DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about John Dix — and friend, this one earns every word. Now, some men live one life. John Dix, born in Littleton, Massachusetts, in 1796, seemed determined to live about seven of them.
He started early. As a teenager — still a teenager — he was already at sea, serving aboard a privateer during the War of 1812. And not just sailing around looking impressive.
He was engaged in capturing the English brig Don Cossack, a vessel that had left a California port. That kind of thing has a way of shaping a young man's sense of what's possible. He became a sea captain.
And because the sea has a sense of humor, he was eventually shipwrecked on the island of New Zealand. Filed that away. Kept going.
In 1825, Dix married Mary Eliza Hayes of Gloucester, Massachusetts. He founded a settlement in Washtenaw County, Michigan — a settlement that bears his name. So now we've got a war veteran, a privateer, a shipwrecked captain, and a town founder, and we're not even halfway through the man's story.
His family migrated to Texas, and Dix did what men of his particular disposition tend to do — he stepped into the fight. In October of 1835, he enlisted in the Texian army as a private in the company of Captain James Swisher. He served one month at San Antonio de Bexar before being discharged on November 4.
One month at the center of the storm. After the Revolution, the family put down roots in the town of Independence, where Dix farmed for fifteen years. Then in 1849, the Dix family packed up again and moved to Nueces County, settling in Corpus Christi.
When he arrived, Dix purchased six city lots from the city's founder himself, Henry L. Kinney. He turned to sheep ranching.
And apparently he was pretty good at it — winning prizes at the Lone Star Fair. A man who once chased down an English brig on the open ocean was now winning ribbons for sheep. Life contains multitudes.
Then came the appointments. President Franklin Pierce named him surveyor and inspector of the revenue for the port of Corpus Christi in 1854. President James Buchanan reappointed him in 1858.
John Dix had become, somehow, an establishment man. And then the Civil War arrived, and it cracked even the Dix family down the middle. Members took opposite sides.
Dix himself was a pro-Union activist, and in 1864, he was indicted for treason against the Confederate States of America — along with eight others. Treason. The man who'd fought for Texas independence was now facing charges for refusing to bend to a different cause.
But the war ended before any action could be taken against those men. Afterward, Dix was appointed chief justice of Nueces County — a position he held until 1869, the year before his death. From a Massachusetts boy on a privateer in the War of 1812, to a shipwrecked captain in New Zealand, to a soldier at San Antonio de Bexar, to a sheep rancher winning prizes at the Lone Star Fair, to a man indicted for treason and then made chief justice — John Dix didn't live a life so much as he accumulated them.
And somewhere in Nueces County, the marker stands to make sure we remember every single one.
What the marker says
Born in Littleton, Massachusetts, in 1796, John Dix played a significant role in American and state history. As a teenager, he served aboard a privateer during the War of 1812. He was engaged in capturing the English brig Don Cossack, which had left a California port. He soon became a sea captain and was shipwrecked on the island of New Zealand. In 1825 Dix married Mary Eliza Hayes of Gloucester, Massachusetts, and he founded a settlement in Washtenaw County, Michigan, which bears his name. Once his family migrated to Texas, Dix served as a soldier in the Texas Revolution. In October of 1835 he enlisted in the Texian army as a private in the company of Captain James Swisher and served one month at San Antonio de Bexar before being discharged on November 4. In 1849, after fifteen years of farming in the town of independence, the Dix family moved to Nueces County and settled in Corpus Christi where Dix purchased six city lots from the city’s founder, Henry L. Kinney. He was a successful sheep rancher, winning prizes at the lone star fair. Dix was appointed as “surveyor and inspector of the revenue for the port of Corpus Christi” by president Franklin Pierce in 1854 and was later reappointed by president James Buchanan in 1858. The Civil War split the Dix family when members took opposite sides. Dix, a pro-union activist, was indicted in 1864 for treason against the Confederate States of America along with eight others. The war ended before any action could be taken against the men. After the war, Dix was appointed chief justice of Nueces County, a position he held until 1869, the year before his death. (2013)