This information is contributed by Gail D. Buchanan

Company E, 30th. Regiment N C Troops, known as the "Duplin Turpentine Boys" was raised in Duplin at Teachey, NC on August 28, 1861. The roster of Company E contains the following entry for Private James Dickson: "Resided in Duplin County where he enlisted at age 17, August 28, 1861. Present or accounted for until wounded at Gaines' Mill, Virginia, June 27, 1862. Reported absent wounded or absent sick until April 1864, when he was retired from service. Reason he was retired not reported." Private Robert L. Dickson, of Duplin County, age 20, also enlisted in Company E on the same day and was discharged on February 3, 1862. No reason for discharge was reported. Private Harrell [sic] Dickson is also listed in the roster for Company E: "Resided in Duplin County and enlisted in New Hanover County at age 25, March 3, 1862. Present or accounted for until wounded in the head at Grimes' Mill, Virginia, June 27, 1862. Reported absent wounded until April 12, 1864, when he was retired to the Invalid Corps by reason of disability. (North Carolina pension records indicate that his mind was impaired as a result of wounds received at Gaines' Mill.)" John O. Harrel, another member of that Harrel household, was also in Company E as a Private: "Resided in Duplin County and enlisted in New Hanover County at age 35, March 3, 1862. Present or accounted for until July-August, 1863 when he was reported absent without leave. Died at Orange Court House, Virginia, December 17, 1863, of disease."

Written by William C. Dixon (great grandson of James Jarman Dixon)-
A letter from my Aunt Lillie's husband M. Ray Harden, dated 8-1-1985, reports James J. and Robert L. were brothers and married the Savage girls after the Civil War. Aunt Lillie wrote "I knew Amanda as Aunt Mandy Savage and Robert as Uncle Jessie Dixon.” I saw Aunt Lillie's two old tin type photographs showing them in uniforms (she said and wrote that they were "Yankee" soldiers - this was not true, but their Dixon family’s ancestors were reportedly from PA). I don't know what disposition was made of those tin types after her death. Lillie wrote that she remembers Mandy bathing and soaking her husband's neck daily where he carried a bullet from the Civil War.

Dixon and Dickson were often phonetically interchanged in Eastern North Carolina. Many early records show the names as Dickson but these individuals themselves spelled their names Dixon. For many decades the several Clerks of the Court in Duplin County spelled their names Dickson and they tended to record all Dixons as Dickson. After the civil war records of James generally show his name spelled Dixon; Robert's name is usually spelled Dickson. James Dixon's middle name probably was Jarman. Jarman and Jarmon were common names in Duplin County at that time. Aunt Lillie confirmed Jarman or Jarmon depending on how one reads her handwriting.

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