James "Jimmy" (Dix) Manuell

Birth: Born in 1921 in Texas. Listed as an orphan on the 1930 U.S. Census even though he's living in the home with his mother.  

Family Information: Son of Violet Dix. (On legal documents Jimmy was listed as James Manuel, however the colony newspapers referred to him as James or Jimmy Dix.)

Grandson of Alice Aiton.

Nephew of Mary (Halahan) Roe.

Description: On his draft registration card dated February 15, 1942 he was described as being almost 5'11" tall, weight 145 pounds with brown eyes, black hair and a dark complexion.  

Pre-Colony History:  

Home in Colony: In March 1929 the Brattland family moved into the little house where Violet Dix had been living and Violet and her sister (and presumably their children) went together into the Rogers house.

In 1930 he was listed as a lodger with Mr. and Mrs. Will Shutt. Also lodging in the home were Gertrude Stephens and his mother, Violet Dix.  

Job in Colony: In July 1931 the veneer plant was going in full force with Johnny Dougherty, Long, Ole Synoground, Carl Bradshaw, George Jensen, Slaughter, Ray Bradshaw, Fred Hamel, Hoag and Roede on the job; as well as Bennie Brown, Jimmie Brown, Helen Joe Dougherty, Lucille Oberlitner, Rhea Mae Baldwin, George Maki and Jimmie Dix.

Also in July 1931 the "Busy Beavers" consisting of Vivian Busick, Irene Hewitt, Jeannette Wooley, Jane Lentz, Wanda Self, Iris Busick, Norman Bays, Phillip Lentz, Kenneth Dean, Archie Ogden, Ernest Ogden, Byron Busick, Jimmie Dix, George Maki and Lyle Layer, under the leadership of Mrs. Killian, gathered Himalayan berries at the orchard in the morning and in the afternoon picked blackberries out of the woods. 

Other Info: He came from Texas to visit the Rice Ranch with his mother, Violet Dix, in 1929.

In April 1929 Mrs. Minnie Hewitt held a birthday party in honor of Billie Busick, five years old, and Charlotte Hewitt, just four. Also attending were Clara Mae Fread, Byron Busick, George Maki, Jimmie Dix, Eugene Hewitt and Buddy Synoground.

In July 1934 Lloyd Potter took ten boys including Jimmy, Sylvester Watson, Byron Busick, Billy Busick, Phillip Lentz, Joe Lentz, Quentin Quipp, Kenneth Dean, Eugene Hewitt and Clarence Fread on a camping trip to Hadden's Ferry on the Sabine River. They swam for a while; borrowed the ferryman's rowboat and plowed up the river; ate fried potatoes and eggs, bread and jelly, and a fine icing cake. Come evening they set out trout lines and picked moss from the trees to make a bed. They played through the night, getting very little, if any, sleep.

Member of the junior band organized in 1934; members included Joe (Lentz), Billy (possibly Busick or Ketchen), Byron (Busick), Ernest (could be Ogden or Joynes), Jimmy, Bill Quinton, Howard (Stansbury), Clarence (Fread), Jack (Lewis or Barnette), Sylvester (Watson) and Lenin Tabb.  

Post-Colony History: In 1940 he was living in Vernon Parish, Louisiana with his mother, her second husband, Fred Parson and his son, Robert Parson. He was working as a laborer for the C.C.C.  

Death: An unsourced citation on FindAGrave.com reports: "Shot down over Korini, Yugoslavia in the second World War, 13 April 1944. He was buried in 1950 with the other occupants of the plane in Graves No. 254, 255 and 256 Section 79, Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, MO." It can be verified that his grave is listed on the cemetery's website with those same dates, though the other information remains unverified.  

Sources: U.S. Census: 1930, 1940; "Llano Colonist": March 2, 1929, April 27, 1929, August 24, 1929, July 4, 1931, July 11, 1931, July 7, 1934, September 22, 1934; WWII Draft Registration Card; FindAGrave.com