Alexander Franklin Dix's older sisters and their spouses were:

ANGELINE DIX, b. 26 Nov 1823, Niagara Co, NY; d. 25 May 1898; m.JAMES H. REYNOLDS, 20 Oct 1842
ELIZA SOPHIA DIX, b. 22 May 1826, Niagara Co NY; d. 31 Mar 1910364; m.MATHEW MCINTOSH, 16 Jan 1851
FRANCES DIX, b. 4 December 1828, Niagara Co, NY; d. 30 Jan 1907364; m.PHILO CASTLE, 1 Sept 1857

Wilson NY, birthplace of AFD, and Newfane NY, where he was  licensed to the  ministry by the church, in 1856.¹

AFD's future wife, Helen (Nellie) Beach was born in Williamsville NewYork, on December 15, 1838 

 

My father, Philo Castle Dix, was very much a man of his times -- l878-l96l -- sharing in the idealism, the intellectual ferment, the upward mobility, and the disillusionments of the period. He was also very much a product of his upbringing, both in his deep religious convictions and in his rebellion against the way religion as interpreted and employed by his parents. As I try to explore my knowledge and memories of my  father I am always led back to his origins, and come at once to that other vigorous, strong-minded man, who was his father, Alexander Franklin Dix (1831-1921). 

Alexander was not really a man of his times, but a fiercely independent, individualistic Baptist who struck out against mainstream of his generation, and then was swept by the Civil War and its aftermath into a life at great disparity with others of his generation.

His wife, my grandmother, was also a strong-minded and very devout 
woman, who left her home and family to follow her husband in the way he had chosen. She was Helen Louise Beach, known as Nellie, born and raised in the northwestern corner of New York state, as was Alexander. When they were married, January 2, 1861, at Cheektowaga, just east of Buffalo, they said farewell to family and went south to live for the rest of their lives. How did such a move happen to take place? 

What sort of  newly weds would make such an improbable choice? The Civil War had not yet begun but secession had, and Alexander and Nellie made a deliberate decision to leave the North for the South. Both of them came from families with roots in New England. The Dix family traces its ancestors to settlers who arrived in Massachusetts Bay in 1630 in the fleet with Governor Winthrop. After a few years in Watertown, Mass, they joined the Rev. Thomas Hooker and his colleagues in moving west to the Connecticut River, to found the new colony of Connecticut. There the Dixes seem to have lived, in Wethersfield, for some generations, until about 1770. 

-2- 

When the threat of Indian attack on frontier settlements was 
reduced by the Peace of Paris in l763, at the end of the French and 
Indian War, there was movement of colonists all along the frontier. 
The Dixes and a band of others moved north to the Deerfield River, 
then up that river to present day Wilmington, Vermont, where the 
Deerfield intersects the road from Brattleboro to Bennington. There 
they acquired farms and built houses, and undoubtedly a church. 
I feel confident that this band of people from Wethersfield were 
held together by religious practices. If they were Baptists, as 
the Dixes were in the early 19th century, they would have been an 
unpopular minority in Wethersfield or any other Congregational town, 
limited in many ways in what they could do. In a frontier settlement 
they could achieve an independence they had not known in Connecticut. 

With the coming of the Revolutionary War, the young men of  southern Vermont formed the Green Mountain Boys under Ethan Allen's, leadership. Among their exploits were the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 and the defeat of Burgoyne’s men at the battle of Bennington in 1777. Ozias Dix, who had been born in Wethersfield in 1750, was a member of the militia from Wilmington, and like other Revolutionary War soldiers he was paid for his war service by a land grant in western New York state. The party of settlers who left Vermont for the west about 1800 included Ozias and his son Daniel, who had been born in 1796, who was my great-grandfather. 

Ozias and his wife Lucy are both buried in the old town cemetery 
in Wilmington, Vermont, so he obviously returned to his old home.
The very old pre-Revolutionary house on the hill just east of 
Wilmington is still standing and occupied by Dorothy Turner, whose family bought it from the last Dix owner in the 1920' s. 

-3- 

As for Daniel, he grew up in New York state and became a farmer 
in the little town of Wilson, on the shores of Lake Ontario. His 
first wife, Dyanthia Butterfield, bore him three daughters and a
son, my grandfather, Alexander Franklin Dix. She died in l833, after
 which Daniel remarried and produced five more daughters and two sons, both of whom died in infancy. Both of the wives are buried in the cemetery in Olcott, N.Y., as well as the infant boys. But Daniel 
himself died and is buried far away, in Gilbert, Iowa, where he was 
living when he died in 1892.

