Wondering what the NEHGS might have on WALTER DICKSON, 111? (or, if anyone else out there is researching this DICKSON family) WALTER DICKSON took his family to Palestine in the 1850s. (Missionaries) His daughter ALMIRA ANN DICKSON, met and married JOHN A. G. STEINBECK there and they had three children born presumably in Jerusalem. Sometime around 1858, ALMIRA DICKSON's brother in law FREDERICK STEINBECK was murdered by Arab tribesman, her sister in law was raped. After that episode she and her husband and children returned to America. (see articles below) Here is the DICKSON family in the 1850 census: 1850 United States Federal Census Record Name: Sarah Dixson Age: 50 Estimated birth year: abt 1800 Birth place: Massachusetts Gender: Female Home in 1850 Groton, Middlesex, Massachusetts HOUSEHOLD: DIXSON, WALTER age 51 occ: Carpenter b. MA v-$1,300 (all in family b. MA) DIXSON, SARAH age 50 DIXSON, SARAH A age 24 DIXSON, PHILIP O age 23 occ: Farmer DIXSON, ALMIRA A age 21 DIXSON, MARY E age 17 DIXSON, HENRY A age 12 DIXSON, SAMUELTTE age 3 ======================== By 1860 WALTER is missing from the census. I wonder what his date of death is and if died in Palestine or back in Groton? 1860 United States Federal Census Record Name: Sarah Dickson Age: 60 Birth Year: abt 1800 Birthplace: Massachusetts Harvard, Worcester, Massachusetts Gender: Female Post Office: Harvard Household: Sarah Dickson 60 b. MA Sally Eldridge 81 b. MA Mary E Stienbeck 27 b. MA (has to be ALMIRA) (scan reads STEINBECK) Gertrude Stienbeck 4 b. Syria (scan reads STEINBECK) Joseph E Stienbeck 2 b. Syria (scan reads STEINBECK) Caroline S Dickson 13 b. MA (scan reads STEINBECK) ===================================== http://www.shalomjerusalem.com/jerusalem/jerusalem27_1858-59.html PALESTINE 1858-1859 (Believe this may refer to the murder of ALMIRA A. (DICKSON) STEINBECK's brother THEODORE) 16 Nov. 1858 INTERESTING NEWS FROM PALESTINE to the editor of the NY Tribune From the Burlington Hawk Eye Burlington IOWA LAWLESSNESS OF PALESTINE Excerpt: By the United and indefatigable efforts of the American government in Syria, the perpetrators of the diabolical murder and outrage inflicted on the family of MR. DICKSON have been arrested, except one, who is suppposed to be in Nabloos, and we may indulge the faint hope - faint only, though - partial retribution will are long be meted out by an intolerably inefficient government. The property stolen from from MR. DICKSON has, also, nearly, or quite all been recovered. The health of the Missionaries was tolerably good, and they were prosecuting their work - "The Agricultural and Industrial Mission in the Holy Land" with as satisfactory results as could reasonably be expected, in consideration of the disturbed state of the country. New York, Nov. 6 J. P. BURDICK ====================================== From website: http://www.gilroydispatch.com/lifestyles/contentview.asp?c=172937 (excerpt) The South Valley-Steinbeck connection begins with Johann Adolph Grosssteinbeck's birth in Germany in 1832. At 17, he journeyed with his brother Frederick to Palestine to manufacture olive wood souvenirs for tourists. There in 1855, Johann met Almira Dickson, the daughter of an American missionary. They married and moved to Jerusalem to start a farm. The following year, the couple had a child they named Charles. One night, Arab tribesmen attacked the Grosssteinbeck farm, killing Frederick and raping his wife Mary. The devastation of the raid made Johann decide to sail to the United States. On the arduous six-month voyage to Massachusetts, Johann took on an anglicized name -- John A. Steinbeck. The Steinbecks faced one harsh New England winter, then decided to move to Florida's much warmer clime. In St. Augustine, the family grew with the addition of two more boys: Herbert and Frankie. The Civil War began in 1861 and Almira took her three sons to safety in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, John - who was no Southern sympathizer - found himself conscripted against his will into the Confederate Army. He eventually used a ruse to get out by swapping his uniform for the suit of a dead man. John walked all the way north to Massachusetts. Upon arriving at the family home's back door, Almira answered his knocked with an astonished cry, "John Steinbeck, how you look!" The couple had three more sons: John Ernst, Wilhelm Peta and Harry Eugene. For 10 years, John worked as a mechanic making pianos in Massachusetts. Growing tired of the cold weather, in 1873 he headed west by train to find a new home for his family. On the West Coast, John learned about a new farming community being constructed in San Benito County. The town of Hollister desperately needed carpenters, and so John easily found a job. He sent a telegram back to Almira telling her to come out west to California. On Nov. 25, 1874, he met his family at Hollister's train depot. Four years later, the Steinbeck family bought a Victorian home and 10 acres bordering South and Line streets in Hollister. John started a dairy ranch there and built a successful business. Grown up, John's son Ernst settled in the Salinas Valley where in King City he met a lovely schoolteacher named Olive Hamilton. The couple married and on Feb. 27, 1902, they had a baby they named "John Steinbeck" in honor of the child's adventurous grandfather. The boy grew up to become a Noble Prize-winning writer. ==================== More on this most interesting family's history on my website: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jacquelinesr