Oliver Judson Nix and his wife, Anne Rebecca (Stewart) Nix, were the parents of Paul Finch Dix's wife, Mary Vernon (Nix) Dix.  OJN's close relationship with the Dixes when both the Dix and Nix grandfathers lived with Paul's family more than justifies inclusion in our Dix family history.  Thanks to Mary (Dix) Sproles and her son, Ed Sproles Jr. for all of the contributions.  See the Paul Finch Dix
page for additional information on the Nixes.
 
 

In talking with my mother (MVD), she mentioned some information on her mother's family. The photograph of her mother's mother, Anne Rebecca Stewart, (ARS) hung in her mother's bedroom for many years. This photographic print is fairly large, image about 8x12, in a frame about 14x20 (inches). It probably was made from an earlier photo. On the reverse, my mother has written in pencil: "Anne Rebecca Stewart, died approx 1882, mother of Mary Vernon Nix, grandmother of Mary Vernon Dix, great grandmother of Edward Sproles, Jr." Note that I have also some notes that indicate her life as 13 Nov 1850 – 30 Mar 1880.

Oliver Judson Nix and ARS had two children. Mary Vernon Nix b1878 and Sara Zelma Nix b1880?. ARS died at the time Sarah's birth. 

Sarah was sent to live with an aunt in Texas, an Aunt Beulah (spelling uncertain). Sarah died as a child when she was about 4 years old. (We have some notes listing her life as 30 March 1880 to 21 August 1884.)

OJN and MVN lived with OJN's sister, "Aunt Sue" during MVN's childhood, presumably in Montgomery. Sue was another sister of OJN and she was a schoolteacher. Aunt Sue did not marry, she is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Montgomery.

My mother (MVD) said that OJN had some older brothers who died during the Civil War. OJN was born in 1851 and fortunately the war ended before he was old enough to participate.

My mother remembers that MVN stayed in contact with Aunt Beulah for some years. My mother remembers that much later when PFD and MVN were established in Decatur (1920s or later) with their family that Beulah wrote that she was making rugs. MVN sent her money for a rug and it came, and all were disappointed with what they had received. Mom described it as very ugly, and said that they didn't keep it very long. (Somewhere I have seen an old letter to MVN from someone in Texas, I shall try to find it and see if it is from this Aunt Beulah.)

Ed Sproles Jr.
June 2005

From Ed Sproles Jr.:

Last weekend Nell Wade visited Arlington and stayed with my mother and I.  We looked through some more material in a box of family history stuff and found some older material on my grandmother, Mary Vernon Nix, Paul F Dix's wife.  We have a few photos to share.  Mostly they predate her marriage and include her time as a teacher of Latin at Montevallo.  If anyone happens to have contacts with anyone interested in Montevallo history, please share photos with them, and ask if they can add any information on MFN's time at the school.

Three images are on steel rather than paper.  they are very dark, I lightened them when I scanned them.  I shall send them first, they represent the earliest items. 

Mary Vernon Nix was born in October 1878 and her sister, Sarah Zelma Nix was born in March, 1880.  Unfortunately, their mother died at Sarah's birth.  Sarah was sent to live with an aunt in Texas and died at age 4.  MVN stayed with her father, Oliver Judson Nix.  He never remarried although my mother says he was a 'good looking man. 

My mother identified the children in the 2 person photo.  However, we are not sure of the child in the other two photos.  we don't know the timing of the 3 photos.  These photos and some others that I shall send were all in an envelope marked "mother" and includes letters to and from MVN of various dates  up thru the end of her life.

Ed Sproles Jr.

One other piece of trivia on these photos.  Tintypes or ferrotypes were direct positive prints, the first system that brought photos to less affluent classes.  It dates from the 1850's and required less equipment investment than other systems.  One interesting attribute is the mirror image quality.  The image is reversed so what appears to be the right hand is the left hand.  So, the child with the little purse is holding it on her right arm, not her left arm. 

Here is a photo marked as Mary Vernon Nix in her high school graduation dress.  It is one of two prints of this photo, mounted on cardboard.  The other one may be a little less faded but it unfortunately has a fold line thru the middle.   Mary Vernon Nix wrote that she graduated from High School in June 1898.  She would have been 19 at that time. 
 

---

As promised, there are some photos related to Mary Vernon Nix's time as a teacher at Montevallo.  There is also a letter that she wrote many years later talking about some of internal politics at the time, I don't remember if Rusty has that one posted.

MVN taught at Montevallo until 1902 when she married PFD.  She had studied Latin with AFD acting as a tutor either in high school or shortly thereafter.  Perhaps she met the Dix crowd through him.  According to my mother, Philo and perhaps some of the other Dix boys wanted to marry her.  Apparently Paul was the pick of the litter in her mind!

Here is a photo with Mary Vernon Nix at the center and others around and in front.  MVN is in the center without the academic cap.  The other woman in front of her without the academic cap is unidentified, as are the others in the photo.  The academic caps appear to have some lettering on them, does anyone recognize them? 

"After a long campaign of public education and legislative lobbying, Tutwiler finally won state support for an Alabama Girls Industrial School (later Alabama College), which opened in Montevallo in 1896."  RDW ]

It seems possible that this is a graduation photo of students with their teacher (or teachers).

As I noted in an earlier email, MVN wrote a little about her time at Montevallo.  It mentions some of the other teachers, one of whom shows up in some photos that I have yet to send.  [The letter is transcribed below.]