Alexander Franklin, born in 183l in Wilson, was named for two of 
his mother’s Butterfield brothers. On reaching manhood, he trained 
to be a teacher by attending the State Normal College in Albany, N.Y.  In 1853-54 he taught the school at Barrytown, N.Y., located on the Hudson River near Red Hook. Two letters he wrote to his sister Angelina Reynolds at that time have survived and give a glimpse of what his work was like as well as of his impressions and reactions to the community in which he lived. The "Frank" referred to in these 
letters is his sister, Frances, who was also attending The Albany 
Normal College. It was she who later married her first cousin, Philo 
Castle, for whom my father was named. 

In l855 Alexander was teaching in Williamsville, just east of Buffalo, 
as We know from two letters of that time addressed to Angelina's 
husband, James Reynolds. The final letter of that time extant is 
also written to his brother-in-law, from the University of Rochester
in 1857. Gloomy in tone, enigmatic in its content, that letter suggests
a young man in considerable inner strife. Though he was a student, he 
was also unemployed, and could find no job. 

-4- 

Alexander's letters reflect a lively mind and strong opinions, 
but give no real explanation for why he should have decided to go 
South. They show that he was uncompromising in matters of religious 
belief, and proud of it. He was determined to teach well and be 
well paid ...only the best...but he was not sure that teaching 
should be his career. Yet in 1857 he was 26 years old, and probably 
eager to be married, and was without a job. Perhaps he found a 
promising job in the South and it was that which set his course. 

He was not the only northerner who sympathized with the South 
on the subject of states' rights, of course. The Copperheads, mostly 
Democrats, were politically and socially of real importance both 
before and during the Civil War.  Like Alexander, I think, they 
regarded the slavery issue as a red herring to divert attention from 
the real attacks by Republicans on the rights of the states. 

A third thread in leading to his decision must have been his 
religious beliefs. He was a Baptist, he was not tolerant nor 
broadminded about other religious ideas, and he must have found 
the Baptists to be the backbone of the South. 

Whatever his motivation, he made a big move in 1859: he went 
first to Union Springs, Alabama, where he taught at the Woodlawn. 
Seminary, and then to nearby Midway, Alabama, where he continued teaching.  At the end of 1860 he went north again, and on January 2, 1861, was married to Nellie Beach. The two of them then returned to Alabama for good. 

After the war, there was an effort to renew ties between the 
family members in north and south. Alexander and his family went to 
New York state for a visit, but, so my father reported, they were so 
offended by the attitudes of the northerners that they left in dismay. 

-5- 

When Nellie and Alexander reached Midway in early 1861, 
Alexander resumed his teaching, but when the war began later in 
the spring he volunteered as a private and went off to fight. He 
served throughout the war, for a time in Kentucky under General
Bragg, later with the Army of Northern Virginia under Lee. He 
was present at the Battle of the Crater, and at Appomattox. He 
was reluctant to discuss his soldiering experiences, according to 
my father, and the children knew little of what he had done. He 
apparently served as a clerk (not many southern soldiers were so 
literate), and if he had promotions, demotions, wounds or anything 
special we have no record of it. 

He acquired two children during the war. The oldest, Albert 
Sidney, was born in 1863, and the second, William Beach, 
Was born in March, 1865. From then until 1880, Nellie gave birth 
to a child about every two years so that there were finally ten 
children in all, of whom my father was the ninth. 

Alexander resumed teaching in Midway, and became a preacher also 
after he was ordained in 1869 in the Baptist Church. From 1871-1880, the family lived in Winchester, Tennessee (in the southeast corner of the state) where Alexander taught at Mary Sharp College. (In the collections of the Library of Congress is a delightful, large print from the 1870's showing the front of Mary Sharp College, with bevys of crinolined young ladies wandering about under tiny parasols.) 

From 1880-1883 he taught at Stevenson, Alabama, and then they went back to Union Springs, where he taught until 1887. That year the family bought a farm in Pine Grove, Alabama (just outside Midway), 
and Alexander gave up teaching, although he continued preaching for 
another decade. 

