Tommy "Spot"
Dixon (Jr.)
Although he was only married to
Claire Knapp for about three years, 1942-45, the history of the
Dixons and Knapps goes way back. They may of never divorced as
Claire carried his name for the six years she out lived him. The
official biography of J. P Knapp (Claire's father ) mentions his
first meeting Tom Sr. on a hunting trip around 1919 and of Tom
selling Knapp his 8,000 acre Mackey Island estate in North Carolina.
That doesn't seem to be quite true however because when the Knapps
summered in Bellport in the early 1900's Tommy Jr. visited them.
He
is the "Mr. Dixon" mentioned in the New York Times story
about capsizing with Dodi at Smith Point in 1911.
And in this one from the
Patchogue Advance where Dodi not only got wet he got
TYPOED
In the N Y Times Story
about this incident It was said that Both Dixon & Dodi were
classmates at Princeton. When I contacted Princeton to inquire
about Dodi being there, I was told they had no record of him graduating
or ever attending the school. That may or may not be true, for
if he did go even for a short time dropping out would most likely
not of been a problem as his father had done the same thing when
he went to Columbia University. However they did supply me with
a copy of Tom Dixon's obit from their Jan 54 issue of Princeton
Alumnae Magazine.
Tom was also at the Knapp estate in Mastic
Beach in Mastic Beach in 1917 as part of the Yale 3rd. Naval Aero
Squadron that was based at the foot of Knapps property Between
Jefferson & Locust Drs.
One of his fathers many books was called
"A Life Worth Living" published in 1903 . It contains
quite a few photos of a young Tommy that seem to ring true about
his life long affair with dogs and other animals. So whatever
drove Claire & Tom apart , they certainly had something in
common with animals. I have not been able to find anything about
his writing.
Louise,Thomas & Tommy or Jordan?
Jordan leaning on his younger brother Tommy and their dog Sailor.
In front of their Virginia estate are
author Tom Sr. who was really Thomas Dixon Jr. which technically
made Tommy........Thomas Dixon III.
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