Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-10-02
DIXON OF YAzOO.
Character and Wicked Career of the
Dead Gambler.

Chicago Times
Henry Marshall Dixon, the inde-
pendent candidate for sheriff recently
shot at Yazoo City by Barksdale, was
born in Fauquier county, Va, in 1917,
aud was, therefore, at the time of his
death, about thirty-three years old
At the age of fourteen he ran away
from home and joined Mosby's guer-
rlllas, becoming a member of Captain
Farrars company. His father was a
Union man, and an officer in the Fede
raj army. The remainder of his fam.
lily sympathized with the South, and
an older brother was in the Confede.
rate army. His mother, anxious tC
have her young boy home again, caused
Henry's arrest by the United States
authorities, and efforts were made tC
get him to take the oath of allegiance
but he refused to do this, and was sent
to the Old Capitol prison. His father
was enabled to secure the young mans
release, and he was sent to George
town College. He tried to run away
from there, but failed in the attempt
He was always wild boy, good
hearted, but difficult to keep within
proper restraints.
In 1864 he met in Washington
THE WIFE
who has been at his side from the day
Of their marriage to that of the trag
edy. She was the daughter Of Major
Niche, a Union man, commission
merchant in New Orleans, and a
gentleman of some means. The two
became much attached, but the father
opposed the match. Dixon had then
as he ever had, that strange fascina
tiOn which some men have over wo-
men, and which is inexplicable tC
those who have it not. At the time Of
his death he was about five feet eight
inches high, and was slim in his build
His shoulders were remarkably square
SO much so that they almost formed
right angles; his face was smooth, his
complexion was light, and so boyish
was his appearance that, though
thirty-three years old, he would not
be taken on a short study for more
than twenty-three or twenty -four. He
was quick and active in his move
ments, very affablc to those he liked.
always dressed in natty, neat-ftting
clothes, and had the appearance of a
sport. This was as he looked in
Yazoo. His wife was so infatuated
with him when they met that the op-
position Of her father had only in
creased her feeling, and if it had been
necessary she would have run away
from home, she says, to marry him.
She was at that time but seventeen.
and the ground of their objection was
their youth, and possibly the young
mans impecunioSity or wildness. In
January, 1865, Major Niche and his
daughter returned to their home in
New Orleans, and in the following
May young Dixon followed them.
The two arranged for a marriage, not
withstanding the fathers disapproval.
Everything being in readiness, she
told her father when the event was to
take place, and asked his presence.
He refused to be there, and told her
that if she married Dixon he would
never speak to her again or give her a
cent. The young couple went to a
justice Of the peace alone and were
united. The father died Of the chol-
era in 1867, but he had become recon
ciled to the marriage before he passed
away.
The two came to Yazoo in Febru-
ary, 1866, and have lived here ever
since. Dixon became a professional
gambler, and during part Of the time
he ran a gambling-hOuse of his own
on Main street.
DIXON'S GAMBLING PLACE
was on the second floor of two-story
brick building on Main street, oppo-
site DR.. McCormick's drug store. The
room is still used for the same pur-
pose. A well worn and untidy carpet.
well worn and uneasy sofa on which
Dixon was laid when he was shot
for the stairs up which he ran when
Barksdale shot him were the stairs
leading to his own gambling-room-a
few chairs, two tables, one of them
covered with poker chips, the other
fixed for faro, few pictures on the
wall, and a few packs of cards com
plete the furniture of the room as it
stands now. Dixon had nothing to do
with it for two years, and he repeat
edly said that he had played no cards
since he anHOunced himselffor sheriff.
When he kept the place he and an-
other man, yet in town, were in part
nership. A part of the time the
rooms have been used simply for a
club, and men living in the city had
keys by which they could let them