-6- 

By 1897 Alexander and Nellie had grown and prosperous children 
who could and did give them financial support. So they retired to 
Montgomery to live. Nellie died of a heart attack in 1909, but 
Alexander lived another 12 years, dividing his time among his various 
children’s homes. He died in Decatur in 1921, at the age of ninety, 
in the home of Paul and Vernon Dix. Mary Vernon, who was then seven, recalls him as the "Downstairs Grandpa", more stern and reserved than the "Upstairs Grandpa" who was her mother's father. 

I have a glimmering of memory of Alexander also. He spent a 
month or so with us in Louisville a year or so before he died, probably in the summer of 1919. His appearance has been recalled to me by 
photographs, and I still recall my distaste, and even embarrassment at 
his snowy beard, which was very much out of fashion in post-war 
Kentucky. I also remember one incident:  the old gentleman bullied my father into going into a drugstore to buy a bottle of spirits of some 
sort (I've always assumed it was whiskey) over my father’s strenuous 
objections. The way my memory runs, We were all setting forth in our Ford touring car (Model T, of course) for the trip to Camp Daniel 
Boone, a distance of less than a hundred miles, but a major excursion 
for that era of poor roads, flat tires, and inexperience. The furor 
attendant on our departure was heightened by my grandfather’s request (which was never explained to us), but finally the car stopped outside a drugstore. I believe at the corner of Third and Broadway, 
where our road turned from south to east; my father, looking furious 
and embarrassed, slunk inside and came out with a bottle which he 
handed to the old man. Apparently., Daddy was most afraid that some one who knew him would see him in the act. Poor Grandpa, he could not have had a very happy visit with us, and I never saw him again. 
 

(retyped copy Jan 2003 of typewitten copy presumably from original.  Typewitten copy from family papers in possession of Mary Vernon Dix Sproles.  Retyped by Edward Sproles, 2003)
 

[Copied from a fragile, typewritten carbon copy in the possession of my mother, Mary Vernon Dix Sproles.  Copied January 3, 2003, by Edward Sproles.  Angeline is AFD’s older sister.]
 

[Originals] are copies of [following] three letters written by Grandfather Dix. in the 1850's to his brother-in-law, James Reynolds, and sent to my father [Philo] in 1931 by his cousin, Carrie Reynolds, who lived in Buffalo. I came upon them yesterday while looking for something else, and am just delighted. I hoped you would enjoy reading them, too, so I had some copies made today and will send a set to you, one to Frank, and one to Ellen. 
The letters are in good condition, and the two earlier ones are examples of Alex's beautiful calligraphy. The one from Rochester is less elegant and seems to reflect the despondent mood in which he was writing. I wonder if he ever graduated from the University. Why was he so worried about his father's financial condition? I suppose we will never know. He certainly was full of religion! Were they Baptists in New York State or did he become a Baptist after he went south? 
 

Words in red, are my best guess at deciphering Alex's longhand.

Transcribed Feb. 15, 2003 by Russell D. Whigham
Submitted by Ed Sproles Jr. via Mary Vernon (Dix) Sproles

This is from a letter from Jean (Dix) Alaway to Mary Vernon (Dix) Sproles:

[Originals] are copies of three letters written by Grandfather Dix. in the 1850's to his brother-in-law, James Reynolds, and sent to my father [Philo] in 1931 by his cousin, Carrie Reynolds, who lived in Buffalo. I came upon them yesterday while looking for something else, and am just delighted. I hoped you would enjoy reading them, too, so I had some copies made today and will send a set to you, one to Frank, and one to Ellen. 
The letters are in good condition, and the two earlier ones are examples of Alex's beautiful calligraphy. The one from Rochester is less elegant and seems to reflect the despondent mood in which he was writing. I wonder if he ever graduated from the University. Why was he so worried about his father's financial condition? I suppose we will never know. He certainly was full of religion! Were they Baptists in New York State or did he become a Baptist after he went south? 
 

