The Original Dancing Conductor

Wheeling-Born Musician and Composer Will H. Dixon

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Before his untimely death, Wheeling Hall of Fame member Chu Berry famously played tenor sax in Cab Calloway‘s Orchestra from 1937-1941. [1] By the time Berry joined the orchestra, Calloway had already developed his legendary style made famous by appearances in films such as the Betty Boop: Minnie the Moocher short (Paramount Pictures, 1932), Cab Calloway’s Hi-De-Ho (1934), and Stormy Weather (20th Century Fox, 1943), all long before his cameo in the 1980 Universal Studios cult classic, The Blue Brothers. “Clad in white tie and tails, dancing energetically, waving an oversized baton, and singing,” writes Alyn Shipton in his Calloway biography, Hi-De-Ho, “Cab Calloway is one of the most iconic figures in popular music.” [2]

But prior even to Calloway’s birth, Will H. Dixon initiated the style that would lead him to be dubbed the original dancing conductor. [3] James Weldon Johnson – American writer, civil rights activist, and early leader of the NAACP — wrote of Dixon: “All through a number he would keep his men together by dancing out the rhythm, generally in graceful, sometimes in grotesque, steps. Often an easy shuffle would take him across the whole front of the band. This style of directing not only got the fullest possible response from the men but kept them in just the right humour for the sort of music they were playing.” [4] By the time Calloway was born in 1907, Dixon was not only a famed stage conductor, but an accomplished singer, pianist, actor, comedian, playwright, and composer of both popular and classical music.

And he was a Wheeling native.

John H. Dixon of Baltimore, MD and Mary Putnam of Barnsville, OH were joined in marriage by the Rev. Jeremiah M. Morris of Simpson M.E. Church in Wheeling, June 27, 1872. [5] The Dixons had four children during their time in Wheeling. Their oldest, John Jr. was born in April of 1873. Will was born six years later, August 29, 1879. A younger brother, Harry, was born October 14, 1885, and a younger sister, Estella, followed in July of 1889. [6]

Will’s father was also a musician and played second alto in an all-African American brass band in Wheeling. Formed in March of 1875, the group received “musical instructions” from Professor Schreiner, leader of one of the German brass bands in the city. [7] Referred to ambiguously in the newspapers as the “colored band,” the members frequently played at celebrations throughout Wheeling, including weddings, Emancipation Day celebrations, Fourth of July parades, and Republican outings in 1875 and 1876. [8] Fellow musicians included Harry Jones and H. B. Clemens on E flat; Henry Snyder, first B flat; David Williams, second B flat; Thomas H. Lewis, first alto; Richard Kinney, first tenor; Thomas Jones, second tenor; John Alexander; baritone; David Robinson, bass; Jerry Crawford, base drum; Charlie Clark, tenor drum; Hamilton Davis, cymbals. [9]

While in Wheeling, the Dixon family lived in the historically Black neighborhood of the Second Ward, first at 1045 Eoff Street and later at 1038 Eoff Street. [10] John Sr. worked as a barber and bath attendant in the early 1880s before becoming a train porter at the McLure Hotel sometime before 1888 and rising to head porter by 1890. [11] When the first Wheeling & Lake Erie passenger train pulled up to the passenger station located at the foot of Market Street Bridge, February 1, 1892, The Wheeling Register reported John Dixon, representing the McLure Hotel, gathered the first passenger. “A half dozen colored hotel porters were in the crowd, and as the train, after shifting the engine about, drew up to the platform, such familiar exclamations were heard, as: ‘Hotel Belah, this way,’ ‘McLuah House your wanting.’ John Dixon, of the McLure, gathered the first passenger. As he threw two grips over his shoulder, he walked proudly off, saying, ‘I win the first dash out of the box.’” [12]

Later that same year, when Will was about thirteen years old, the Dixon family would move to Chicago. [13] The entire family was living at 3656 Dearborn Street at the time of the 1900 Census. 51-year-old John Sr. and 27-year-old John Jr. were both working as brakemen for the railroad, while 20-year-old Will was listed as a “Theatrical man.” [14]

When Will turned twenty-one, he would leave the family home in Chicago, taking his talents to New York to attempt to making a living expanding on his theater experience. [15] Like nearly all African-Americans of his generation, his entry into show business was through minstrelsy. Minstrel shows, traditionally musical comedy plays, featured both white and white performers wearing blackface. Black performers often had to act out heartbreaking stereotypes mocking African Americans to make a living. In her book, Staging Race, author Karen Sotiropoulos notes “for black Americans, the 1890s ushered in a decade of shrinking possibilities, and artists and activists alike desperately sought any avenue for advancement.” [16] Many African American artists saw the minstrel stage as their chance to get their foot in the door while establishing some financial security. Such was the case for Dixon, whose first job was singing with Phil R. Miller’s unfortunately named “Hottest Coon in Dixie Company.” [17]

