JOHN ADAMS DIX.

OHN ADAMS DIX, son of Lieutenant-Colonel Timothy Dix, of the United

JOHN

States army, was born at Boscawen, New Hampshire, on the 24th of July, 1798. At a very early age he was sent to the academy at Salisbury, from which he was afterward transferred to the academy at Exeter, then under the direction of the celebrated Doctor Abbott, where he was the fellow-student of Doctor Jared Sparks, Honorable John G. Palfrey, the Peabodys, the Buckminsters, and others who have since acquired a just celebrity for their literary and scientific attainments. Early in 1811, while he was not yet fourteen years of age, he was transferred to a college at Montreal, where, under the direction of the Fathers of the Sulpician Order, he diligently pursued his studies until July, 1812, when, in consequence of the opening of hostilities between the United States and Great Britain, he was compelled to return to his own country.

After a short term of study at Boston, in December, 1812, young Dix was appointed a cadet in the army of the United States, and was ordered to Baltimore, where his father was then in command. His official duties were confined to an assistant clerkship to his father, in the recruiting service; and he was, fortunately, enabled to continue his studies, under the direction of the able faculty of St. Mary's College, a privilege which he gladly enjoyed. He was, at that time, a master of Spanish, a good Latin and Greek scholar, and well acquainted with mathematics. He spoke French fluently; and in every respect he was a highly-cultivated and scholarly young man.

In March, 1813, while on a visit to the city of Washington, the secretary of war offered him, without solicitation, the choice of a scholarship in the military academy at West Point, or an ensigncy in the army which was then about to take the field. He selected the latter, entered the fourteenth infantry, of which his father was then lieutenant-colonel, and immediately marched with his company to Sackett's Harbor, in New York.

In June, 1813, while yet in his fifteenth year, he was appointed adjutant of an independent battalion of nine companies, commanded by Major Upham, with which he descended the St. Lawrence, and participated in the perils and hardships of that unfortunate expedition.

His father having died in camp, in November, 1813, Lieutenant Dix sought

and obtained leave of absence, and returned home for the purpose, if possible, of saving something from the wreck of his father's estate, which had become greatly, and, as it proved, hopelessly disordered, during the absence of the latter in the service of his country. The lieutenant was then but little more than fifteen years of age, and his situation was one of great embarrassment and difficulty. He had lost his father, by whose prudent counsels he had been guided, and with his mother and nine children-all but two younger than himself-he was thrown upon the world with no other means of support than his lieutenant's commission.

In August, 1814, he was transferred to the regiment of artillery of which Colonel Wallach was the commandant; and under the guidance of that gallant officer he continued several years, pursuing his studies in history and the classics whenever his duties enabled him to do so. In 1819, he was called into the mili tary family of General Brown, as an aide-de-camp; and his leisure hours were spent in reading law, with a view of leaving the army at an early day.

In 1825, he was promoted to the command of a company in the third artillery; but his health having become impaired, he was compelled to ask for a leave of absence, and visited Cuba, where he passed the winter of 1825-'6. In the following summer, still in search of health, he visited Europe, and made an extended tour through the continent.

In 1826, Captain Dix married Catharine Morgan, adopted daughter of John I. Morgan, Esq., of the city of New York; and in December, 1828, he retired from the army, establishing himself soon afterward in Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, in the practice of law. He also entered political life, and it was not long before he became one of the most active and influential members of the Democratic party in the interior of the state. In 1830, Governor Throop called him into the public service as adjutant-general, a post of duty which he filled with honor to himself and singular advantage to the militia of the state.

In January, 1833, he was chosen secretary of state of New York, and became, ex officio, superintendent of common schools, a regent of the university, a member of the canal board, and one of the commissioners of the canal fund. It was he who introduced and established school-district libraries; and his codification of the laws and decisions under which the common schools of the state are governed, is a monument to his industry and official integrity. As a regent of the university and a member of the canal boards, he also rendered very efficient services to the state; and he retired from office with well-earned honors.

In 1841, Mr. Dix was elected a member of the assembly of the state, from the county of Albany; and in the struggle which ensued concerning the financial policy of the state of New York, under the leadership of the sturdy Michael Hoffman, he took a very active part. In the extra session which followed,

wherein the question of a division of the state into congressional districts was considered, and opposed with great skill and energy, Mr. Dix was again conspicuous; and in two very able speeches he urged an acquiescence in the measure, although at the same time he maintained that the interference of Congress in the matter was unnecessary and unauthorized.

In the fall of 1842, Mr. Dix went abroad, in consequence of the ill health of his wife; spending the winter in Madeira, and the following year in the southern countries of Europe. He returned to America in June, 1844, and in January, 1845, he was elected a Senator in the Congress of the United States, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the elevation of Silas Wright to the gubernatorial chair of the state. During the succeeding four years he was among the most useful members of that distinguished body; and, as chairman of the committee of commerce, he rendered very valuable services to his country. During his official term the annexation of Texas, the war with Mexico, the Oregon boundary, the French spoliations, and the right of Congress to prevent the extension of slavery into the territories, were the great subjects at issue; and on the latter question, especially, Mr. Dix took a decided and leading position, representing with great ability "The Barnburners" or free-soil Democrats of New York.

In the fall of 1848, Mr. Dix was the candidate of his party for governor of the state of New York; but, of course, he was not successful, and in March, 1849, he retired to private life. In 1853, he was appointed assistant treasurer of the United States, in New York; but soon afterward, having become dissatisfied with the official conduct of President Pierce, he resigned his office, and went abroad.

In May, 1860, Mr. Dix was appointed postmaster of the city of New York; and in January, 1861, when the public danger from the defection of the Southern states became manifest, he was summoned to Washington by President Buchanan, and on the 11th of that month succeeded Mr. Thomas as secretary of the treasury. On the 29th of January, he sent the justly celebrated telegraphic dispatch to Mr. William Hemphill Jones, whom he had previously sent to New Orleans, with orders to save, if possible, the revenue-cutters M'Clelland and Cass; and "If any one attempts to haul down the American flag, shoot him on the spot!" has since become one of the watchwords of our countrymen in their struggle with their rebellious brethren.

On the 6th of March, 1861, Mr. Dix retired from the treasury department, returning to his home in New York; and on the 20th of May, when the assault on Fort Sumter aroused the outraged North, he was called to preside at the immense meeting of the citizens of New York in Union Square, which had been convened to take measures for the defence of the constitution and the enforcement of the laws. "The Union Defence Committee," which was organized at

that meeting, and on which so much depended in the earlier days of the struggle, called him to its head; and, as its chairman, he was one of the most active and intelligent of its members.

On the 6th of May, he was appointed a major-general in the volunteer service of New York; and, on the 14th of June, the President appointed him to a similar position in the army of the United States. On the 20th of July, having been appointed commandant of the department of Maryland, he was ordered to proceed to Baltimore, where he established his head-quarters.

Under his directions, the expedition to the county of Accomac, in Virginia, commanded by General Lockwood, was organized and successfully prosecuted; and his energetic and vigilant prosecution of his duties was displayed in the complete quiet which prevailed throughout his department.

In May, 1862, he was transferred to the command of the military department of Eastern Virginia; and established his head-quarters at Fortress Monroe, Virginia.

The last civil duty which General Dix performed was as a member of the commission to consider the several cases of alleged treason among the rebel prisoners in the custody of the United States authorities.

General Dix possesses great energy of character; and he has always discharged the varied duties to which he has been called, with honor to himself and advantage to the country.