Overview
Dix, John J.,
1826-1910.
Papers
1860-1928
Records consist of
personal papers, 1860-1928, from Captain John J. Dix (1826-1910) and family
descendents. The papers of Captain Dix include scattered business and family
correspondence, military records, historical accounts and letterpress volumes.
Papers of family descendents include political materials on Duval County,
Texas. Military records include quartermaster supply invoices and a muster roll
of Dix's company in the Frontier Regiment. There are two historical accounts
handwritten by Dix on Indians and Indian raids in south and west Texas covering
the period from 1846 to the 1880s. There is also a handwritten biography of
Captain Dix, ca. 1907, possibly autobiographical. There are eleven letterpress
volumes covering the business activities of Dix as a land agent. Letterpress
volumes are from 1872-1886 and 1898-1906. Other records in the accession
concern Duval County and Texas politics in the early twentieth century. These
include broadsides and pamphlets, in Spanish and English, from the 1920s and an
accounting report on the finances of Duval County from 1915. These latter
records are from the files of John D. Sutherland, a grandson of John J. Dix,
and a Duval County lawyer and member of the Republican party.
1.41 cubic
ft.
English.
Restrictions on Access
None.
Restrictions on Use
Under the Copyright Act of 1976 as amended in 1998, unpublished
manuscripts are protected at a minimum through December 31, 2002 or 70 years
after the author's death. Researchers are responsible for complying with the
Copyright Law.
The letterpress volumes are not indexed and are too fragile to be
photocopied.
The supply invoices are tattered and damaged by insects; extreme
care must be used in handling.
Preferred Citation
(Identify the item), John J. Dix Papers. Archives and Information
Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Biographical Sketch
Captain John James Dix had long and varied military and civilian
careers in Texas. He was born in Michigan on March 24, 1826. His family
emigrated to Texas, arriving in February 1834, and settled at Coles Settlement,
renamed Independence in 1836, in Washington County. In 1845, during the
U.S.-Mexican War, he went to the mouth of the Rio Grande and worked as a
sutler's clerk and as a horse drover for the Army quartermaster. After the war,
he settled in south Texas, west of the Nueces River.
In January 1860, Dix joined and was elected a second lieutenant in a
special force of Texas Rangers under the command of Major John S. (Rip) Ford.
The Rangers had been called out after Brownsville had been temporarily occupied
by forces led by Juan Cortina during a local uprising. Dix and the Rangers
fought a brief battle against Cortina in February 1860 before peace was
restored in the Rio Grande Valley. In 1862, during the Civil War, Dix raised a
company of men and served one year as their captain in the Frontier Regiment
from 1862-1863. Dix then returned to his home and joined a company of the Home
Guard for a year. In July 1864, he enlisted in the Expeditionary Force of
Colonel John S. (Rip) Ford to serve in the Brownsville area. He was appointed
quartermaster of the Expeditionary Force and also served as Colonel Ford's
adjutant until the end of the war.
Returning to south Texas, Captain Dix settled in Duval County and
began a long career as a land agent and surveyor. He was a surveyor or deputy
surveyor for the Nueces Land District for over forty years and was first
elected County Surveyor in Duval County in 1876, a post he was elected to
intermittently over the next twenty-five years. Dix also served one term in the
House in the 22nd Texas Legislature in 1891-1892, representing Duval and five
other south Texas counties. In addition, Dix worked as a clerk in the General
Land Office in Austin in 1894-1895. Dix died August 30, 1910 in Bexar
County.
Scope and Contents of the Records
Records consist of personal papers, 1860-1928, from Captain John James
Dix (1826-1910) and family descendents. The papers of Captain Dix include
scattered business and family correspondence, military records, historical
accounts and letterpress volumes. Papers of family descendents include
political materials on Duval County.
Military records include quartermaster supply invoices and a muster
roll of Dix's company in the Frontier Regiment. The muster roll has been filed
separately as an oversize manuscript. There are two historical accounts
handwritten by Dix on Indians and Indian raids in south and west Texas covering
the period from 1846 to the 1880s. There is also a handwritten biography of
Captain Dix, ca. 1907, possibly autobiographical.
There are eleven letterpress volumes covering the business activities
of Dix as a land agent. Letterpress volumes are from 1872-1886 and 1898-1906,
arranged chronologically. Many of the letters are illegible due to the ink
fading and blurring.
Other records in the accession concern Duval County and Texas politics
in the early twentieth century. These include broadsides and pamphlets, in
Spanish and English, from the 1920s and an accounting report on the finances of
Duval County from 1915. These records are from the files of John D. Sutherland,
a grandson of John J. Dix, and a Duval County lawyer and member of the
Republican party.
