Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-10-02

selves in. Everybody in the place
knows of Dixon's gambling, and there
is no secret about it. He played no
small games; the wealthiest and best
known men along the river often sat
around the table with him, and some
tell Of evenings when he won large
amounts. That he was professional
gambler for years all know, no one,
either of his friends or enemies, de-
MES it.
In 1872 or 1873 he was indebted to
man named Hilliard Greenleaf for a
small amount of money. Greenleaf
asked for it aud Dixon refused to pay.
The man used some offensive Ian
guage, and Dixon
DREW A PISTOL AND SHOT HIM DEAD.
Dixon was arrested and put in Jail
but he finally got out on bail, aad
nothing was ever done with the case.
1t is said that he was not even indict-
ed. q
In political riot in 1875, Richard
Mitchell, white man, was shot dead
by Dixon. The Dixon Scouts was
company Of fifty or a hundred such
young men, with Henry Dixon, then
20 years old, at their head, who
formed the YazoO county bulldozers.
and who, in greater or less numbers,
accompanied Dixon when he hung
seven or eight negroes in that county
during the few months that formed
the political campaign. Barksdale,
the man who shot him, was one Of
them Frank Dixon, Henry's broth
er, now in the pension Office at Wash
ington, was another; and, in fact,
they included about all the leading
young men Of the county. They
wore no uniforms and no masks.
THE NEXT MAN THAT HE KILLED
was a negro named Patterson, mem
Der Of the legislature, living in the
upper part of the county. Patterson
had had as a mistress mulatto wo-
man, subsequently the wife of another
negro. Patterson got the woman
away, and the husband complained TO
Colonel Campbell, his employer. Pat.
terson hired negro for $50 to kill the
husband. Colonel Campbell became
alarmed, as that part of the-eounty is
densely populated with negroes, and
he and another man were about the
only whites there, and he sent to va
zoo for aid. A warrant was sent for
the arrest of Patterson, and a posse of
twenty armed men, taken either in
part or in whole from Dixon's scouts.
was detailed to serve the warrant.
Dixon went along, but instead Of
bringing in Patterson, they hung him.
A mock trial is said to have been held.
Dixon stood on the piazza Of the house,
land told all who were in favor OF
hanging the man to stand on one side,
and all opposed on the other; and the
crowd decided on death. Then he
wanted some one to volunteer to han
die the rope, but, no one doing so. he
said with an oath he would do it him
self. A tree was found, and Pattor.
son was asked if he had anything to
say. He had. His mother and his
sister we're living, he said, in Xenia,
o. He had on his person $1,000 in
money and securities, and he asked as
a last request that the crowd see to ii
sacredly that the funds were sent to
them. This was agreed to; the funds
were placed in the hands of man in
the crowd, and Patterson was hung by
Dixon until he was dead. He subse-
quently hung a negro named Ham
mond, and another named Albert Au-
gustus.
These are a few of the instances
during the fall of 1875, in which
Dixon killed men himself, or did it
with his scouts. There are two or
three other we'll assured cases, and
the inform&tion comes pretty straight
that
He HUNG SEVEN MEN IN ALL,
or four more than are here mentioned.
These seven were hung during the
months of September and October,
while the political campaign was in
progress.
He next shot and killed Sam Har-
rison, a professional gambler from
Cincinnati-indeed, assassinated him,
shooting from behind pile of barrels
on the sidewalk. In 1877 he became
the negroes candidate for sheriff. 1t
was during this canvass that he made
the charges against the female mem
bers of Barksdale's family, which re-
suited in his death at the hands Of
the latter.