DR. J. C. B. DIXON. One of the old and honored medicine men and citizens of Howell County, Missouri, is Dr. C.B. Dixon. This gentleman was born in Tennessee, August 20, 1823, and is a son of Thomas and Ann (Maybury Dixon.
The grandfather, Edam Dixon, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He moved from North Carolina to Tennessee while the Indians were still in that section, and was one of the nine pioneers in East Tennessee. The father of our subject was born in North Carolina, became a substantial farmer, and died in Tennessee, as did also his wife, when the Doctor was but a child.
The latter was the youngest of seven children, and from an early age was obliged to make his own way in life. He grew to boyhood among the Cherokee Indians in Tennessee, secured but a limited education, and at an early age began working on a farm. As he grew older he saw the need of a better education and began to apply himself. In the year 1845 he took up the study of medicine under Dr. Miles of Kentucky, and subsequently attended the Louisville Medical College of Kentucky. Five years later he began practicing in Bullitt County, Kentucky, and made his home in that State until 1865. During a part of that time he was engaged in merchandising, and met with excellent success in that industry. From there he went to Minnesota, resided in St. Paul a short time, and then located at Quincy, Illinois, where he made his home until 1866. From there he came to Howell County, Missouri, located in Hutton Valley, twenty miles west of West Plains, and resided there until 18 2, when he came to West Plains. Since 1850 he has practiced medicine, always with flattering success. The Doctor is a member of the South Missouri Medical Association, and is one of the oldest physicians in the county. He has met with success in his different occupations, owns a large amount of property in West Plains—many business houses on the square–and is one of the strongest men, financially, in the city. In his political views the Doctor is a Democrat, was president of the county court two terms, and was probate judge two terms. During the war he was major of a State military regiment, and was a Union man during that eventful period. He served seven years as President of the Board of Examining Surgeons of Howell County, and for four years was mayor of West Plains. Dr. Dixon is a Knight Templar in the Masonic fraternity, has been with the order many year s, and has held office in the same. He is also a Odd Fellow, and takes a deep interest in the workings of that order. The Doctor was a soldier in the Mexican War, and was a member of the Fourteenth United States Infantry of the Regular Army, serving until the close of the war, and fighting many gruerrillas and Indians. He was wounded in a skirmish, and is a pensioner of the war. A pioneer in his profession in this State, he traveled many miles on horseback here and in Arkansas. In religion he is a non-sectarian, of St. Louis, Missouri.
Dr. Dixon was married in Kentucky to Miss Catherine Weolch, and two children were reared: Edam, who is a commercial man and resides in West Plains, and Nancy M., the wife of Hon. A. A. Van Warner of West plains. Our subject has witnessed the entire growth of Howell County, for when he came here there were not over fifty families in Howell County. He is a self-made man in all that the words imply, and is one of the leading men of the county. Generous and free-hearted, he gives freely to churches and all charitable purposes.