As a multi-talented artist quickly gaining acclaim, however, Dixon rose to fame as a “central figure” in Black Manhattan at the beginning of the 20^th Century. By 1902 he was singing, acting, and writing his own plays and songs. He also began composing songs and musical comedies with Alfred Anderson, one of Chicago’s noted Black lyricists. Dixon’s talents had quickly caught and held the attention of the African-American press, but in the spring of 1904, white America had also started to pay attention. One of the country’s foremost music publishers, M. Witmark & Sons of New York, bought and published several Dixon/Anderson songs. [18]

In his chronicling of “Black Manhattan,” James Weldon Johnson noted that though “Negro jazz bands throughout the country had been playing jazz at dances and in honky-tonks” for many years, “the first modern jazz band ever heard on a New York stage, and probably on any other stage… made its debut at Proctor’s Twenty-Third Street Theatre in the early spring of 1905. It was a playing-singing-dancing orchestra, making dominant use of banjos, mandolins, guitars, saxophones, and drums in combination, and was called the Memphis Students.” Johnson goes on to note the this was the band that introduced the dancing conductor, with Will H. Dixon behind the baton. [19]

Dixon would conduct the orchestra at both Hammerstein’s Victoria Theatre (owned by the father of famed lyricist Oscar Hammerstein) in New York City and on their upcoming European tour. On October 19, 1905, The New York Age reported, “France is soon to be invaded by some of the best vaudeville talent of New York, when, under the management of Will Marion Cook, a company leaves New York city next week to begin a three months’ engagement at the Folies Berger theatre in Paris. The company will be recruited mostly from Ernest Hogan‘s Memphis Students and includes: Will H. Dixon, musical director…” [20] The troupe would go on to play the Palace Theatre in London, the Schumann Circus in Berlin, and many of the principal music halls of “all the important cities of Europe.” [21] Dixon’s passport documents indicate he intended to stay overseas for “a year or two.” While in Europe, Dixon would have experienced far more racial freedoms than in America, and used his time abroad to study European music and culture. [22] Upon his arrival back to the United States in 1906, Dixon’s musical compositions began to take on a much more sophisticated European sound compared to his earlier Americana and minstrel pieces (you can hear the progression of Dixon’s music in the below video).

Music courtesy The Library of Congress and the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra.
View full music details at https://youtu.be/HZgI74O93mA

At the end of 1906, Dixon returned to Chicago briefly, becoming a cast member with the Pekin Theatre Stock Company, and assisting the resident music director/composer, Joe Jordan. [23] While there he also co-composed with Jordon and former partner Alfred Anderson the score of the Pekin’s production of A Count of No Account, a musical satire in three acts (Dec. 1906) and The Bachelor, a three-act musical comedy (May 1907). [24]

Following his brief stint in Chicago, Dixon headed back to New York City in 1907, where he opened his music publishing company and continued to make a name for himself. [25] The New York Age – one of the most prominent Black newspapers of its time – upon his return to New York called Dixon, “a talented young man… a playwright and author of great promise.” [26] By 1909 he was regarded as a full-fledged celebrity actor/singer in the African-American theater.

That same year, when John Philip Sousa, composer and conductor known primarily for American military marches, proclaimed in a New York Times article that ragtime music was dead, Dixon was one of five successful black composers to refute Sousa – a list that did not include the self-proclaimed “King of Ragtime,” Scott Joplin, though Joplin was living in New York City for almost two years at the time. [27] In the article printed in the New York Age, Dixon noted, “…the melodious compositions in syncopated rhythm… shall never cease to be pleasing to the ear of a music-loving public.” [28]

In 1910, James Reese Europe, leading figure on the African American music scene of New York City and fellow ragtime/jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer, formed the Clef Club which not only put together its own orchestra and chorus, but served as a union and contracting agency for black musicians. [29] Dixon was a founding member of the Clef Club and a key leader within the organization, acting as the stage director of their October 1910 exhibition concert. [30] When on May 2, 1912, the Clef Club Symphony Orchestra made their debut at Carnegie Hall putting on “A Concert of Negro Music,” Dixon was one of the ten-member piano “section” of the now-legendary performance. It was the first time an African American orchestra had played in Carnegie Hall. [31]

