Jonathan Dixon 1839-1906 from FindaGrave

Jonathan Dixon (July 6, 1839 – May 21, 1906) was an American

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and

Republican party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

politician from New Jersey. He was an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and was the Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey in 1883.

Biography

Dixon was born in Liverpool, England on July 6, 1839. His father, also named Jonathan Dixon, came to the United States in 1848 and was followed in 1850 by his family, settling in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Rutgers College in 1859 and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1862. He moved to

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Gilbert Collins until 1875, when he was appointed to be a Supreme Court Justice by Governor

Joseph D. Bedle Joseph Dorsett Bedle, Sr. (January 5, 1831 – October 21, 1894) was an American attorney, jurist, and Democratic Party politician who served as the 23rd governor of New Jersey from 1875 to 1878. Early life Joseph Dorsett Bedle was born in Midd ...

. He was subsequently reappointed by Governors Ludlow, Green,

Griggs Griggs may refer to: Places * Griggs County, North Dakota, U.S. *Mount Griggs (also known as Knife Peak Volcano), Katmai range, Alaska, U.S. Other uses * Griggs (surname) *''Griggs v. Duke Power Co. ''Griggs v. Duke Power Co.'', 401 U.S. 424 (19 ...

, and

Murphy Murphy () ( ga, Ua Murchadha) is an Irish surname and the most common surname in the Republic of Ireland. Origins and variants The surname is a variant of two Irish surnames: "Ó Murchadha"/"Ó Murchadh" (descendant of "Murchadh"), and "Mac ...

. In February 1880 the socialist leader

Joseph Patrick McDonnell Joseph Patrick McDonnell (27 March 1846 – 20 January 1906) was an Irish-American labor leader and journalist. He edited the New York ''Labor Standard'', and was one of the founders of the International Labor Union. Early years Joseph Patrick ...

, editor of the ''Labor Standard'', was tried for libel after publishing a letter from a brick maker who said of the Clark & Van Blarcom brickyard that the men were overworked and starved, and housed in places no better than pigsties. Dixon presided over the much-publicized trial, earning a reputation for being anti-labor. McDonnell was convicted and sentenced to two months in jail. When he was released on 1 April 1880 he was met by a cheering crowd. 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. McDonnell used the ''Labor Standard'' to attack Dixon as anti-labor and anti-union, and threw his support behind Leon Abbett, giving a useful boost to the

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

candidate. 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. 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 Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which at the 2020 United States census had a population of 29,308. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from por ...

at the age of 66.

References

Citations Sources * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Jonathan 1839 births 1906 deaths Justices of the Supreme Court of New Jersey New Jersey Republicans Politicians from New Brunswick, New Jersey Politicians from Jersey City, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Lawyers from Liverpool 19th-century American judges