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George Washington Dixon (1801?Many biographies list his birth year as 1808, but Cockrell, ''Demons of Disorder'', 189, argues that 1801 is the correct date. This is based on Dixon's records at a New Orleans hospital, which list him as 60 years old in 1861, and an 11 December 1841 article in the ''Flash'' that says he was born "some forty years ago".– 2 March 1861 ) was an American Singer , stage Actor , and Newspaper Editor . He rose to prominence as a Blackface performer (possibly the first American to do so)Watkins 84. after performing " Coal Black Rose ", " Zip Coon ", and similar songs. He later turned to a career in Journalism , during which he earned the enmity of members of the upper class for his frequent allegations against them. At age 15, Dixon joined the Circus , where he quickly established himself as a singer. In 1829, he began performing "Coal Black Rose" in blackface; this and similar songs would propel him to stardom. In contrast to his contemporary Thomas D. Rice , Dixon was primarily a singer rather than a dancer. He was by all accounts a gifted vocalist, and much of his material was quite challenging. "Zip Coon" became his trademark song. By 1835, Dixon considered journalism to be his primary vocation. His first major paper was ''Dixon's Daily Review'', which he published from Lowell, Massachusetts , in 1835. He followed this in 1836 with ''Dixon's Saturday Night Express'', published in Boston . By this point, he had taken to using his paper to expose what he considered the misdeeds of the upper classes. These stories earned him many enemies, and Dixon was taken to court on several occasions. His most successful paper was the ''Polyanthos'', which he began publishing in 1838 from New York City . Under its masthead, he challenged some of his greatest adversaries, including Thomas S. Hamblin , Reverend Francis L. Hawks , and Madame Restell . After a brief foray into hypnotism, "pedestrianism" (long-distance walking), and other pursuits, he retired to New Orleans, Louisiana . DIXON IN BLACKFACE Details about Dixon's childhood are scarce. The record suggests that he was born in Richmond, Virginia , probably in 1801. His parents were Working-class folk, perhaps a barber and a washerwoman. He may have been educated at a charity school.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 96. Fairly detailed descriptions and portraits of Dixon survive; he had a swarthy complexion and a "splendid head of hair". 19 September 1841 ''Sunday Mercury''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 129. However, the question of whether he was white or black is an open one. His enemies sometimes called him a " Mulatto ", a " Negro ", or referred to him as "Zip Coon", the name of the black character in one of his songs. However, the weight of evidence suggests that if Dixon did have black ancestry, it must have been fairly remote.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 193 note 112. A newspaper story from 1841 claims that at age 15, Dixon's singing caught the attention of a circus proprietor named West. The man convinced Dixon to join his traveling circus as a stablehand and errand boy. 11 December 1841 ''Flash''. Paraphrased in Cockrell 96. Dixon traveled with this and other circuses for a time, and he appears as a singer and reciter of poems on bills dated from as early as February 1824. By early 1829, he had taken on the epithet "The American Buffo Singer". Over three days in late July 1829, Dixon performed " Coal Black Rose " in Blackface at the Bowery , Chatham Garden , and Park theatres in New York City . The '' Flash '' characterized his audience as "crowded galleries and scantily filled boxes"; 11 December 1841 , ''Flash''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 96. that is, mostly working-class. On 24 September at the Bowery, Dixon performed ''Love in a Cloud'', a dramatic interpretation of the events described in "Coal Black Rose" and possibly the first blackface Farce . These performances proved a hit, and Dixon rose to Celebrity . On 14 December , the gross of Dixon's benefit at the Albany Theatre was $155.87, the largest take there since the opening night earlier that year. Dixon performed through 1834, most frequently at New York's three major theatres. In addition to blackface song-and-dance numbers, he did whiteface songs and scenes from popular plays. On 25 November 1830 , he sang before a crowd of 120,000 in Washington, D.C., in support of the July Revolution in France. He began selling a collection of songs and skits he had popularized called ''Dixon's Oddities'' in 1830; the book remained in print long after. Dixon