That same year, in 1912, Dixon married widow Madam Maude Mae Rubey Seay in New York City. Known as  “The Queen of Milliner’s” “Madam Seay” was a star in her own right. [32]

Between 1913 and 1914, Dixon wrote four light classical instrumental works: “Ardente Ivresse,” “Delicioso,” “Breath of Autumn,” and “Brazilian Dreams” (three of these songs are featured in the video above), furthering his reputation as a composer. [33] In January of 1914, the Chicago Defender, the city’s African American newspaper once heralded itself as “The World’s Greatest Weekly,” called Dixon: “Gentlemanly, courteous, and affable, ever ready to give a helping hand to the fellow farther down, is it to be wondered at that his friends are numbered by the hundreds, and those who have not had the rare good fortune to know him personally have enjoyed the fruits of his efforts in a musical way. For Mr. Dixon is a composer whose fame has spread over both continents. The world’s greatest singers have taken pleasure in interpreting his exquisite musical compositions, and in the instrumental field he hold an enviable position… Mr. Dixon’s talent is best displayed in his classical numbers and critics say his work forcibly reminds them of the old masters. Mr. Dixon is not only a credit to Chicago, but a credit to his race.” [34]

Dixon continued to write music and perform with musical troupes until 1916, when he began exhibiting signs of “mental trouble,” what we now know was final-stage syphilis. He returned to the family home in Chicago to be cared for by his mother in his final days. [35] Will H. Dixon passed away May 14, 1917 [36] at just 38 years of age. He is buried at Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago. [37]

An obituary ran in the New York Age three weeks later. It read, “Will H. Dixon, composer, wrote a number of pretty musical numbers during his lifetime, and was chock full of ambition. His chief aim in recent years was to secure the production of an opera to which he had written both the libretto and score… Will H. Dixon was gentlemanly in conduct and possessed many qualities that stamped him as a man with a good heart and kindly intentions toward all.” [38]

Two years before his death, the Dixons had a daughter, Francesca Alfreta Dixon, born in Chicago on June 1, 1915. [39] “Frankye,” as she was known, followed in her father’s musical footsteps. She was a musical prodigy in her own right, classically trained and a graduate of Juilliard, New York University, & Columbia University’s Teacher’s College. She was a young society girl and one of Harlem’s leading concert pianists, accompanist to famed Contralto, R. Louise Burge, critic and editorial writer for the New York Amsterdam News, a music scholar, lecturer, and a tenured Professor of Music at Howard University’s College of Liberal Arts & the School of Music. [40]

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Our thanks: We would like to graciously thank Mr. Lawrence H. Levens, who originally contacted us asking for assistance in learning more about the Dixon family’s time in Wheeling. Mr. Levens sent us a great deal of information about the life and work of Will H. Dixon. His enthusiasm and generosity has helped us bring this lost legend of Wheeling to life. Please visit the We Remember page where Mr. Levens has compiled a wealth of online resources about Will. H. Dixon.

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Note: This is the final entry in our series on African American leaders of Jim Crow Wheeling that also included William Alexander Turner, Wheeling’s first black police officer; Ashby Jackson, Wheeling’ first black firefighter; Dr. Boswell H. Stillyard, Wheeling’s first black city council member; Henry Boose Clemens, political activist and beloved barber; Harry H. Jones, lawyer and writer; Dr. J. Katherine Pronty Davis, respected physician; Dr. Robert M. Hamlin, dentist, and his wife, Alga M. Wade Hamlin, renowned physician.

Collectively, these posts supplement the video of our Lunch With Books Livestream program of February 2, 2021 entitled, Archiving Wheeling Presents: Lesser Known Legends of Wheeling – African American Legends.

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We Need Your Help

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If you happen to be a descendant of any of our nine legends or know people who have information and photos and are willing to share, please contact us. Because of the lingering effects of segregation, the history of Wheeling’s black community has been largely neglected. Our goal is to create and keep as a complete a record as we can of the accomplishments of these key personalities from Wheeling’s past.

