Cornelia Dixon

Cornelia Grace Dixon (née O'Connell) was the mother of Louise Seymour and Marjorie Dixon. She married Allan Dixon in the spring of 1892 and their marriage lasted twenty-three years. Her and Allan lived in England until 1903 and emigrated to the United States shortly after Louise turned ten. Once Allan had located the family to Rochester, New York, they established their roots at Dixon Mansion. Two years later, Cornelia gave birth to Marjorie Dixon in 1905.

Cornelia was a supporting character in Haunted, but adopted a more minor role in The Girl Who Came Home as Louise only contacted her mother through handwritten letters after she ran away from home in December 1912. Like her daughters, she is also a maternal ancestor of her descendant, Chloe Dixon.

Early Life
Cornelia Grace O'Connell was the only daughter born to James O'Connell and his wife, Katherine O'Connell on November 12, 1867. Although her family was not extremely wealthy, they were solidly middle-class people. As the humble daughter of a general store owner and a schoolteacher, Cornelia saw no future for herself in Ireland and ran away to England to seek out a better life for herself.

By the time she was a young woman, she met Allan Dixon while out shopping with friends in London. Much to her parents' chagrin, Cornelia became engaged to Allan and the two of them were married on April 23, 1892. Even though Allan was already engaged to another woman back in America, he broke it off to marry Cornelia simply because he loved her.

After getting married, they decided to start a family of their own. Over the next twelve years, Cornelia would go on to have two daughters: Louise in 1893 and Marjorie in 1904. Although the Dixons did not name an heir, they picked one instead. It was decided that in order for Louise to inherit a title or money to the family estate, she would have to marry Ralph Seymour.