Our Family Documents

History of Jeremiah in the Revolutionary War

Col. Tilman Dixon

[I could not find any references to Col. Tilman Dixon. He only attained the rank of Major during the war. His brother Henry was a Colonel in the war.  It could be that he attained the rank of Colonel after the war.]

Maj. Tilman (Tilghman) Dixon was born 26 Jun 1750 in what is now Caswell County, North Carolina. His parents are Henry Dixon, Sr. (b. abt. 1723, Virginia) and Elizabeth Abernathy (d/o of Robert Abernathy, Jr). Henry Dixon, Sr. died in October 1795, and it is believed to be buried in Caswell County, North Carolina. More on Dixon family Genealogy can be found on the Lt. Col. Henry Dixon Webpage. No picture is known to exist of Maj. Dixon and the only description of him available is that he was that he frequently wore deerskin clothes and was fond of playing cards. According to Gen. George Washington, he was "a Captain who served till the end of the war".

"Appointed Lieutenant in the first North Carolina Regiment 20 Oct. 1775. He first served at the battle of Moores Creek Bridge. He became Captain Feb 15 1777 in the North Carolina Line, Continental Army. He along with his brothers (Lt. Col. Henry Dixon, Lt. Charles Dixon) and nephew, Wynne Dixon participated in the Battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, not to mention suffered at Valley Forge. At the fall of Charleston (May 12 1780) he was taken prisoner . Exchanged on 14 June 1781 and retired 1 Jan 1783. After his exploration of bounty lands along the Cumberland River he obtained a rank of Major."

In 1782, Capt. Tilman Dixon was one of three North Carolina Continental officers elected to accompany a party, commissioned by the North Carolina Assembly, to survey "bounty lands for it's soldiers along the Cumberland River" (in the present State of Tennessee). In addition to Dixon, elected were Lt. Col. Selby Harney, Maj. John Nelson, Capt. Alexander Brevard and Dr. Thomas Bull ( "included in the party, not only for his medical skills but because he could speak Spanish fluently and much of the land to be surveyed was along the borders of land where Spanish-speaking people resided.").

Following his service of exploration, Tilman Dixon, apparently was awarded the rank of Major Tilman Dixon. According to Tilman Dixon researcher, Mr. Billy Young, Dixon "In the early part of 1787...Came up the Cumberland River by canoe from Mansker's Station with Col. William Walton...to stake out their Revolutionary War grants" This was apparently after Dixon's initial visit to the area approximately four to five years earlier. It is very possible that among the "Spanish speaking people" who resided near this area, that Capt. Dixon came to know Maria (Mary) Don Carlos (b. 16 May 1767; d. 26 Aug 1806), daughter of Archelous Carlos (reportably of an aristocratic Spanish family that had settled first in Virginia.). A marriage bond was obtained in County of Sussex, Virginia, dated Nov. 16th 1789, by Tilman Dixon with a co-bondsman.
[Captain Tilman Dixon's company, First North Carolina Regiment, served as part of the Commander in Chief's Guard at one point in the war.]
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