To James H. Reynolds
Lockport [NY]

Image of hand written letter

Transcribed Feb. 15, 2003 by Russell D. Whigham
Submitted by Ed Sproles Jr. via Mary Vernon (Dix) Sproles

This is from a letter from Jean (Dix) Alaway to Mary Vernon (Dix) Sproles:

[Originals] are copies of three letters written by Grandfather Dix. in the 1850's to his brother-in-law, James Reynolds, and sent to my father [Philo] in 1931 by his cousin, Carrie Reynolds, who lived in Buffalo. I came upon them yesterday while looking for something else, and am just delighted. I hoped you would enjoy reading them, too, so I had some copies made today and will send a set to you, one to Frank, and one to Ellen. 
The letters are in good condition, and the two earlier ones are examples of Alex's beautiful calligraphy. The one from Rochester is less elegant and seems to reflect the despondent mood in which he was writing. I wonder if he ever graduated from the University. Why was he so worried about his father's financial condition? I suppose we will never know. He certainly was full of religion! Were they Baptists in New York State or did he become a Baptist after he went south? 

Transcribed Feb. 15, 2003 by Russell D. Whigham
Submitted by Ed Sproles Jr. via Mary Vernon (Dix) Sproles

Image of hand written letter

"Alexander Franklin Dix's cousin, Milton Butterfield urged him to remove to Union Springs, Ala. to teach. The school was successful and continued in operation until the outbreak of the War Between the States." 
 

"Abednego McGinty was a prominent citizen and Postmaster of Union Springs from 1857-1861".

Boarding in the McGinty home is Alex F. Dix, Teacher! 1860 Census for Union Springs

The first school Building was located at rear of the lot now occupied by the Baptist church.  Rev. W. D. McCa ty, now at Troy, was the first teacher I remember. Then D. B. McSween.  This building was moved to about where the M & E railroad bridge standson Prairie Street, and James T. Norman taught there for several years.  Frank Butterfield bought and built a two-story school building on the residence lots owned by Mrs. Maggie Ramsey and E. H. Cope and Mrs. R. D. Smith and called the place Woodlawn.  Butterfield was assisted by Mrs. S. A. Dozier, Revs. A. F. Dix, William Ferguson and Miss Julia McCann, all of whom are first class teachers and who are still living except possibly Mr. Ferguson.

The following passage is from Annie Dix Meiers'  book Scenes from My Life, Chapter 2, Ancestors:

     ...So through the generations of Dixes succeeding John Jr., through Moses and Ozias and Daniel, Alexander Franklin Dix was born in 1831, marking the two hundredth year that the Dixes had lived in America. By this time, the Dix family had moved even farther west into the state of New York. The family of Daniel and Dyanthia Dix consisted of three daughters and one son, Alexander Franklin, born in Wilson, N. Y. The boy grew to be a scholar, a student and teacher of
Latin and Greek, a student at the college in Albany and the University at Rochester and an ordained Baptist minister. He
fell in love with a girl of Pennsylvania Dutch descent, Helen Beach, lovingly called Nellie, and married her on January 2,
1861.

       Though this was only nine days before the state of Alabama seceded from the Union, January 11, and the
situation in that Southern state was rather uncertain, he had already promised to accept a position as teacher of Greek and Latin in a Female Seminary (i.e., girls college) in Midway, a small town not far from Montgomery; so he and his bride
embarked upon their trip South, and began their home in that Southern town. 

       More states seceded from the Union, and established the Confederate States of America with its capital at Montgomery.  War broke out between the Confederate states and those that remained with the Union in the North, the so-called Civil War. Most Northern people considered it a war begun by the South to retain slavery as legal. But Alexander Franklin Dix believed that the war was not about slavery, but about a principle that he had held in New York and brought with him to the South, States Rights. He abhorred slavery, never had a slave, and considered it immoral. But he believed that a state had the right to leave the Union if it wished, and not to be compelled by force of arms to remain. I remember as a girl how angry he was when anybody suggested that he had fought to retain slavery.

       So Alexander Franklin Dix in Alabama, like Robert E. Lee in Virginia, had to choose between two loyalties: loyalty
to the Federal Government or loyalty to his state. Both men chose their state.

       This was especially sad for Alexander Franklin. His mother had died when he was only two years old, but his
father was still in the North, as well as the husbands of his sisters and the brothers of his wife. If he joined the
Confederate army, he would be fighting against his brothers-in-law, all of whom he loved.

       However, he joined the Confederate army, and in the second year of his marriage was fighting in the battle of Shiloh
in Mississippi, under the command of General Albert Sidney Johnston. His first child was born the next year; and as
evidence of his admiration for his general, he named the baby Albert Sidney Dix.

