James Dixon

James Dixon (August 5, 1814 – March 27, 1873) was a United States Representative and Senator from Connecticut.

For other people named James Dixon, see James Dixon (disambiguation).

James Dixon
United States senator from Connecticut
In office March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1869
Preceded by	Isaac Toucey
Succeeded by	William A. Buckingham
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 1st district
In office March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1849
Preceded by	Thomas H. Seymour
Succeeded by	Loren P. Waldo
Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives
In office 1837-1838 1844
Personal details
Born	August 5, 1814 Enfield, Connecticut, US
Died	March 27, 1873(1873-03-27) (aged 58) Hartford, Connecticut, US
Political party	Whig, Republican, Democrat
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Lord Cogswell Dixon (1820 - 1871)
Children	James Wyllys Dixon (1846 - 1917) Henry Whitfield Dixon (1850 - 1932)
Alma mater	Williams College
Profession	Politician, Lawyer

Biography

Dixon, son of William & Mary (Field) Dixon, was born August 5, 1814 in Enfield, Connecticut, Dixon pursued preparatory studies, and graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1834, where he had been a charter member of The Kappa Alpha Society. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1834 and commenced practice in Enfield.

Career

Dixon was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1837–1838 and 1844, and served as speaker in 1837; he moved to Hartford, Connecticut in 1839 and continued the practice of law. He married Elizabeth Lord Cogswell on October 1, 1840. They had two sons, James Wyllys Dixon and Henry Whitfield Dixon, and two daughters, Elizabeth L. Dixon and Clementine Lydia Dixon.[1] Clementine was courted (unsuccessfully) by the paleontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh.[2]

Dixon was elected as a representative of Connecticut's 1st District, as a Whig to the House, serving during the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Congresses (March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849),[3] and was a member of the State house of representatives in 1854. He declined the nomination for Governor of Connecticut in 1854, and was an unsuccessful candidate for United States Senator in 1854.

Dixon was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 1856, and reelected in 1863,[4] serving from March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1869.[5]

On 16 December 1861, Lyman Trumbull asked the Senate to consider his resolution: "That the Secretary of State be directed to inform the Senate whether, in the loyal States of the Union, any person or persons have been arrested and imprisoned and are now held in confinement by orders from him or his Department; and if so, under what law said arrests have been made, and said persons imprisoned." Dixon, supporting repression, said of the resolution: "it seems to me calculated to produce nothing but mischief".[6]

While in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses (Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Congresses) and a member of the Committees on District of Columbia (Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses) and Post Office and Post Roads (Thirty-ninth Congress).[7] He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives in 1868, primarily because he had been the first Republican member of the Senate to oppose the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson.

Death

Appointed Minister to Russia in 1869, Dixon declined and engaged in literary pursuits and extensive traveling until his death in Hartford on March 27, 1873. He is interred in Cedar Hill Cemetery.[8]

References

1. "James Dixon". Find A Grave. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
2. Plate, Robert. The Dinosaur Hunters: Othniel C. Marsh and Edward D. Cope, pp 45, 52, 53, 216, David McKay Company, Inc., New York, New York, 1964.
3. "James Dixon". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
4. Normally, the election would have been in the fall of 1862, but the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress says 1863 (see link)
5. "James Dixon". Govtrack US Congress. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
6. United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe: Containing the Debates and Proceedings of the Second Session of the Thirty-Seventh Congress. Edited by John C. Rives. Washington, DC: Congressional Globe Office, 1862, p. 90.
7. "James Dixon". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
8. "James Dixon". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved 9 January 2013.

External links

• United States Congress. "James Dixon (id: D000369)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• James Dixon at Find a Grave
• Govtrack US Congress
• The Political Graveyard

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Thomas H. Seymour	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut's 1st congressional district March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849	Succeeded by Loren P. Waldo
U.S. Senate
Preceded by Isaac Toucey	U.S. senator (Class 1) from Connecticut March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1869 Served alongside: Lafayette S. Foster and Orris S. Ferry	Succeeded by William A. Buckingham

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress website http://bioguide.congress.gov.