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New Hampshire War Heroes & Personages
19 Pillsbury Street, 2nd floor
Webster - New Hampshire State Government Online
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New Hampshire War Heroes & Personages In the Collections of the New Hampshire State House & State Library
Born Boscawen (NH); died New York City (NY).
John A. Dix received his early education from his father, who had encyclopedic interests. After a year at Phillips Exeter Academy, Dix was sent to the College of Montreal (1810), a Catholic institution in Canada, so that he would be exposed to another culture and another language. The experiment lasted fifteen months; it was interrupted by the War of 1812. Dix was sent to a relative in Boston to pursue more studies, but as a fourteen year old he wanted to enter military service and fight in the War. Dix's father (who was now a major of infantry in Baltimore) helped his son get a commission, and John Dix served as ensign at the Battle of Niagara, a.k.a. Lundy's Lane, together with others whose portraits also grace State House walls. Dix's father was killed in battle during the campaign of 1813, and Dix's stepmother was left with nine children. Dix managed to send money home to help the family, while at the same time advancing in the military. He rose to the rank of major, and served in New York City and Washington, D.C. While in Washington Dix studied law. He was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1824, while also writing on political matters for various newspapers. In 1826 Dix married Catherine Morgan, the adopted daughter of Congressman John J. Morgan of New York State. Morgan offered his son-in-law an opportunity to oversee his upstate New York land holdings from Cooperstown, and Dix resigned from the military to take the position. Dix settled with his wife in Cooperstown in 1828, and within a short time he became county leader of the Jackson Democrats, while also practicing law. In 1838 Governor Throop appointed Dix Adjutant General of New York State - a low-paying job but one which made Dix a part of the "Albany Regency." Within a short time Dix became Secretary of State for New York; he served in this post 1833 - 1839, and became known for his interest in superintending public schools. This interest in education was part of the duties of the Secretary of State. Dix also began to agitate for a geological survey to be made of New York State. Dix pursued these interests while also starting up a literary and scientific magazine, Northern Light (1841 - 1843). The magazine might have lasted longer, but Mrs. Dix became ill. On doctor's advice, the couple traveled to the Mediterranean and to Madeira. This trip subsequently became a book, A Winter in Madeira; and a Summer in Spain and Florence (1850) which went through several printings. When Mr. And Mrs. Dix returned from Europe, John Dix was immediately approached about filling out the unexpired term of U.S. Senator Silas Wright, of New York. Dix accepted and during his years in the Senate (1845 - 1849) he had a strong interest in international affairs. He supported the fixing of the Oregon Territory's boundary at the 49th parallel, and he was against the withdrawing of a diplomatic representative from the Papal States. Dix also had strong views against the spread of slavery into new American territories. His Free Soil sentiments led that party to nominate Dix for an (unsuccessful) effort to become Governor of New York State in 1848, and he gained the undying enmity of the Southern Democrats. President Franklin Pierce (1853 - 1857) wanted to make Dix Secretary of State, but he withdrew the nomination because of Southern opposition. A nomination to become minister to France was also derailed. Dix broke with the Democratic Party after these rejections. He traveled abroad, and served a term as president of the Chicago & Rock Island and Mississippi & Missouri Railroads (1854 - 1857). In 1861 the United States Post Office needed reform, and President James Buchanan (1857 - 1861) appointed Dix Postmaster of the United States. Success here led to Dix's appointment as Secretary of the Treasury, another government department in disarray. Dix served less than two months as Secretary - Salmon P. Chase was named to the post by incoming President Abraham Lincoln - but Dix accomplished a great deal because he had the trust of bankers and financiers. The United States was able to borrow some millions of dollars at favorable rates, enabling the government to prosecute the war effort, a not inconsiderable contribution to the ultimate outcome of the War Between The States. It was during his fifty-two days as Secretary of the Treasury that Dix made the remark which graces his State House portrait frame, and which ensured his fame. Trying to cope with rising hostility against the national government in New Orleans, Louisiana, Dix telegraphed the New Orleans Treasury office on January 29, 1861 that any effort to take over a Federal revenue cutter by southern sympathizers should be resisted. His message concluded, "If anyone attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot." These words grace the frame of the gigantic (9'9" H x 6'10" W.) State House portrait of General Dix. [Note: The Dix portrait was hung in 1887. At the outset it hung opposite the State House portrait of Gen. Benjamin F. Butler, who imposed martial law on New Orleans. Butler was called "Beast" Butler in New Orleans; he is memorialized elsewhere in this history.] Dix was replaced as Secretary of the Treasury by incoming President Abraham Lincoln, but Lincoln rewarded Dix for his service by commissioning him a major-general. In June 1861 Dix returned to Washington, D.C. to take charge of the Department of Alexandria and Arlington (VA). At age sixty-three Dix was thought to be too old for active military service and he was soon put in charge of the Baltimore headquarters of the Department of Maryland, and then in charge of the Department of the East, with headquarters in New York City. Dix served two years in New York City (July 1863 - July 1865); he arrived days after the great Draft Riots, and he took prompt actions to restore order and limit actions of southern sympathizers. After the Civil War General Dix filled public roles which came to him. He served as minister to France (1866 - 1869); in 1872 he was nominated and then elected Governor of New York. At age 75, Dix faced the impossibility of cleaning up Tammany Hall corruption, however, and he lost his 1874 reelection effort to Samuel J. Tilden. His last years were spent in New York city where he was a vestryman at Trinity Parish Church (his son was minister there for almost a half century, beginning in 1855). He also lent his name to various civic causes. For more information, see Morgan Dix, ed., The Memoirs of John Adams Dix (two volumes, 1883); obituaries in The New York Times (April 21-22-23, 1879) and The New York World (April 22-23-,1879); James Ford Rhodes, History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 (1892), vol. 1. Also Leonard K. Guiler, ed., Who Was Who in America, 1607 - 1896) (1963), and A. Johnson and D. Malone, eds., Dictionary of American Biography, vol. 5 (1930). Location: First Floor, State House |
General John Adams Dix (1798 - 1879)