"I do know that when father [Alexander F. Dix] was living in New York prior to the Civil War, he had a letter from his cousin Milton Butterfield, who was at Union Springs [AL], asking him to come to Union Springs and teach with him - which he did. Later, when I was ten years old, or in 1883, we moved back to Union Springs, and Cousin Ed [Edward Milton Butterfield], his wife and three girls were living there - Emmett, Estelle and Sunshine. There were the only kinfolk we had in the South, and so we very jealously claimed kin." "...but I am glad that you wrote me. Where is Emmett? I have a recollection of three very sweet, pretty girls, and Emmett visited our home at Pine Grove just prior to her marriage to Mr. Terrell. I would love to know something of those three girls."

05/12/1862  AFD enlisted as a Private in Confederate Army. Served in the infantry. Promoted to Sergeant Major (6)
09/01/1863  ASD born Midway AL Barbour Co. (now Bullock Co.) Son of Alexander F. & Nellie Beach Dix
03/19/1865  William Beach Dix born, Midway AL
05/09/1865   Discharged from Confedarate Army (7)
04/18/1867   Hattie Lillis (Dix) Hall [Dimple] Dix, born 
04/18/1869   AFD Ordained; Midway Church, Ala.(1) 
10/10/1869   Nellie Butterfield  [Daisy] Dix born
??/??/1869    AFD Pastored Enon Baptist Church, Ala. (1) 
??/??/1870    AFD Pastored Fairview, Ala (1)
06/14/1871   Mary Belle [Dollie] Dix born
08/22/1871   Nellie Butterfield  [Daisy] Dix died. Buried in Midway AL Baptist Cemetery
??/??/????     ASD baptized by Rev. Joseph Dill in Union Springs AL

10/??/1871    AFD & family moved to Winchester TN as pastor of the First Baptist Church (Oct.1871-Sept.1877) 
??/??/1872    AFD Mary Sharp College, Tenn., received his M.A  degree(1) 
02/12/1873    L. Daniel Dix born
08/20/1874    Alexander Franklin Dix Jr. [Allie] born
11/01/1875    Paul Finch Dix born
1876-1877     ASD and WBD enrolled at Carrick Academy, Winchester TN
10/??/1877    AFD Pastor, First Baptist Church,. Winchester TN (2nd Call).Oct.1877- Sept. 1878
1871-1878      Jr. & Sr. High Winchester, TN Carrick Academy (4)
09/24/1878     Philo Castle Dix born
1878-1879      A.F. Dix, Prof. of English and History at Winchester Normal School and College, Winchester TN (his last year)
1878-1879      ASD, WBD,HLD, MBD, & LDD attended Winchester TN Carrick Academy / Winchester Normal College
1879-1880      Albert Sidney Dix, Willie B. Dix, Hattie L. Dix, Mary Belle Dix and Daniel Dix enrolled at Winchester Normal
1878-1880      AFD, College Winchester, TN Winchester Normal College (4)
06/16/1880     Thomas Murrell Dix born in Winchester TN (5)

07/??/1880     AFD and family moved to Stephenson AL (5)
1880-1883      AFD, President of William and Emma Austin College, 1880-1889 [ the 1889 date MUST be wrong]

07/??/1883     AFD moved from Stevenson AL back to Union Springs AL,  Principal of the Union Springs Institute (1), (2), (5)
09/04/1884     AFD lived in Union Springs; Preached in revival at Midway
03/08/1885     William Beach ordained as minister at age 19 in Union Springs (1)
1885-1886      AFD, President of Classical Institute, Union Springs, Ala. (1)
08/27/1886     William Beach Dix died
??/??1886      AFD Pastored Country churches (1) 
04/??/1887     AFD, Circuit preacher for Midway, Fairview, Aberfoil and Liberty (1)
06/18/1888     ASD, teacher;  married Isadora J. Nicoles in Brewton AL
06/27/1889     Prof. ASD & IND of Anderson TN spend summer in Pine Grove. ADF baptizes IND 
09/29/1889     Nelle born in Brewton AL  Photo of Nelle as an infant has "Brewton" written on it.
06/03/1892     Ruth born in Postoak AL, Barbour Co. (now Bullock Co.)
10/20/1892     Dimple married James Hall  at Pine Grove AL. (1) 
09/19/1893     Dimple's daughter, Lillis Hall, born
09/20/1984     AFD Buggy accident in Bullock County (1)
10/22/1894     Francis Albert Dix (Uncle Buddy) born in Fitzpatrick AL, Bullock Co.
12/03/1894     Dimple's son, E. Winchester Hall, born
05/16/1895     Bro. A.F. Dix preached in Montgomery (1st Baptist?) church
02/12/1896     Dimple's daughter Helen Hall born.  Twin sister, Sarah, died
??/??/1896     Mary Belle "Dollie" Dix, joined First Baptist Church in Montgomery
05/22/1897     ASD mentioned in minutes of Butler GA Church Conference meetings
11/25/1897    AFD/Nellie joined the First Baptist in Montgomery AL (1) 
 03/24/1898   ASD's daughter, Isalee born in Butler GA (Location inferred from surrounding dates)
 05/10/1898    Dimple's son, James M. Hall, born