mostly played to a working-class audience, including in his repertoire such songs as "The New York Fireman", which compared firefighters to the American Founding Fathers. Oratory made up another facet of his act; on 4 December 1832 , the '' Baltimore Patriot '' reported that Dixon would read an address from the President at the Front Street Theatre .Cockrell, ''Demons'', 97. In 1833, he started a small newspaper called the Stonington ''Cannon''. However, the publication saw little success, and by January 1834, he was performing again, now with new talents, such as Ventriloquism . Dixon seemed untarnished by his yearlong hiatus. Reviews said that "his voice seems formed of the music itself—'' 'it thrills'', it animates' . . . ."''Bedford Enquirer'', quoted in 18 January 1834 ''Harrisburg Pennsylvania Telegraph''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 113. Emphasis in original. The ''Telegraph'' wrote, In March, Dixon performed " Zip Coon " for the first time. The song, a racist tale about a black " Dandy " trying to fit into Northern white society, quickly became an audience favorite and Dixon's trademark tune. He later claimed to have written the song, although others performed it before him, so this seems unlikely. On 7 July , the Farren Riots erupted. Young men in New York City targeted the homes, businesses, churches, and institutions of black New Yorkers and Abolitionists . On the night of 9 July , the mob stormed the Bowery Theatre. Manager Thomas S. Hamblin failed to quell them, and actor Edwin Forrest did not meet their expectations when they ordered him to perform. According to the '' New York Sun '': DIXON THE EDITOR In early 1835, Dixon moved to Lowell, Massachusetts , a small town growing out of the Industrial Revolution. By April, he had taken the epithet "The National Melodist" and was editing ''Dixon's Daily Review''. The paper took as motto "Knowledge—Liberty—Utility—Representation—Responsibility"Cockrell, ''Demons'', 101. and championed the Whig Party , Radical Republican ism, and the working class. ''Dixon's Daily Review'' also explored Morality and women's place in the rapidly changing society of the urban North. Dixon's criticism of his colleagues did not win him any friends, and in June, the '' Boston Post '' reported that he had "flogged one of the editors of the '' Lowell Castigator '', and was hunting after the other." 11 June 1835 '' Boston Post ''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 102. By the next month, Dixon had sold his paper, and the new publishers were eager to point out that Dixon no longer had anything to do with its production. By August, rumors were circulating that Dixon had started up another paper called the ''News Letter'' and was selling it in Lowell and Boston . If he did, no copies are known to have survived.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 103. By February 1836, Dixon was touring again. He played many well-attended shows in Boston that month and did a play at the Tremont Theatre . His recent forays into publishing had soured his image in the popular press, however, and '' The New York Times '' satirized his lower-class audience: On 16 and 30 April , Dixon played the Masonic Temple in Boston. There he included material to appeal to his lower-class fan base, such as a popular tune that he had adapted with lyrics about the Boston Fire Department . Nevertheless, he also reached out to a richer, middle-class patronage. For example, he played alongside a classically trained pianist, and he billed the performance as a " Concert ", a word typically reserved for high-class, non-blackface entertainment.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 103-4. Dixon earned a third of the gross from this engagement: $23.50.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 104. He still owed money to the printer of ''Dixon's Daily Review'', so these earnings were put in trust for the conductor of the orchestra to pick up at a later date. Dixon and the printer grew impatient and presented a 1836 ''New York Transcript''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 104. At the trial, held in mid-June, character witnesses testified that Dixon was "a harmless, inoffensive man, but destitute of business capacity" and "in reply to the question whether Dixon was '' Non Compos Mentis ,'' I consider him as being on the frontier line—sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the other, just as the breeze of fortune happens to blow."Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 104, 106. In the end, he was found not guilty when the prosecution failed to satisfy that he had known the document to be a forgery. Dixon took the opportunity to give a speech to the public outside. He then returned to the stage, earning a considerable $527.50 in late July.