Dixon Legacy – From Slavery to Freedom

Ellis Dixon was born on Sandy Lawn Plantation, Hookerton North Carolina in June, 1826.  We have no information on who his mother was, other than she was a slave.  She was probably a young girl of not more than 16 yrs old at the time of his birth.  Ellis’ father was most likely his slave master, as Ellis is described as Mulatto in the census of 1890.  Ellis’ presumed father, the salve master, was a religious man named Benajah Dixon.  Benajah was of Scottish heritage.  His father, Murphreys Dixon, was a wealthy man who gave Benajah 220 acres of land and some skilled slave artisans as a wedding gift in 1807.  It is upon this land that Benajah established Sandy Lawn Plantation.  Ellis remained a slave at Sandy Lawn Plantation until the Emancipation Proclamation was enacted in 1865.  Ellis was 39 years old when he became a free man. Because slave marriages were not legally recognized, we have no record of when Ellis married his bride Sarah Suggs of a neighboring plantation. Upon their emancipation, Ellis and Sarah were able to live as husband and wife.  To their union the following children were born:

Children of Ellis and Sarah Dixon

Henry – 1856

Addie – 1860

Betsey – 1864

Marenda- 1866

Aquella – 1868

Timothy – 1870

Ellis James – 1873

Ciserous – 1875

Treasey – 1878

Thomas Ellis – 1881

Post Slavery

Just two years out of slavery, Ellis Dixon, along with Ellis Suggs, Louis Dunn, Ephriam Dixon and Squire Turnage founded in 1867 what is today Shady Grove Free Will Baptist Church. All of the various African American Free Will Baptist Denominations can trace their beginning to Shady Grove which was the first African American FWB Church. Ellis Dixon was a respected leader in the community and managed to amass a considerable amount of land. Upon his death in 1927, it is estimated that Ellis Dixon owned land valued between $15,000 and $20,000. This was a considerable amount for any man in Hookerton, North Carolina, most especially an African American and former slave. After Ellis’ death in 1927, there was a court battle over the land. In 1927, his youngest son and caretaker, Thomas Ellis Dixon, lost the land in a contested dispute over the will. Despite this devastating loss, Thomas Ellis Dixon would go on to continue the legacy of his father Ellis by carrying on the Dixon name and influence in the community.

Thomas and Mattie Dixon

In 1900, Thomas married Mattie Turnage and to this union the following children were born:

Leahman – 1901

Viola – 1903

Carrie – 1905

Lizzie – 1907

Albert – 1912

Nannie – 1916

Levi – 1920

Elijah – 1919

Beulah Mae – 1922

THOMAS AND Lillie DIXON

Mattie died in 1922 shortly after the birth of Beulah Mae. After Mattie’s death Thomas married Lillie Wooten in 1925. Thomas and Lillie had four children:

Aaron – 1925

Joseph (Joe) – 1928

Kathleen - 1930

Josephine - 1933