??/??/1898     Address given as 514 Jefferson Sy, Montgomery AL (8)
??/??/1899     Paul Dix was Montgomery BYPU President & 1st VP of State BYPU. YMCA Director in Montgomery. (3)
02/13/1899     Dimple's daughter, Winifred, born [See above.  Yes, this is possible, but just barely!]
02/28/1899     ASD Ordained in Butler GA.   Source: American Baptist Year-Book, under "Ministers Ordained in 1899"
09/13/1899     Alexander Franklin Dix Jr.(Allie), died. Buried in East Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery AL
??/??/1900     ASD still in Butler GA, Census Microfilm records found by Lyn Simonton
07/25/1900     ASD and family left Butler GA, moved to Perry GA as pastor of the Perry Baptist Church.
08/25/1900     Aunt Dollie writes to Nellie and Ruth in Knoxville GA
05/29/1901     ASD's son, Will Allie (Uncle Billy) born in Perry GA/Knoxville GA (?) (Location uncertain)
07/16/1901     Lell Daniel Dix married Annie G. Stakely
09/30/1901     "Dimple's" son, William A Hall born [One of these dates has to be wrong, see below]
12/20/1901     Mary Belle "Dollie" Dix died. Buried in East Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery AL
01/01/1902    "Dimple's" daughter Dorothy born  [One of these dates has to be wrong, see above]
10/22/1902     Daniel's daughter Annie born
11/12/1902     Thomas Murrell Dix married Frances E. Gray
 03/101903      "Dimple's" daughter Nina Hall born
??/??/1903     ASD moved from Perry GA to Forsyth GA; Pastor, Forsyth Baptist Church
07/27/1903     AFD family portrait was mad at AFD's 72'nd birthday at at 414 Finley Ave. 
03/04/1904    Thomas Murrell "Murray" Dix's daughter, Madelin (Dix) Reeves born
03/20/1904   ASD's daughter, Dorothy born in Forsyth GA. From her book of poerty, "Plateau Pauses and Other Poems" 
08/23/1906    Thomas Murrell "Murray" Dix's son, Arthur F. Dix, born
12/25/1906    AFD family portrait at 414 Finley Ave.
05/28/1907     Nelle Graduates from Bessie Tift College in Forsyth GA
06/??/1907     ASD moved to Macon;  Manager, Georgia Industrial Home
08/181907      Mary Jeniluska (Jenie) Holipeter Nicoles died.  Buried at Riverside Cemetery, Macon GA
1907-1908      Ruth Dix enrolled at Bessie Tift College Academy, in Forsyth GA
04/14/1909     Helen "Nellie" (Beach) Dix, died in Montgomery AL.  Burried at East Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery AL
1908-1910      Ruth Dix enrolled at Wesleyan College, Macon GA
03/13/1909     Eleanor (Dix) Smith born in Macon GA
??/??/1910      1910 census list AFD as part of James & Dimple Hall's household
12/27/1910     ASD died in Macon GA Buried Riverside Cemetery, Macon GA
??/??/1911     IND and family moved in with her in-laws at 12 Marshall St. Montgomery AL
10/25/1921     AFD died in Decatur AL; Buried in East Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery   (Gravestone) 

Back row: Philo Castle Dix, Thomas Murrell Dix
Front row: Paul F Dix, L. Daniel Dix, Alexander Franklin Dix II

Photo submitted by Ed Sproles Jr.