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 106. Dixon was still guilty in the eyes of the press, however, and his letters to clear his name only made things worse: By the end of 1836, Dixon had moved to Boston and started a new paper, the ''Bostonian; or, Dixon's Saturday Night Express''. The paper focused on working-class issues, religious values, and opposition to Abortion . It also followed the lead of the ''Daily Review'' in exposing allegedly immoral affairs of well known Bostonians. One story told of two personalities eloping. Other Boston papers called the story false, and the '' Boston Herald '' labeled Dixon a "knave". Dixon fired back, depicting the paper's editor, Henry F. Harrington , as a monkey.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 107. In early 1837, Dixon was again in legal trouble. Harrington accused Dixon of stealing half a ream of paper from the '' Morning Post '', the principal competition to Harrington's ''Herald''. The judge eventually dismissed the case, agreeing that the paper had been taken, but ruling that no proof pointed to Dixon as the one who had taken it. Dixon gave another post-trial speech, followed by a stage show on 4 February .Cockrell, ''Demons'', 108-110. Not ten days after the end of the Harrington case, Dixon was charged with forging a signature on a bail bond pertaining to his previous debt from July 1835. He was sent to Lowell and jailed. The press responded with its usual glee: "George has been a great eulogist, the defender of the Constitution! But he cannot defend himself." 13 February 1837 ''Lowell Advertiser''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 110. At his hearing on 15 February , bail was set at $1000, an unheard of amount for the time.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 110. Unable to pay, he was transferred to a jail in Concord, Massachusetts . Dixon's 1837 ''Boston Post''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 111. Another stage tour followed, with concerts in Lowell, New England, and Maine. This was an apparent success, with one reviewer saying that Dixon had "a voice which ''all'' unite in pronouncing to be of remarkable richness and compass." 5 August 1837 ''Portland Eastern Argus''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 113. Emphasis in original. That Fall, he may have contemplated a tour with James Salisbury , a black musician and dancer well known in lower-class districts of Boston such as Ann Street . Instead, he appeared on 6 December at the upper-class Opera Saloon , singing selections from popular Opera s. His fame (or notoriety) served to get him listed as a candidate for the Boston mayoral race in December. Dixon won 9 votes, despite his polite refusal to serve should he be elected.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 113-4. THE ''POLYANTHOS'' Dixon performed in Boston through the end of February 1838. That spring, he moved to New York City, where he re-entered the publishing business with a newspaper called the ''Polyanthos and Fire Department Album''. Dixon again championed the lower class and aimed to expose the sordid affairs of the rich, especially those who preyed upon lower-class women.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 114-5. An early ''Polyanthos'' alleged that Thomas Hamblin, manager of the Bowery Theatre, was engaging in an affair with Miss Missouri, a teen-aged performer there. Within ten days of publication, Miss Missouri turned up dead, reportedly killed by "inflammation of the brain caused by the violent misconduct of Miss Missouri's mother and the publication of an abusive article in ''The Polyanthos''." 20 June 1838 ''Boston Post''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 115. On 28 July , Hamblin accosted Dixon. Another assault in August prompted Dixon to start carrying a pistol. Undaunted, Dixon continued his attacks on Hamblin and others in the ''Polyanthos''. He exposed another alleged affair, this between a merchant named Rowland R. Minturn and the wife of a shipmaker named James H. Roome. Twelve days after the publication, Roome killed himself. Another article alleged that Francis L. Hawks , an Episcopalian rector and reverend at the St. Thomas Church of New York, had been engaging in illicit sexual behavior. On 31 December , Dixon was in court, charged with Libel . Dixon spent a week in jail, then paid the $2000 bail. However, before he could even leave the jailhouse, he was arrested for a charge leveled by Rowland Minturn's brothers that Dixon's article had resulted in the man's death. Bail was raised to $9000, an enormous amount, which Dixon protested. The prosecution argued that "The accused is a ''criminal of the blackest dye'', and by his infamous publication is morally guilty of no less than three murders, and I hope the court will not diminish the amount of bail one iota!" 20 April 1839 '' New York Herald ''. Emphasis in original. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 118. It did not. Nevertheless, a notorious New York madam named Adeline Miller paid it, and Dixon walked free. Only a month later, though, she had sent Dixon back to jail for unknown reasons. Facing seven counts (four from Hawks and three from the Minturns), the singer and editor remained incarcerated for two months while he awaited trial. The Minturn case came first, on 15 April 1839 . After three days, the jury came back unable to reach a verdict, and the Minturn brothers dropped the charges. Dixon returned to jail, but Hawks dropped his charges from four to three. The judge lowered bail to $900 on 20 April , and Dixon walked free. The press renewed their attacks on him: Dixon fought back in the ''Polyanthos'' by defending himself and his motives, and to some degree, he seems to have succeeded. The ''Herald'' for one admitted that his trial had exposed an unsavory facet of the upper class. 19 April 1839 ''New York Herald''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 121. Nevertheless, on 10 May , Dixon changed his plea to guilty regarding one count, and the next day did the same for the other two. He was sentenced to six months of hard labor at the New York State Penitentiary at Blackwell's Island . Dixon reportedly responded, "This is a pretty situation for an editor." 20 May 1839 ''Boston Post''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 126. He would later claim that Hawks had paid him $1000 to change his plea.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 127. The press reacted with its usual fervor: Dixon served out his sentence then returned to New York. He resumed the ''Polyanthos'', emerging as the leader of a cadre of like-minded editors interested in exposing immorality.Cockrell, ''ANB'', 645. Dixon now focused his efforts on Austrian dancer Fanny Elssler , whom he accused of sexual misconduct. On 21 August 1840 , he went so far as to rally a riot against her and then published the inciting speech in the ''Polyanthos''.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 128. He then targeted men who seduced young, working-class women, boarders who cheated their landlords, dysfunctional banks, and so-called British agents who were supposedly stirring up anti-American sentiment among American Indians and black slaves.Browder 25. Dixon claimed to be "a battering-ram against vice and folly in every shape", 19 June 1841 ''Polyanthos''. Quoted in Browder 25. writing: On 16 February 1841 , Dixon turned to a crusade against a New York Abortion ist known as Madame Restell . He vowed to reprint an anti-Restell editorial every week until the authorities took notice or Restell stopped running newspaper ads for her abortion services. As for abortion itself, Dixon claimed that it subverted marriage by inhibiting procreation and encouraged female infidelity. Dixon kept his word, illustrating the editorial in later runs with woodcuts of Restell carrying a Skull-and-crossbones emblem. When the 17 March '' New York Courier '' quoted the New York grand jury as saying "We earnestly pray that if there is no law that will reach this Restell , which we present as a ''public nuisance'', the court will take measures for procuring the passage of such a law", 17 March 1841 ''Courier''. Quoted in Browder 29. Emphasis in original. Dixon responded with the 20 March headline "Restell caught at last!" 20 March 1841 ''Polyanthos''. Quoted in Browder 29. On 22 March , Ann Lohman, part of the husband-and-wife team behind the Restell name, was arrested. Dixon claimed vindication and covered the trial over several issues of the ''Polyanthos''. After her conviction on 20 July , he wrote, "the monster in human shape . . . has . . . been convicted of one of the most hellish acts ever perpetrated in a Christian land!" 21 July 1841 ''Polyanthos''. Quoted in Browder 44. On 1841 . The ''Uncle Sam''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 130. Even with positive press, Dixon's troubles with the courts were not over. Around 16 September , he allegedly assaulted Peter D. Formal, who was taking down bills that Dixon had posted. Dixon failed to appear for his October court date, and he skipped later dates on 1 and 11 November , as well. On 19 November , he again was placed under arrest for Obscenity as part of