[Ads-l] "Dixon's land" & "Dixey's line"

[Stephen Goranson]

About the proposed move from “Dixon’s Line” to “Dixie’s Land,” two related collocations may be of interest.

“Dixon’s land” appears in June 15, 1835 (Monday) Evening Star [New York, NY] p.2, col. 2 [AmHistN]  :

Query—What would be the punishment of a negro flogging an alderman, south of Mason and Dixon’s land?

And “Dixon’s land” also appears in many July, 1861 accounts about politician John Bell of Tennessee.

“Dixey’s line” appears in the Feb. 10, 1861 Sunday Dispatch [Philadelphia], p.1 col.7 [AmHistN]:

…for two months, there hasn’t been a paragraph in any paper north or south of Mason & Dixon’s line, or on Dixon’s, or Dixey’s line itself that hasn’t been as reeking with blood ….

Stephen Goranson

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