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End Notes

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[1] Chilton, John. Who’s Who of Jazz: Storyville to Swing Street. Time-Life Records Special Edition, 1978. p. 32.
[2] Shipton, Alyn. Hi-De-Ho: the Life of Cab Calloway. Oxford University Press, 2013. p. vii.
[3] Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938. Black Manhattan. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1930. p. 222.
[4] Ibid.
[5] West Virginia Vital Research Records. Marriage License of John Dixon and Mary Putnam, June 27, 1872. wvculture.org/vrr/.; “Authorized To Solemnize.” Wheeling Daily Register, July 1, 1872, p. 4.
[6] U.S. Federal Census, 1880. Ancestry.com. Accessed Feb. 21, 2021.
[7] Wheeling Daily Register, March 3, 1875. p. 4.; “That Little Colored Band.” Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, February 12th, 1876. p. 4.
[8] Various, Wheeling Daily Intelligencer and Wheeling Daily Register, 1875-1876.
[9] “That Little Colored Band.” Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, February 12th, 1876, p. 4.
[10] Callin’s Wheeling City Directory, 1882, p. 145, 1884, p. 155, 1886, p. 145, and 1888, p. 148, 1890, p. 139, 1892, p. 138.
[11] Ibid.
[12] “W. & L. E. Trains Are Now Entering Wheeling Over the Terminal Line.” Wheeling Register, February 02, 1892. p. 5
[13] The last Wheeling City Directory in which the family appears is dated 1892. The 1896 Chicago City Directory lists a John H. Dixon, porter, living at 3530 Dearborn. The family appears in the U.S. Census in Chicago at 3656 Dearborn Street in 1900. See note 10. The move had to have occurred between those two dates.
[14] U.S. Federal Census, 1900. Ancestry.com. Accessed Feb. 21, 2021. William H. Dixon’s occupation listed as “Theatrical Man.”
[15] “Black Manhattan.” Vol. 2. Liner Notes.
[16] Sotiropoulos, Karen. Staging Race: Black Performers in Turn of the Century America. Harvard University Press, 2009. p. 1
[17] “Black Manhattan.” Vol. 2. Liner Notes.; The Piqua Daily Call, Feb 28 1902. p. 8.; The New York Age, June 7, 1917, p.  6
[18] Ibid.; Sheet music for “Lucinda” and “My Twilight Dream of You.” were both published by M. Witmark and Sons in 1904.
[19] Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938. Black Manhattan. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1930. p. 220-222.
[20] The New York Age, October 19, 1905, p. 1.
[21] Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938. Black Manhattan. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1930. p. 221.
[22] “Black Manhattan.” Vol. 2. Liner Notes.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Lefferts, Peter M., “Chronology and Itinerary of the Career of J. Tim Brymn Materials for a Biography” (2016). Faculty Publications: School of Music. p. 42 & 53.
[25] “Black Manhattan.” Vol. 2. Liner Notes.
[26] The New York Age, December 5, 1907, p. 7.
[27] “Ragtime Music Dead In This Town; John Philip Sousa Says the People Have Had a Surfeit and Are Sick of It.” New York Times, March 16, 1909. p. 8.; “Is Ragtime Dead?” The New York Age, April 8, 1909. p. 6. Berlin, Edward A. King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era. Oxford University Press, 1996. p. 163.
[28] “Is Ragtime Dead?” The New York Age, April 8, 1909, p. 6.
[29] Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938. Black Manhattan. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1930. p. 222-223.
[30] “Musicians Organize Clef Club.” The New York Age, April 28, 1910. p. 6.; “Sensation of the Season! First Funny Festival! The Clef Club Presents Its Official Program For the First Monster Musical Melange and Dancefest (advertisement).” The New York Age, May 26, 1910, p. 6.;
[31] Walton, Lester A., L. H. White, A. W. K., and Lucien H. White. “Black-Music Concerts in Carnegie Hall, 1912-1915.” The Black Perspective in Music 6, no. 1 (1978): p. 71.; “Black Manhattan.” Vol. 2. Liner Notes.
[32] “We Remember: Will (William) H. Dixon.” Ancestry.com. Accessed Feb. 21, 2021.
[33] “Black Manhattan.” Vol. 2. Liner Notes.
[34] “Will H. Dixon, Composer.” Chicago Defender, January 10, 1914.
[35] “Deaths In May.” The New York Age, June 7, 1917, p.  6
[36] Illinois, U.S. Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947. Ancestry.com. Accessed Feb. 21, 2021.
[37] “William H. Dixon.” Findagrave.com. Accessed Feb. 21, 2021.
[38] “Deaths In May.” The New York Age, June 7, 1917, p.  6
[39] U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007, Ancestry.com. Accessed Feb. 21, 2021.
[40] “We Remember: Will (William) H. Dixon.” Ancestry.com. Accessed Feb. 21, 2021.