Caswell County Will of Henry Dixon Jr. 1782
In the name of God Amen the 11th day of Anno Domini 1782 I Henry Dixon Jr., of the County of Caswell and State of North Carolina Being of Sound Memory But, Proposing to March with the Army to South Carolina and calling to Mind the Mortality of my Body, and knowing that is a appointed for all men Once to die so make and Ordain this my Last Will and Testament, that is to say, Principly (sic) and first of all I give and Recomend (sic) my Soul into the hands of Almighty God that gave it and my Body I recomend (sic) to the Earth to be Buried in Decent and Christian like Burial at the Decression(sic) of my Executors not Doubting but at the General Resurrection I shall receive the same again by the Mighty Power of God, and as Touching Such Worldly Estate wherewith it hath Pleased God to Bless me in this Live (sic) I give and Demise (sic) and Despose (sic) of the Same in the following manner and form.
In premise I Lend to my Dearly Beloved Wife Martha my whole Estate untill (sic) such time as my son Wynne Dixon Shall Arrive to the age of Twenty one years old or During her Widowhood and if She Should not Marry I lend her the Tract of Land I now own and a Negro Woman Called Hannah During her Natural Life.
Item I give to my Beloved son Wynne Dixon the Tract or parcell (sic) of Land I bought of William Grenham lying on Hogans Branch of Hogans Creek in Caswell Count and State of North Carolina Entered for Six Hundred and forty Acres but is not Surveyed.
Item I give to my Beloved Son Roger Dixon a Tract or parcell (sic) of Land lying on Johns Branch in Caswell County North Carolina for which there is a Warrant for John Perkins South East Corner
Item I give to my Beloved son Henry Dixon after the Death or Marage (sic) of my Dearly Beloved Wife the Tract or Parcell (sic) of Land whereon I now live which is Entered for Six Hundred and forty Acres Beginning at Samuel Perkins North East Corner.
Item I give to my well beloved Daughter Elisabeth Dixon and Francis Dixon one Certain Tract or parcell (sic) of Land lying on the Waters of Rutledges Creek in the South Side of Dan River Joining the Province line on Pytsylvania (sic) County State of Virginia Containing Twelve Hundred and odd Acres to be equally Divided Between them.
Item it is my Desire that my Children should be Raised in Decent Manner and Well Educated out of my Estate and that all the remainder of my estate Consisting of Several Tracts of Land Several Slaves Stock of all kin (sic) Household furniture money is to be Equally Divided Between my Beloved wife and Children or as Many of them as shall be living when my Eldest son is Twenty one years old and also that the Negro woman Hannah lent to my Dearly Beloved wife During her Natural life or Widowhood upon her Death or Marage (sic) should with her Increase be Equally Divided as above.
I do Constitute make and Ordain my Dearly Beloved wife Martha with her Brother Thomas Wynne and Charles Dixon my Soul (sic) Executors of this my Last Will and Testament In witness where of I have hereunto set my hand and Seal the Day and year above written.
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Battle of Guilford Courthouse: Pension declarations place the Caswell County militia, commanded by Col. William Moore, on the brigade's right, bordering the road. Like the men just across the road, the Caswell militia rested themselves on the rail fence, facing west. Moore, a county politician, had little previous military experience. However, several pensions accounts indicate that Maj. Henry "Hal" Dixon, an experienced North Carolina Continental serving as inspector general of the North Carolina militia, took charge during the engagement.
Source: Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Lawrence E. Babits and Joshua B. Howard (2009) at 60.
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Battle of Eutaw Springs: On 8 September 1781, Greene's army fought its last major action in the southern campaign. The battle of Eutaw Springs ranks as one of the bloodiest per capita engagements of the entire American Revolution, as each side suffered nearly 25 percent losses. As at Guilford, Green put his militia in the first line and his regulars in supporting positions. A British bayonet charge broke the militia, and the battle became a shifting struggle between British regulars, loyalist provincials, and American Continentals. One British party under Maj. John Majoribanks took a position within a thicket. In intense hand-to-hand combat and close-range volley firing, they managed to wound and capture William Washington and rout a portion of his Continental dragoons. The Virginia and North Carolina Continentals fought bravely, and the former runaway militiamen, having been drilled incessantly since early summer, performed well as regular soldiers, standing toe to toe and bayonet to bayonet with the British, losing nearly two-thirds of their number as casualties. North Carolina Guilford veterans on the field included Lieutenant Colonels Reading Blount and Henry "Hal" Dixon and Capt. Edward Yarborough. . . .
