Dixie Farrior was born May 6, 1860, in Louisiana, to loving Christian parents during the Civil War period. She married James Green Jackson in 1878, making their home in Dardanelle where they attended First Baptist Church. 

Asked how she came to possess her apparent in-depth biblical insight as a busy mom of eight, Dixie responded that she was adept at churning butter, rocking the cradle, and reading her Bible all at the same time.

After moving to Little Rock in 1904, Dixie served as chairwoman for the executive board of Arkansas Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU)

Dixie’s husband died in 1912, leaving her with two school-age youngsters.

In 1914, she was offered the position of executive director. Her greatest fulfillment came from traveling the state, training women, and spreading the message of Arkansas Baptist missions efforts. Her passion for missions led Dixie to ask the Arkansas WMU president to establish a week of prayer for Arkansas missions. First held in 1926, the effort was soon instituted as a yearly week of prayer. 

An offering was later added to aid projects statewide. In 1935, six years after her death, the offering was named the Dixie Jackson Offering for State Missions.