George Dixon: Personal artifacts of H.L. Hunley’s enigmatic captain.

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley" , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

George E. Dixon was the last captain of the H.L. Hunley submarine. He was the most famous member of the crew during the historic events surrounding the submarine’s sinking of USS Housatonic, but many details of his life remain a mystery. This paper will take a closer look at George Dixon and his personal artifacts in order to better understand the man and his role as the captain of H.L Hunley. These artifacts include personal possessions such as a pocketknife, viewing glasses, gold and diamond jewelry, an engraved gold coin, and a gold pocket watch with a Masonic fob. These items indicate a man of wealth and privilege and give clues to his personality and role on the submarine. Through a more careful study of Dixon, it is hoped that a better insight may be gained into the actions and intentions of the captain on Hunley’s final mission.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Lives Revealed: Interpreting the Human Remains and Personal Artifacts from the Civil War Submarine H. L. Hunley   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 387