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Dixon Cemetery
The Dixon Cemetery is located about four and half miles west of Fitzgerald, Georgia just off the corner of Redwood Road and Snapdragon Road in a private field.It is located in Ben Hill county.The land for the cemetery was given by James Dixon on August 28, 1901.At the time of the deed ,Ben Hill county had not been formed, and all death certificates would come from Irwin county.
The cemetery is located on high ground in the middle of a large cornfield .It is surrounded by a four foot high chain link fence with a double gate. Over the gate is a large sign; Dixon Cemetery. There are only two trees located inside the fence and they are located over a grave that is said to be empty. The trees cover a small grave that belonged to Elsie Dixon, the child of Neal and Betty Dixon. She was buried in the grave, but a few days later, either her father or grandfather came back and reburied her in the same location, only in a above ground vault. She was later removed from this site to Evergreen Cemetery.
From its beginning, up until about 1960, the cemetery was taken care of on a regular basis by family members of the deceased.There was a fence around it and some of the graves had little houses made of wooden shingles covering them. There were a few trees then, but only the two cedars have survived.
In the late seventies, a great-grandson of James Dixon,Dutch Walker; started to take care of the cemetery. He and his wife Ethel,purchased headstones for family members who had none. They also begin to clean up the area surrounding the cemetery .The Farmland surrounding the cemetery was being cultivated too close to the graves with some being run over. The two lane road leading through the field had been plowed under more than once .Dutch Walker hired an attorney to insure the entrance road would always be there and he also had the chain link fence put up to protect the graves. Dutch Walker cared for the cemetery up until the early nineties, up until age prevented him from doing so. The sign over the gate was put up by Dutch Walkers son, Tim Walker. It is now being cared for by members of the families that are buried there and volunteers.
There are 32 graves that have headstones with inscriptions on them and 88 graves that have no inscriptions. There are unknown graves that have little shell remains or have crumbled to dust..
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