George Dixon was born March 18, 1857 in Norwood, Virginia. All we know about his family is that his father was a farmer, and he had two sisters, Annie and Estelle. He had only one arm. How he lost an arm we do not know. He came to Georgia as a young adult. He superintended roads, bridges and brickyards throughout the state and then was appointed superintendent of roads and bridges for Richmond County. He was known as Captain Dixon. (See copies of his obituary).
On September 15, 1891, George was married to Mary Bertha (Mollie) Cochran. He was 34 years of age; she was 15. She always called him Mr. Dixon. The couple had five children. Elizabeth Francis (Bettie), named for her foster maternal grandmother was born October 4, 1892. Ida Estelle was born October 24, 1894 and was named for the wife of Judge William Eve, and perhaps, although we do not know, Estelle for her father's sister. George Perryman was born October 26, 1896 and was named for his foster maternal grandfather. Sometime during his youth, he began calling himself George W. Dixon, Jr. On September 3, 1899, Charles Montgomery was born. He was named for the doctor who delivered him. Mary Eve was born March 4, 1902 and was, perhaps, named for her mother and for the Eve family. (Judge William Eve was a close personal friend of George. See copy of newspaper article regarding Judge Eve). The children called their parents Mama and Papa.
The family first lived on or near Old Savannah Road. After George was appointed Superintendent of Roads and Bridges for Richmond County by Judge Eve, they lived at the county stockade since George's job involved overseeing this facility. This is now the site of T.W. Josey High School on 15th Street.The house faced the street, or dirt road as it was then, and stood in front of the stockade. This area of the county was known as Harrisonville, and residents recieved their mail addressed "Harrisonville". It was considered "country". The house was white frame, built high above the ground, with steep steps leading to the front door. Portraits of Bettie and Ida stood on easels in the parlor. The family had no lack of servants. The "trusties" at the stockade cooked, cleaned, and waited on them. Food was fresh and plentiful, and came from the County Farm of which Mollie's foster father was superintendent. Non-seasonal foods were ordered from out of town. The children liked Fig Newtons, which were ordered by the case. At Christmas there were crates of fresh fruit. There were always decanters of wine and whiskey on the sideboard. Bettie has related they often had fried chicken for breakfast and, of course, grits always. The family had pet dogs and Bettie told how her father would take a piece of chicken and hold it under the table for one of the dogs.
Mary Bertha (Mollie) Cochran was born June 4, 1876, the only child of Albert Cochran (nicknamed "Pony"), and his wife whose maiden name was Colson. There is no record of her given name. (See handwritten letter from Pierce Day, a first cousin of Albert for the geneology of her father's family. This letter was written to Bettie Dixon Bugg during the 1950's). Albert died October 16, 1886. Since we do not know when his wife died, we can only speculate if it was their deaths during Mollie's early years or some other factor that led to her being raised by George W. Perryman and his wife Elizabeth Francis (Betsy) Kelly Perryman. The Day-Cochran family and the Perrymans all lived in the same part of Richmond County, so likely they knew each other. The last of the generation of Pierce Day and Albert Cochran, so far as we know, was Margaret Day Wooten (Pierce's sister) who lived on Wooten Road, near the intersection of Milledgeville Road and 15th street. She died in 1952. She was called "Cousin Maggie" by Bettie and Ida.
George Perryman was superintendent of the Richmond County Farm located in south Richmond County. The farm provided food for various facilities such as the stockade, the Reformatory (located east of Peach Orchard Road near the present Silver Crest section), and the "Poor House" (located on the northeast corner of Peach Orchard and Lumpkin Road). George Perryman died July 6, 1900 at age 73 of a stroke. He is buried at Goshen Cemetary, the Bugg family cemetary (circa 1700) at Hephzibah. Betsy Perryman died August 18, 1906 at age 68. We do not know where she was buried, but perhaps in one of the many unmarked graves at Goshen.