Arrangement of the Records
A folder listing follows; the unbound manuscript items are filed
chronologically, followed by the bound letterpress volumes, also in
chronological order.
Index Terms
The terms listed here were used to catalog the
records. The terms can be used to find similar or related records.
Personal Names:
Dix, John J.,
1826-1910--Biography.
Sutherland, John
D.
Corporate Names:
Texas Rangers.
Texas. Frontier
Regiment.
Subjects:
Indians of North
America--Texas--Wars.
Places:
Duval County
(Tex.)--History.
Duval County
(Tex.)--Politics and government.
Duval County
(Tex.)--Commerce.
Document Types:
Correspondence--Duval
County (Tex.)--1865, 1870, 1893.
Letterpress
copybooks--Duval County (Tex.)--Business records--1872-1906.
Biographies--Texas.
Broadsides--Duval County
(Tex.)--Politics--c. 1920-1930.
Pamphlets--Duval County
(Tex.)--Politics--c. 1920-1930.
Muster
rolls--Texas--Military records--1862-1863.
Account books--Duval
County (Tex.)--Business records--1915.
Functions:
Businessman.
Related Material
The following materials are offered as
possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by
the papers. The listing is not exhaustive.
Texas State
Archives
John James Dix Collection, 1847-1902, 5 1/2 in.
Prints & Photographs Collection, Photo print of a home in Abilene, Texas,
1989/028-1
Texas Adjutant General's Department, Civil War military
rolls, Muster roll #1672
Processing Information
Paul B. Beck, November 1989
Accession Information
Accession number: 1989/028
The papers of Captain John J. Dix were part of a donation by Dr. Roy
Thompson to the Genealogy Department of the Texas State Library. Dr. Thompson
gained possession of the materials when he purchased the filing cabinet of a
family descendent of Captain Dix at a salvage sale. The Dix papers were
transferred from Genealogy to the State Archives on November 2, 1988.
Detailed Description of the Papers
Papers,
1860-1928,
1.41 cubic ft.
1989/028-1
1.
Commemorative poem, Lines on the
death of my infant - as soon as born, Benjamin Rankin [?],
February 1860
1989/028-1
2.
Quartermaster supply invoices for Company H, Frontier
Regiment,
January 1863
[very poor condition]
1989/028-1
2.
Muster Roll for Captain John J. Dix's Company, Frontier
Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers, from July 1862 to February 1863
Has been transferred to: Oversize Box 15, Folder 6
1989/028-1
3.
Dix family correspondence:
1989/028-1
3.
To Mrs. M.E. Dix from Mr. & Mrs. John J. Dix,
Brownsville, TX,
January 30, 1865,
ALS
1989/028-1
3.
Funeral notice, printed, John Dix, Corpus Christi, TX,
January 18, 1870
1989/028-1
3.
To Fannie [Dix] from John J. Dix, San Antonio, TX,
April 8, 1893,
ALS
1989/028-1
4.
General store billing accounts, Benavides, TX, for J.J.
Dix,
May 10, 1890 and April 25, 1892
1989/028-1
5.
Business correspondence, George Bodett, San Diego, TX to
Captain John J. Dix, San Antonio, TX,
July 19, 1893,
ALS
1989/028-1
6.
A history of Indian raids and battles in south Texas,
beginning in 1846, by Captain John J. Dix, and sent to the Editor of an unknown
newspaper,
July 11, 1898,
ALS [11 pages, portions missing]
1989/028-1
7.
A history of Indians of South and West Texas and Indian
raids, [by Captain John J. Dix],
c. 1900
13 pp.
1989/028-1
8.
Biography of Captain John J. Dix [by Dix?],
c. 1907,
10 pp.
1989/028-1
9.
Papers of John D. Sutherland, Duval County financial
and political investigations,
1915, 1928
1989/028-1
10.
Political broadsides, Duval County, in Spanish and
English,
c. 1920s
Letterpress volumes:
1989/028-1
11.
1872-1876
1989/028-1
12.
1876
1989/028-2
1.
January - August 1877
1989/028-2
2.
September 1877 - 1878
1989/028-2
3.
1879 - 1880
1989/028-2
4.
1881 - 1882
1989/028-2
5.
1882 - 1883
1989/028-3
1.
1883 - 1885
1989/028-3
2.
1885 - 1886
1989/028-3
3.
1898 - 1900
1989/028-3
4.
1900 - 1906