Mason and Dixon

On Friday, January 22, 1779, noted English astronomer & surveyor Jeremiah Dixon (1733-1779), who is best-known nowadays for his work with fellow astronomer Charles Mason (1728-1786) in determining what was later called the Mason-Dixon line, met his earthly demise at the age of 45 when he died from the effects of unspecified natural causes at the village of Cockfield in County Durham, England.

In 1763, Dixon & Mason signed an agreement in with the proprietors of the English colonies of Pennsylvania & Maryland, Thomas Penn & Frederick Calvert, sixth Baron Baltimore, to assist in resolving a boundary dispute between the two provinces. They arrived in Philadelphia in November 1763, & began work towards the end of the year. Their survey was not complete until late 1766, following which they stayed on to measure a degree of Earth’s meridian on the Delmarva Peninsula in Maryland, on behalf of the Royal Society. Before returning to England in 1768, they were both admitted to the American Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge, in Philadelphia.

It is probable that Dixon’s name was the origin for the nickname “Dixie” used in reference to the U.S. Southern States, although there is some degree of disagreement amongst historians as to other possible origin theories of the term Dixie.