Dixon Springs, Pope County, IL

MORE DIXON SPRINGS HISTORY

      "A fine beech tree in the park bears the date 1812 carved in the bark fifteen or eighteen feet above the ground, the wound is healed, of course, but still so plain are the figures that there is no mistaking them. In the old Hazel cemetery are three handmade and carved headstones bearing the dates 1834, 1835 and 1837. All three stones bear the name of "Farmer." These people were ancestors of our friend, Mr. Ammon Farmer _it was he who found the stones and pointed them out to us.

      All of these facts prove conclusively that a settlement was in existence here long before the springs were given their present name.

      In examining abstract of titles we find that SW 1-0 of Sec. 16 Twp. 13 was entered by Geo. W. Cotton and Elizabeth Cotton, his wife, on March 3, 1840. A land grant was issued to William Dixon and Caroline, his wife, on the same described tract in 1848; this grant later being signed by President James Buchanan. It is interesting to note the following names as they appeared from time to time in the transfer of deeds: Raum, Allen, Baker, Smith, Watson, Whiteside and Groves. The above William Dixon from whom the springs take their present name, was a great uncle of our fellow-townsman, R. O. Dixon. The post office was at one time called Allen Springs and was moved farther down the road, but Dixon Springs has been the name of the real place since the land was homesteaded by Mr. Dixon.

      In an atlas published in 1876 we find this: "There are many mineral springs of which copperas is the chief ingredient. One in the SW 1-4, Sec. 16, Twp. 13 has a considerable reputation as a watering place and is frequently visited by citizens of Paducah. (This old Atlas is still in the Golconda Public Library. )

      This constitutes the information on the founding of Dixon Springs, but the list of names of early settlers who lived and loved and passed on, would tell its real foundation if we only knew it all, and each life has left its trail__ its mark __and among the sturdy frontiersmen who tilled the lands, builded homes, attended "meetin" in the little log church, doctored there own families in sickness, endured all the hardships of life in a new country; we find the names of Clemens, Modglin, Sistler, Hazel, Cooper, Cletcher, Jones, Dixon and dozens of others who all had a hand in founding Dixon Springs we know.

      When you come again, spend some of your time with the names and dates on Album Rock and while carving on the trees is now vigilantly discouraged, at one time there walked a people through the grounds who carved names and dates on trees high above your head which are interesting to study. One can imagine the romance, the friendships, and perhaps the tragedy that may have been part of this beautiful place. And through all the ages the water springs have flown on and on."

______Copied from Trampe’s-Pope County Historical Review

(Date unknown, possibly early 1930’s)

Back to Southern Illinois Histories