James Dixon | |
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| United States Senator fromConnecticut | |
| In office March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1869 | |
| Preceded by | Isaac Toucey |
| Succeeded by | William A. Buckingham |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromConnecticut's1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1849 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas H. Seymour |
| Succeeded by | Loren P. Waldo |
| Member of theConnecticut 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 | Elizabeth Lord Cogswell Dixon (1820 - 1871) |
| Children | Elizabeth L Dixon (1841 - 1931) Clementine Dixon Welling (1843 - 1921) James Wyllys Dixon (1846 - 1917)Henry Whitfield Dixon (1850 - 1932). |
| Alma mater | Williams College |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
James Dixon (August 5, 1814 – March 27, 1873) was aUnited States representative andSenator fromConnecticut.
Dixon, son of William & Mary (Field) Dixon, was born August 5, 1814, inEnfield, Connecticut, Dixon pursued preparatory studies, and graduated fromWilliams College inWilliamstown, Massachusetts, in 1834, where he had been a charter member ofKappa Alpha Society. He was elected toPhi Beta Kappa. He studied law, and was admitted to thebar in 1834 and commenced practice in Enfield.
Dixon was a member of theConnecticut House of Representatives in 1837–1838 and 1844, and served as speaker in 1837; he moved toHartford, 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. Clementine was courted (unsuccessfully) by the paleontologist,Othniel Charles Marsh.[1]She married Dr. James Clarke Welling.
Dixon was elected as a representative of Connecticut's 1st District, as aWhig to the House, serving during the Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Congresses (March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1849),[2] and was a member of the State house of representatives in 1854. He declined the nomination forgovernor of Connecticut in 1854, and was an unsuccessful candidate for United States Senator in 1854.
Dixon was elected as aRepublican to the U.S. Senate in 1856, and reelected in 1863, serving from March 4, 1857, to March 3, 1869.[3]
On December 16, 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".[4]
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 onDistrict of Columbia (Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses) and Post Office and Post Roads (Thirty-ninth Congress).[5] He supportedHoratio Seymour in the1868 United States Presidential Election and was an unsuccessfulDemocratic 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.
AppointedMinister toRussia in 1869, Dixon declined and engaged in literary pursuits and extensive traveling until his death in Hartford on March 27, 1873. He is interred inCedar Hill Cemetery.[6]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromConnecticut's 1st congressional district March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1849 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. senator (Class 1) from Connecticut March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1869 Served alongside:Lafayette S. Foster andOrris S. Ferry | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
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| Class 3 | ||
| Post Office and Post Roads (1816–1947) | | |
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| Civil Service and Retrenchment (1873–1921) | ||
| Civil Service (1921–1947) | ||
| Post Office and Civil Service (1947–1977) | ||
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
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