Mary E. H. Dix
In memory of
Mary E. H. Dix
Born
April 18, 1801
Died
April 3, 1878
Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales
Provenance: Mrs. Willie Lee Biggio Jones and Rebecca Lee Jones
2. Biography
Mary Eliza Hayes was the wife of John James Dix, Sr. (1796-1870). John James was born at Littleton, Massachusetts and ran away to sea in 1810. He later served on an American privateer in the War of 1812. Then he made a voyage to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) in 1820, and in 1825 he was wrecked on the north island of New Zealand. On his return from these adventures he married Mary Eliza Hayes and they settled at Dixboro, a village John had surveyed in Washtenaw County, Michigan Territory. Mary moved with her husband and family to Texas in February of 1834 and initially settled in Washington County. The family moved to Corpus Christi about 1849 and constructed the Dix House, for many years one of the leading hotels of Corpus Christi (later called the Seaside Hotel). During the 1850s and 1860s Mary taught both black and white children regularly in the second-story meeting room of the Dix House. Mary also joined her husband in helping to organize the first Presbyterian Church congregation in Corpus Christi along with Sunday school. John died of pneumonia in 1870 and Mary died 8 years later (see obit of John James Dix in Daily Ranchero of Brownsville, page 3, col. 2 which is copying article from Corpus Christi Advertiser, see also article in Handbook of Texas on John James Dix, Sr.).
Research and transcription: Michael A. Howell