A sister of Samuel Bugg who married Betty Dixon remembered Mollie. She described her as short and plump, with dark hair. She said Mollie "loved to go", and she "loved her liquor". Mollie would put the children in the buggy or surrey, together with her bottle, and off they would go!
Bettie related that one of her earliest memories was of being at the county farm with her grandparents, and of her grandmother, who was milking a cow, squirting a stream of warm milk in Bettie's open mouth. She also remembered riding into town in a buggie with her grandmother. Bettie had to urinate. Rather then stop, Betsy Perryman picked up Bettie and held her over the side of the buggie. In some kind of accident which occurred before Bettie's recollection, both of Betsy's wrists were broken. Because they were set improperly, her hands were always "on backwards". This did not handicap her, for she sewed, tatted lace, attended to household and childcare chores and milked cows.
The Dixon children attended Turpin Hill School, located in the old Turpin Hill section. Bettie and Ida later attended Tubman High School for Girls, then located on Reynolds Street. They were driven to and from school by a servant in a buggie or surrey. Someone who was a classmate of Betties commented, after Bettie's death, "I thought she was rich", not only because the Dixon girls were chaufferred to and from school, but also because of their clothes and because every day they had money with which to buy ice cream after school.
Bettie was popular and fun loving and even in her early teens had several beaus. There is a picture of her and some other girls dressed in boys clothes, and wearing mens hats, striking silly poses. You can tell they are giggling. In another picture, Bettie is holding her long black hair high in one hand and looking coyly, sideways, down at the camera. Ida was quieter and tended to shyness. She has related that, as a child, when she was angry or did not get her way, she would go outside and sit under a tree and pout.
Mollie Dixon died March 12, 1902 at age 27, apparently of a complication of childbirth. She left five children, the youngest an infant eight days old. Montgomery, who was just two and a half, was being cared for by his "black Mammie" during the funeral. As Mollie's casket was being carried down the front steps of the house, he asked "Why is my Mama in a box?". Betsy Perryman was already living with the Dixons, having moved there following her husbands death two years before. She mothered the five children. The baby, Mary Eve, died January 13, 1904 at age 22 months. Bettie related that the older children, not understanding why their baby sister died, said it was because "She was born too far from the rest of us", that is, in the spring while the four others were born in the fall.
Mollie was buried in a small private cemetary near the intersection of Wrightsboro Road and Morris Street. Mary Eve was later buried beside her. When George Dixon died, Judge Eve secured a family plot for the Dixons at City Cemetary (Magnolia Cemetary) on Third Street where George is buried. Later Mollie's casket was moved and placed beside her husbands; but first, baby Mary Eve was lifted from her casket and placed in the casket with her mother.
The Fall and Winter of 1907 was apparently a happy time for the family. Bettie had a party on her fifteenth birthday. That Christmas, Bettie recieved a ladies' writing desk. Ida got a dressing table, George recieved a bicycle, and Montgomery, a child's desk. There is a book, "Daddy's Girl", which was given to Bettie by her father.
Every two years, death struck the Dixon family. The
grandfather died in 1900, their mother in 1902, Mary Eve in 1904,
and their grandmother in 1906. On February 22, 1908, George Dixon
died at age 51 of pneumonia. He had been planning a trip back to
his family in Virginia as soon as school was out in June. The
children had been looking forward to this. George had not seen
his family since he left home as a young man. The four Dixon
children, ages 15, 13, 11 and 8 were now orphans. Judge William
Eve, their father's closest friend, looked after their affairs.
He planned to send Bettie and Ida to live and study at St.
Angela's Academy in Aiken, S.C. George and Montgomery were to go
to a boys boarding school in Washington, Ga. Bettie, however, was
determined that the four of them should not be separated, and she
felt it was up to her, as the eldest, to keep them all
together.It was at this time she had a photograph made of the
four of them.
On September 13, 1908, a month before she turned fourteen, Ida married Lucille Malcolm Mims. After her marriage, she was given the money from her father's estate. Bettie kept the furniture and household items. She was given guardianship of George and Montgomery. Ida and Lucille moved to Burke County where he began farming.