Dix, John Adams, 1798–1879, American statesman, b. Boscawen, N.H. He served in the War of 1812, was later admitted to the bar, and practiced law in Cooperstown, N.Y. He held high state offices and served (1845–49) as Democratic U.S. senator from New York. In 1848 he ran for governor of New York on the Free-Soil ticket. President Buchanan appointed him secretary of the treasury in 1861, and in his two-month tenure of office, despite secession, he was able to secure loans. He was a major general in the Civil War and later (1866–69) minister to France. Dix was prominent in railroad affairs and became (1863) president of the Union Pacific, with T. C. Durant as vice president, and he was the long-time president of the Erie RR. Dix served as Republican governor of New York in 1873–74.
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