Ed Sproles writes: When I visited my mother in Arlington this week, we went through some more files and found the enclosed photo of 5 Dix brothers. I don’t know if you have a copy, but I didn’t see it on the web site with the other Dix brother photos. You can probably read the photographer’s mark on it: "Livingston & Moore Successors to J. W. Blyth, 10 Court Square, Montomery, Ala" Since Alex is in the photo, it was obviously taken before his death in September 1899. Otherwise, I don’t have any information on the date of the photo

L. Daniel Dix, James Hall (?), Philo Dix, Thomas Murrell Dix.

Photo Submitted by Alice Newman Shannon

Front row, L-R:  Helen), Lillis, Nelle, Ruth, James Hall Jr., Francis,  Elhannon Winchester "Chester" Hall.

2nd row (Children in laps of adults), L-R:  Nina Hall, William Hall [standing], Dorothy , Winifred, and Issalee.

2nd row (Seated adults), L-R:  James Hall, Dimple (Dix) Hall, Alexander Franklin Dix Sr., Nellie Beach Dix, Albert Sidney Dix, Isadora Nicoles Dix.

Back row: Mary Vernon (Nix) Dix, Paul Finch Dix [holding Oliver Dix] Annie (Stakely) Dix  & Lell Daniel Dix [holding daughter Annie Goulding Dix](1), Philo Dix, Unknown young woman -- NOT Elizabeth (Hayes) Dix, Thomas Murrell Dix & Frances (Gray) Dix.

Mary Vernon (Dix) Sproles identified the infant in Paul's arms as her oldest brother Oliver Paul Dix, born on May 22, 1903.  We thought that this infant was a girl until Mary Vernon pointed this out, and we remembered the little boys of this era were dressed in ornate gowns.

Martha and I recognize Ruth Dix. She seem to remember her Grandmother telling her that she was the one with the fan.  She looked to be about eleven years old.  Her date of birth was 06-03-1892.  So this photo was probably made in 1903.

We recognize Alexander Franklin Dix, and Nellie (Beach) Dix, in the center of the photo and Albert Sidney & Isadora Nicoles Dix from other photos [to the right of  AFD & NBD in the middle row of adults].
 
 

*   These are their ages when they married
** Philo and Bess were not married at the time this photograph was made.

In 1903 Albert Sidney had 5 living siblings.  There six younger couples in the photo, so the number fits.  So which grandchildren were alive in 1903?
 
 

Thomas Murrell Dix & Frances (Gray) Dix and Paul Finch Dix & Mary Vernon (Nix) Dix were newly weds in 1903

Martha thinks Dimple looks pregnant. 

*  The newspaper article cites 15 grandchildren in attendance.  I count 14 in the photograph.  I guess Will Allie "Billy" must be just out of the frame.
 

1. Dollie - B. 12-23-04; 2. Annie Goulding - B. 10-22-02; 3. Madeline - B. 02-04-04; 4. L.Daniel Dix - 5. Annie Stakely Dix;
6. Nellie (Beach) Dix (Mother); 7. Frances; 8. Murrie; 9. Paul; 10. Oliver P. - B. 02-22-03; 11. Alexander Franklin Dix (Father)
12. Vernon; 13. Susie - B. 02-09-06; 14. Philo Castle Dix

Ed Sproles
 

He returned to Midway in 1865 and resumed teaching. He was ordained to the Baptist Ministry April 18th,1869, and continued his work of teaching and preaching at Winchester, Tenn. 1871 to 1880, at Stevenson, Ala., 1880 to 1883 at Union Springs Ala. 1883 to l887, then discontinuing teaching and removing to Pine Grove, Ala. where he devoted his entire time to preaching until his removal to Montgomery, Ala.  in 1897 where he lived until 1918 when he went back to Pine Grove Ala. to make his home with his daughter Mrs. J. M. Hall, moving from there to Decatur, Ala. where he spent his last days at the home of his son, celebrating his ninetieth birthday on July 27th.

He is survived by one daughter, Mrs. J. M. Hall, of Pine Grove, Ala., four sons, L. D. Dix of Mobile, Ala., Philo C. Dix of Louisville, Ky., Paul F. Dix and T. M. Dix of Decatur, Ala. and quite a number of grandchildren and great-grand children.

Dear Sir:

I recently came across your site in the course of searching for data on various Beach/Beech families.  As you may know, I edit and publish the BEACH FAMILY JOURNAL; a genealogical newsletter.  For more about me and my publication, feel free to visit my own site at  http://www.beachfamilyjournal.com/gedcom/html/fam01802.htm

I wonder if I might have permission to publish some of the entries from the Dix-Beach Bible as posted to your site by Ed Sproles.  It seems to me I may have corresponded with Ed some time ago, but with the number of emails I send/receive I can't now recall.  I would, of course, give both you and Ed appropriate credit as the source and include you site's URL in case any of my readers wished further information.

