John Sherwood Dixon (better known as Sherwood Dixon) (June 19, 1896 – May 17, 1973) was an American politician from Illinois, a member of the Democratic Party. Sherwood Dixon was born in Dixon, Lee County, Illinois, the son of Henry S. and Margaret Casey Dixon. He was the great-grandson of the founder of Dixon, "Father" John Dixon. Dixon was a 1920 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, a veteran of World War I and a brigadier general in the Illinois National Guard. Dixon was a member of the Illinois Democratic State Central Committee (1938), a delegate to the 1952 Democratic National Convention and an alternate delegate to the 1940 and 1956 Democratic national conventions. He is best known for serving as the 36th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, under Governor Adlai Stevenson II, from January 10, 1949, to January 13, 1953. Governor Stevenson sought re-election in 1952, and won the Democratic primary, however he was subsequently drafted as the Democratic presidential nominee that year (losing ultimately to Republican nominee Dwight D. Eisenhower). Dixon, who was already serving as Lieutenant Governor, replaced Stevenson as the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, but went on to lose to the Republican nominee, State Treasurer William G. Stratton. Dixon died in his hometown of the same name in 1973 and is interred in Oakwood Cemetery there. Early life Sherwood Dixon was a student at Notre Dame from 1915 to 1917, as WWI was in full bloom. During his two and a half years at Notre Dame, Dixon played football and made the varsity team as a backup center to "Big Frank" Frank Rydzewski. During his playing days at Notre Dame the team finished 18-3-1 under head coach Jesse Harper and a coaching staff that included assistant coach Knute Rockne. As a junior, Dixon, along with three other Notre Dame players, were caught playing semipro football for nearby Goshen, Indiana, on 4 November 1917. His violation against school rules resulted in Dixon being dismissed from the school team and suspended from the university on 10 November 1917. As his mother, Margaret (Casey) Dixon was a very strong willed and opinionated woman, Dixon enlisted as an Army private and joined the 332nd Infantry Regiment instead of returning home to face his mother's wrath. World War I The 332nd was a newly formed unit in Ohio and expected soon to head off to the war. Based on his college education,