a citywide campaign by the district attorney to fight Yellow Journalism . On 13 January 1842 , Dixon was indicted for the charges ''in absentia''. A warrant was issued for his arrest on 13 April . By this time, he had handed the ''Polyanthos'' to Louse Leah , and the charges were eventually dropped. In late 1841, Dixon had gotten into another row with a colleague. William Joseph Snelling obtained a warrant against him, and Dixon countersued. Snelling wrote anonymously in the ''Flash'': In keeping with sexual morality at the time, Dixon and his colleagues sometimes checked bordellos for cleanliness, friendliness, and other factors. Snelling drew from this, linking Dixon to organized Prostitution and alleging that he had connections to a madam named Julia Brown .Cockrell, ''Demons'', 135. Eventually, another editor named George B. Wooldridge joined with Dixon for a few issues of the ''True Flash'', but they did not sell well. Rumors circulated at this time that Dixon was to be married, but sources disagreed over whom; one said the fiancée was a Congressman's daughter, another that she was a madam. The ''Flash'' published a story that Julia Brown and a prostitute named Phoebe Doty had been seen fighting over the Melodist. If Dixon did marry, no record survives of it.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 136. LATER CAREER Beginning in 1842, Dixon took on a number of new occupations, including Animal Magnetist and Spiritualist specializing in Clairvoyance . A fad for public competitions and feats of endurance served as another vehicle for him to keep his name in the public eye; he became a "pedestrian", a long-distance sport Walker . In February, he competed to win $4000 by walking 48 hours without stopping. When the prize failed to materialize, Dixon charged admission to watch him. Later that month, Dixon tried to break this record by walking 50 hours. His publicity was, as usual, bad. '' 1842 ''Brother Jonathan''. Quoted in the '' Lowell Courier ''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 137. He walked for 60 hours that summer in Richmond, then did 30 miles in five hours and 35 minutes in Washington, D.C.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 137. Dixon tried many other feats of endurance as well. For example, in late August, he stood on a plank for three days and two nights with no sleep. In September, he paced for 76 hours on a 15-foot-long (five-meter) platform.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 138. Meanwhile, he did not give up his singing career. In early 1843, Dixon (now called "Pedestrian and Melodist") appeared at least once more at the Bowery Theatre, and he played on bills with Richard Pelham , George Rice , and Billy Whitlock . On 29 January , he performed at a benefit for Dan Emmett . These concerts would be his last. Despite these excursions into athletics and entertainment, Dixon still considered himself an editor. He started a new paper called ''Dixon's Regulator'' by March, and he renewed his public crusade in New York. On 22 February 1846 , he posted handbills around the city publicizing a meeting to protest further activities by Madame Restell. At the rally the next day, several hundred people listened to Dixon speak against the abortionist, calling for her neighbors to demand her eviction or else to take matters into their own hands. The crowd then walked to her residence three blocks away to shout threats but eventually dispersed.Browder 64-5. Restell responded with a letter to the '' New York Tribune '' and '' New York Herald '' alleging that Dixon was simply trying to extort money from her in return for an end to his agitation: Another crusade seems to have drawn Dixon away from New York in 1847. He was probably one of the first Radical Republicans to entrench himself in the Yucatán in a bid to annex more territory for the United States.Cockrell, ''Demons'', 196 note 190. Dixon retired to New Orleans, Louisiana , sometime before 1848. A city directory gave his address as "Literary Tent",Cockrell, ''ANB'', 646. and his obituary in the '' Baton Rouge Daily Gazette And Comet '' stated that the Poydras Market "by night and day, was the home of this waif upon society . . . . The 'General' was not without friends who contributed an odd 'five' to him when too frail to move about."Obituary, 23 March 1861 , ''Baton Rouge Daily Gazette and Comet''. Quoted in Cockrell, ''Demons'', 196 note 190. He came down with pulmonary Tuberculosis sometime in mid-1860. On 27 February 1861 , he checked into the New Orleans Charity Hospital , noting his occupation as "editor". Dixon died on 2 March . NOTES REFERENCES
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