In all events, I pass along the ancestry of the William Beach who was the father of Nellie L. (Beach) Dix.  Note that I have the name of her mother as Susannah "Reep," but am quite certain this is the same couple, based on their names, ages, locales, etc.  Feel free to include this info. on your site if you wish.

Regards, Eugene H. Beach, Jr. [Ancestry of William Beach follows]

1. William Beach born 1804, married Susannah Reep.

Parents

2. Joseph Beach born 1771, married 1801, Mercy Lyon, born 1771, died 1848, Erie County, New York, buried: Williamsville Cem., Amherst, N.Y.  Joseph died 1847, Erie County, New York, buried: Williamsville Cem., Amherst, N.Y.  The BEACH FAMILY MAGAZINE, Vol. II, No. 1, p. 119, says only that he had five sons.  Descendant Dale S. Beach of Latham, New York, notes that this Joseph Beach moved to Cheektowaga, Erie County, New York (just east of Buffalo) in 1818, giving its name to Beach Road in that town.

3. Mercy Lyon born 1771, died 1848, Erie County, New York, buried: Williamsville Cem., Amherst, N.Y.

Grand Parents

4. Ebenezer Beach married Tabitha Bennett, died 6-Jun-1824, Round Top, Greene County, New York, buried: Round Top Cemetery, Greene Co., New York.  Ebenezer died 17-Nov-1829, Round Top, Greene County, New York, buried: Round Top Cemetery, Greene Co., New York.  He settled in Round Top, Greene County, New York, c. 1787, and is the one on the 1790 Census for Catskill (then in Albany County), New York.  He is likewise the Ebenezer "Beaach" on the 1800 Census for Greene County, New York.

5. Tabitha Bennett died 6-Jun-1824, Round Top, Greene County, New York, buried: Round Top Cemetery, Greene Co., New York.  She died at age 77.

Great Grand Parents

8. Joseph Beach born 1717, married (1) Esther Mansfield, married (2) 6-Mar-1756, Deborah Jackson.  The children of this Joseph Beach by his first wife are sometimes credited to Joseph Beach(3) Joseph(2) John(1), but it is generally believed the line of Joseph(3) Joseph(2) died out before 1800.  Moreover, the "Mansfield" name appears among various descendants of his children; a clear reference to their mother's maiden name and, thus, the identity of this Joseph as their father.

9. Esther Mansfield.

Great Great Grand Parents

16. Ephriam Beach born 25-May-1687, Stratford, Connecticut, married 3-Jul-1712, Sarah Patterson.  Ephriam died 15-Mar-1717.  He reportedly died at age 30.

17. Sarah Patterson.

3rd Great Grand Parents

32. Nathaniel Beach born ---Mar-1662, married 29-Apr-1686, Sarah Porter, born SEP 1667, died 25-Mar-1738, Stratford, Connecticut.  Nathaniel died 24-Jul-1747.  He died at age 84.

33. Sarah Porter born SEP 1667, died 25-Mar-1738, Stratford, Connecticut.

4th Great Grand Parents

64. John Beach born 16--, married Mary _____.  John died 16-Jun-1677, Stratford, Connecticut.  He first appears in the records of New Haven, Connecticut, on 7-Jun-1643.  It is universally believed, based on a variety of circumstantial evidence, that John Beach was the brother of Richard and Thomas Beach, both of whom also settled in New Haven between 1639 and 1646.  John later moved to Stratford, Connecticut, c. 1660.  He owned land in Wallingford, but does not seem to have lived there himself.  Although many theories have been put forward, his ancestry has NOT yet been established by competent evidence.

65. Mary _____. She was NOT, as some claim, Mary Staples, daughter of Thomas Staples.  The early New England genealogists confused John Beach(1) with his son, John Beach, Jr.(2).  It was the latter who married Hannah, the daughter of Thomas Staples.  Mary, the wife of John Beach(1), is mentioned only once - at the birth of the youngest son Benjamin(2) - such that it is possible she was a second wife.  She is not named in the administration of her husband's estate, and so probably died before him.