Click image to open full size in new tab
Article Text
# THE ORIGIN OF "DIXIE."
A New Version of the Word and its
Derivation-A New Orleans Bank
Was the Cause of its Coinage.
A correspondent of The New Orleans
Times-Democrat, in an interesting
article, traces the derivation of the
word "Dixie" to the notes issued by
the Citizens' Bank of Louisiana, says
The Bankers' Journal.
The original song, "Dixie Land,"
was composed in 1859 by Daniel Deca-
tur Emmett, as a "walkaround" for
Bryant's minstrels, then performing
in Mechanics' hall, New York. Mr.
Emmett's experiences were varied,
and part of his life had been spent
with the circus. He had frequently
heard the performers make the re-
mark, "I wish I was in Dixie," as soon
as the northern climate began to be
too severe for the tent life which they
followed. This expression suggested
the song "Dixie Land."
It made a hit at once with the play-
going public of New York, and was
speedily spread to all parts of the
union by numerous bands of wander-
ing minstrels, who sang and danced to
it. In the fall of 1860 Mrs. John Wood
sang it in New Orleans, in John
Brougham's burlesque of "Pocahontas,"
and ere a week had passed the whole
city had taken it up, and the darky on
the street corner and the banker in his
office were both humming it content-
edly. A New Orleans publisher saw
possibilities in the music, and without
the authority of the composer had the
air harmonized and rearranged, issu-
ing it with words embodying the
strong Southern feeling then existing in
the chief city in Louisuna.
The word "Dixie" was brought into
national prominence and usage by
these songs, and, no doubt, prepetuated
by the war song, the air of which is
to-day dear to every Southern r. There
can be no denying this statement, but
the general impression concerning the
origin of the word "Dixie" existing
outside of the South, and in many
parts of it, is incorrect. Naturally the
popularity of the work created interest
concerning its origin. The fact that
the term was used to indicate the
states south of the Mason-Dixon line
has led to the general acceptance of
the statement publicly made some
years ago that "Dixie" sprang from
Dixon. The argument was based
mainly on the alleged similarity of the
two words, Dixie and Dixon, and
pointed out that the expression "Dixie
Land" gradually grow out of "Dixon's
Land," a term which, by the way, was
never in use. As a result, the real
root of the word has never before been
made known.
It is often difficult to trace such a
word back to its first usage and firmly
establish its origin, but the arguments
in the present instance, however, are
both conclusive and convincing, and
leave no room for reasonable doubt
that the term "Dixie Land" sprang
from the ten-dollar note, "Dix," issued
by the Citizens' Bank of Louisiana,
which had such an unprecedented cir-
culation for a number of years previous
to the war.
C. W. Cammuck, teller of the Citi-
zens' Bank of Louisiana, was instru-
mental in achieving for that bank the
prestige of a larger circulation than
any other bank of the South, if not of
the country. The manner in which
the notes of the bank were brought
into almost nationisi circulation was
by inviting the steamboat men to
bring their freight bill checks to the
Citizens' bank for payment. These
bills aggregated from $3,000 to $10,000,
and they were generally paid by check
on some one of the numerous banks or
banking houses of New Orleans. It
was a decided innovation and a saving
of time and labor to the collectors,
who in the past had been obliged to
present eaen check at the particular
bank upon which it was drawn.
In this way the steamboat men be-
came of great service to the bank, as
the major part of the sum of their col-
lections was carried out of the city to be
disbursed throughout the Mississippi
valley, in payment for fuel, wharf-
boat dues, stores, wages, port charges,
etc. Thousands upon thousands of
dollars were taken out of the city
every week by packets bound for
pointson the Mississippi, Missouri and
Ohio rivers and their tributaries, the
Wabash, Tennessee, Arkansas and Red.
During the panic of 1857 the bank
withstood a two days' run upon it and
came out with flying colors, while
others fell all about it. This estab-
lished its credit so firmly that one of
its notes was as good as a national bank
note is today.
The bank was known both as the Citi-
zens' Bank of Louisiana and La Banque
des Citoyens de la Louisiane. The de-
nominations of the notes in English and
French were as follows: Five, cinq;
ten, dix; twenty, vingt; fifty, cinqu-
ante; one hundred, cent, one thousand,
mille. It will be readily seen that the
French names of any denomination but
ten, were unpronouncable, and no one
attempted it; but the ton, "dix,"
seemed to attract the eye and to meet
a public demand. As a result, the ten-
dollar notes of the Citizens' bank were
seldom, if ever, referred to in any
other way than as "dixes." And, be-
sides, it was the most natural way in
the world to identify this particular
note. The denomination, too, was a
convenient size for the steamboat men
to meet their obligations with, not too
large or too small; and of the many
thousands of dollars taken out of the
city every week by the river boats, a
large proportion was in "dixes." In
consequence, these notes had a much
larger circulation than any other notes
issued by the bank, and ere long the
expression, "A Dixie note," or a note
issued from the "Dixie Bank" was
very common among the large number
of people everywhere who were fami-
liar with the currency. This was the
most natural thing in the world, for
the word "Dix" is prominent on the
front of the of the note, and so much
so on the back that the observer, in a
hasty glance, would see nothing else.
A common almost universal expression.
