Background
John Dixwell was born about 1607 in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. He was the son of William Dixwell of Coton Hall and his wife, Elizabeth Brent. He was the brother of Mark Dixwell of Folkestone, Kent.
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John Dixwell
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During the Civil Wars Dixwell served on various committees appointed by Parliament to raise forces and to levy assessments in that county. In 1646 he was elected to Parliament from Dover. Pie was a member of the Pligh Court of Justice erected to try Charles I, was present w'hen sentence was given, and signed the death warrant. On June 27, 1650, he was commissioned colonel of Troop F, in Kent.
In 1646 Dixwell was elected to Parliament from Dover. He was a member of the Pligh Court of Justice erected to try Charles I, was present when sentence was given, and signed the death warrant.
On November 25, 1651, he was elected a member of the Council of State and served on many committees of the Council. In 1652 he was governor of Dover Castle and, on the outbreak of war with the Dutch, was entrusted to guard the seacoast of Kent. He was a member of Cromwell’s Parliaments of 1654 and 1656, and was named a commissioner for Kent in ordinances of August 28, 1654, for ejecting scandalous, ignorant, and indifferent ministers and schoolmasters, and of June 9, 1657, to levy an assessment for three months. On the restoration of the Long Parliament in 1659 Dixwell took his seat for Dover and on May 14 and on December 31, 1659, was again elected a member of the Council of State. Following the Restoration, he was excepted from the Act of Pardon and Oblivion and fled to Hanau, Germany. From Hanau he migrated—just when is not known—to New England. He was first mentioned as being in America in February 1664/5, when he visited his fellow regicides, Edward Whalley and William Goffe, at Hadley in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. Soon after this he settled at New Plaven, where he assumed the name of James Davids.
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Dixwell was married twice: Mrs. Joanna Ling on November 3, 1673, and Bathsheba Howe on October 23, 1677. From the second marriage there were three children.
References
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Born
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Died
March 18, 1688 (aged 81) -
Resting place
Center Church on the Green Churchyard, New Haven, Connecticut, United States -
Nationality
English