Members of the extended Jesse Dixon family stand Toledo Fire Department members as they gathered to celebrate a plaque that was installed on the historic fire house bell in Toledo detailing the Dixon history with the landmark. Darvin Graham/News Chronicle

One of Toledo’s most visible pieces of history was recently honored by a family connected to the city.

The family of Jesse Dixon gathered in front of the Toledo fire station on July 18 along with members of the fire department to dedicate a plaque that was installed on the historic Toledo fire house bell that is mounted in the front yard of the station along Highway 63.

The plaque highlights the history of Jesse Dixon’s efforts to maintain the bell as it moved from the original Toledo fire station, was donated to a church and then was donated back to the Toledo Fire Department.

The plaque reads: “This bell hung in the tower of the 1876 Toledo fire station until after the turn of the 20th Century. It was then obtained by Jesse Dixon of rural Toledo. After construction of the Fairview Church west of Toledo, Dixon donated the bell to the church for use in its tower in 1918. When the United Methodist Church closed and sold the building, the bell was then returned to the Toledo Fire Department. Plaque in honor of Jesse and Nellie Dixon.”

The plaque was purchased by the family and installed with permission by the City of Toledo.

The bell was installed as a monument in front of the fire station in 2001 during the Toledo Fire Department’s 125th Anniversary celebration.

Reporting from the Toledo Chronicle in 2001 states Toledo firefighter Butch Kupka refurbished the bell and firefighter Dan Ferris built the brick base the bell now sits upon.

The Chronicle also reported history of how the bell was originally used by the fire department from the account of Toledo firefighter Charles Patterson.

Patterson said in the early years of the department, firefighters were alerted to fire calls by a set sequence of bell rings.

The bell would be run continuously for an alarm, then rang a certain number of times to indicate which area of the city the fire had been reported in.

Dixon acquired the bell after it was replaced with an electric alarm. Patterson believed Dixon used it for his sorghum harvest and production operation to mark time for workers.

Present at the ceremony earlier this month was Marietta Davis of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Davis is one of two surviving children of Jesse Dixon. Jesse and his wife Nellie had five children: Welby, Orleene, Bernadine, Marietta and Martha.

The family of the late Orleene Cordelia Dixon, the Mason family, still reside in Tama County in the Traer area.

The other surviving daughter of the Dixons is Martha Butterfield of Waslo, Missouri.