Ed Sproles Jr,

Photo submitted by Ed Sproles Jr.
Mary Vernon Nix at front, center holding a paper that all are studying. 
 

Photo submitted by Ed Sproles Jr

Annie Bessie Haley on the left and Mary Vernon Nix on the right.  If you read my grandmother's letter, it appears that Haley was sort of a head teacher at the time, with some authority over the other teachers.  My mother says that MVN and ABH kept in touch over the years, and ABH's brother visited the family in Decatur occasionally when in the area on business.

Photo submitted by Ed Sproles Jr

Portrait of Annie Bessie Haley -- no other info.  However, I should have noted that the earlier photo of Haley with MVN and unknown woman did have a note on the back of an address: 1006 14 St S.  Birmingham  Ala.  According to my mother, that was Haley's family address.  Also, according to my mother:  Haley grew up in Jasper, AL.  Her brother visited Decatur frequently; he served on the board for the Methodist college in Athens, AL, near Decatur.

Probably a photo of Montevallo students.  The person in the rear center with the big hat must be the same person as the rear, right person in the 'graduation' photo that I sent earlier.  Others look like the same in the two photos, for example the left rear person in both photos.

---

Letter written by Mary Vernon Nix Dix, transcribed by Ed Sproles, her grandson.  Apparently it was written in response to the gift of a book on the history of the college at Montevallo where she taught Latin for several years before her marriage to Paul F. Dix.  (transcribed September 7, 2003)

(A note in the upper left corner of the letter reads:  “Yes, Miss Leo Sanders became Mrs. McMath and Miss Haley, Mrs. Alex Moore.  I can’t see the picture well enough to tell who they are.”)

(Mrs. McMath was the home economics teacher, and was a wonderful cook, according to my mother, Mary Vernon (Dix) Sproles.  Mrs. McMath lived in Decatur as did PFD and MVN after about 1920.  Mrs. McMath, the home economics teacher, had no children, while MVN, the Latin teacher, had five.  Mrs. McMath was in charge of getting the communion wine at their church.)

Oliver Judson Nix (1851-1934) Mom's [Mary Vernon Dix's] grandfather was the youngest of several children. He was too young for service in the Civil War. He worked for [Vesuvius] Lumber Company in Mongomery for many years, and lived with Mom's family after he retired until he died.  Jonathan Nix (1794-1870) was one of seven brothers who lived in South Carolina. When all went to fight in the War of 1812, their mother said she would hold an "infair" for the whole county if they all returned safely from the war. According to family legend, all seven returned and their mother held the promised infair, which apparently meant sort of a reception/picnic/barbecue like event.

Jane Baker (c1750) reportedly was a direct descendant of Gustavous Adolphous, the King of Sweden. Since the king was acknowledged to have entertained dozens of mistresses, this claim may not be a particularly exclusive distinction.

Alexander Stinson (c1750) was reportedly kidnapped from Scotland as a 4 year old child, and adopted by a family in Virginia.

Euphamia Harrison (c1750) was reportedly an ancestor of the Monroe family.

Submitted by Ed Sproles Jr.

In his letter to Joan Smith, Ed Sproles Jr. wrote:

When I was talking with Mom yesterday, I asked her if she knew where the name "Oliver" came from in the Nix family. She didn’t have any information beyond that her Grandpa Nix was named Oliver.

We did talk a little about what she knew about the Nix family, so I thought that I would share some notes from the discussion. During some of his time in Montgomery, Grandpa Nix lived with his sister, referred to as "Aunt Sue" by Mom. Aunt Sue had been a teacher before they moved to Montgomery. They had come from Lochapoka, Al, near Auburn. Their mother also lived with them until her death. Grandpa Nix worked at the lumber company in Montgomery for a number of years, certainly during the 1900s and teens, maybe longer both before and after. He certainly continued to work there when Mom’s family relocated to Mt Meigs. Grandpa Nix had 2 older brothers who died during the Civil War, Grandpa Nix was too young to be involved. At first Mom said that the brothers died in the Andersonville (GA) prison camp, but when I questioned if they were on the northern or southern side, she said the southern side, so it doesn’t make sense that they would have been in Andersonville. Somewhere we have pages from a family bible that were submitted for pensions, so that may provide some more information. Anyway, Grandpa Nix also had another brother known as "Uncle Ben" who lived in Suspension, AL. He and his wife had no natural children but they adopted a girl. They lived on a farm and were comparatively well off with respect to the rest of the family. Uncle Ben had only one eye as he had lost the other in an accident while chopping wood. Grandpa Nix had a picture of him, as a profile posed to show the side with the good eye. Some years ago, Mom took the picture out of the frame and used the frame for a mirror. 

When Mom’s family moved to Mt Meigs to live on the farm, Ed Branch, a friend of PFD, financed the farm. Ed was the Penn Mutual Insurance man in town, and they lived in a big house with columns on Court Street in Montgomery.

When Mom returned to Montgomery at age 12 to visit, she stayed with Cousin Willie and his family. (Grandpa Nix’s nephew?) She remembers visiting various people including the Shaws. 

(Note: The family records that I have show that Grandpa Nix was the youngest of twelve children)

Mary Vernon Nix married Paul Finch Dix June 19, 1902, in Montgomery AL.  Their story picks up there. 
 
 

Oliver Judson Nix, his sister "Aunt Sue" Nix, and  Susan Elizabeth Dix (eldest daughter of Paul and Vernon) are buried at Greenwood Cemetery, in Montgomery AL.