North Carolina Continental officers Reading Blount, Henry "Hal" Dixon, and Edward Yarborough stayed with the army after Guilford. Blount and Dixon commanded regiments at Eutaw Springs, where there units were both cited for conspicuous gallantry. Suffering his third would of the war at Eutaw, "Hal" Dixon attempted to stay on with the North Carolina brigade, but in the summer of 1782 his injuries, combined with a severe fever, finally killed him.
Source: Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Lawrence E. Babits and Joshua B. Howard (2009) at 184-185 and 205.
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Lt. Col. Henry (Hal) Dixon and wife, Martha Frances Wynne. Martha was the daughter of William Wynne (b. abt 1699 Prince George Co., VA; d. bef 8 Oct 1777) and Frances Read?. Hal Dixon and Martha Wynne were married (Sep 15, 1763) in Virginia but it is believed the children were all born in North Carolina.
The children of Lt. Col. Henry Dixon and Martha Wynne:
1. Wynne Dixon, born 1766 Redhouse, Caswell County, N.C.; died, Nov 24,1829 Henderson County, Kentucky; married 1. Keturah Payne 2. Rebeccah Hart. Wynne Dixon also served in the Continental Army in his father's command. Settled in Kentucky following the war and received a federal pension. Buried in Fernwood cemetery, Henderson, KY. (source: David F. Klein, Wynne Dixon descendant).
2. Roger Dixon ( - 1795) m. Mary Jouett
3. Robert Dixon (1770-1800) m. Jenney Brooks
4. Elizabeth Dixon m. Nathaniel Williams
5. Frances Dixon (1775-1850) m. Armstead Brooks Flippen
6. Henry Dixon, born 1777 Caswell County, NC; died 1858 Henderson, KY married 1st Mary Johnston, 2nd Rhoda Hart. (James Allen Smith is a ggg grandson of Henry and Mary Johnston Dixon. Email: smithman"at"cu-online.com (replace "at" with @ )
7. Susannah Dixon, born 1782 Caswell Co., N.C.; died about. 1840 Bedford County, Tennessee; married John Williams, Jr. (Scott K. Williams is a ggg grandson email: showmemule"at"earthlink.net (replace "at" with @ ) Williams Genealogy.
Soource: Lt. Col. Henry "Hal" Dixon Website [accessed 6 October 2018.
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Henry Dixon (1723-1795)
Henry Dixon settled in Caswell County, N.C. a few years before the Revolution. This family has a splendid record of mili tary service in the wars of our county . The residence of Mr. Dixon previous to his arrival in Caswell is not known . He patented 646 acres in Caswell, Nov. 10, 1784, on the North Fork of Morris Creek and 630 acres on the waters of Hogans Creek, Aug. 18, 1797: to Tilman Dixon's corner and Charles Dixon's corner. (BK 56, p. 97, file 814; BK 68, p.116, file 969)
Henry Dixon, Sr., made his will Aug. 4, 1795, probated Oct. 1795, as follows: " to my beloved wife ELIZABETH DIXON a good, sufficient, and genteel maintenance out of my estate to be afforded by my sons CHARLES and TILMAN DIXON, "to son CHARLES that tract of land where I now live containing 630 acres; to granddaughter FRANCES DIXON, daughter of HENRY DIXON decd. ,negro girl Chloe, feather bed, etc.; The rest of my estate to be equally divided between sons Charles and Tilman, they to be exrs.
Wits.: W. Dixon, W. Williams, Jr., G. Cunningham. (BK D-135)
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| Sources |
- Details: The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 180 (Article #171 "Henry Dixon and Descendants" by Mrs. Lucille (Williams) Wright).
- Details: Lt. Col. Henry "Hal" Dixon Website.
- Details: Miller, Mark F. "Henry (Hal) Dixon." Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 2 D-G. William S. Powell, Editor. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986. Pages 75-75. Print.
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