- Jonathan Dixon (judge)
Jonathan Dixon (
July 6 ,1839 –May 21 ,1906 ) was an Americanjurist and Republican partypolitician fromNew Jersey . He was anAssociate Justice of theNew Jersey Supreme Court and was the Republican nominee forGovernor of New Jersey in 1883.Dixon was born in
Liverpool, England in 1839. His father, also named Jonathan Dixon, came to the United States in 1848 and was followed in 1850 by his family, settling inNew Brunswick, New Jersey . He graduated from Rutgers College in 1859 and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1862. He moved to Jersey City to practice law in 1865. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=ADIUAAAAYAAJ "History of Middlesex County, New Jersey, 1664-1920"] (1921).]Dixon was associated with
New Jersey Supreme Court JusticeGilbert Collins until 1875, when he was appointed to be a Supreme Court Justice by GovernorJoseph D. Bedle . He was subsequently reappointed by Governors Ludlow, Green, Griggs, and Murphy. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F0DE4DD173EE733A25751C2A9639C946797D6CF "Justice Dixon is Dead"] , "The New York Times ",May 22 ,1906 . AccessedJune 17 ,2008 .]Dixon declined to take an active part in politics, and even when New Jersey Republicans nominated him for Governor in 1883, he refused to make political speeches, since he felt it would be beneath the dignity of a Supreme Court Justice. His Democratic opponent,
Leon Abbett , also from Jersey City, attacked Dixon for drafting the "thieves' charter" that deprived the Jersey City Irish of power in 1871. Abbett also criticized Dixon for handing down Supreme Court rulings that were perceived as anti-labor. Abbett defeated Dixon by a margin of 103,856 to 97,047. [ [http://www.njstatelib.org/NJ_Information/Digital_Collections/Governors_of_New_Jersey/GABBE.pdf Biography of Leon Abbet] ,New Jersey State Library .]Dixon continued to serve as Supreme Court Justice until his death. He died in 1906 at his daughter's home in
Englewood, New Jersey at the age of 66.References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.