Philip [Dickson] to sister Almira, handwritten letter with a detailed sketch of the house where missionaries were living in Palestine, 4pp, [203] 1852-11-21

Artas, Nov. 21st, 1852

Dear Sister Almira,

This is now the third time that I write home, but I have not yet heard from there, and if you do not write before recieving my last letter, shall not for some weeks, perhaps, to come, but hoping that you are all well, I let it rest so, till I hear.

I did not intend to write till the next mail of Dec. 10th, but as Bro. Albert Minor, is unexpectedly obliged to leave immediately for America, he will carry letters for you with him. He leaves here tomorrow morning, to go to Jerusalem, and leaves Jaffa on Wednesday. (The occasion of his leaving is this, Last week he recieved a letter stating that his uncle had died and left him 1500. dollars, on condition of his personally appearing for it. In a former will he had given him 11,000. dollars, but before he died, tho sick but four days he made a new will, & gave him, so little, merely on account of his religious views. Also the letter stated, that his Grandfather was very feeble, and said that if A. would come & see him once more, & stay 3 weeks that he would give him 3,000. dollars, & if he would stay till he died, which would be soon he would give him much more.) His grandfather sent to have him come by the swiftest conveyance, & will pay all his expenses. He lives in Roxbury, Conn. & I should love to have him Albert come to see you, as he can tell you so much more than I can write. If any of our friends would like to see him, enough to be at the expense going, the route is by Worcester to New Haven, and from there on the New York road as far Bridgeport; there take the Housatonic road, to New Milford, which is 7 miles from Roxbury. He will write to you when he arrives there, & will give you much information & Father can write to him. Perhaps, better not refer to what I have said of his circumstances.

The reason I did not write, the last mail, was, that I thought to wait till we had got into our winter quarters, & got fixed down nice, & things arranged. There has been a new house built here this fall but it is not quite done yet. They will commence to plaster tomorrow, & then the floors are to be laid. The plaster that they use here dries quickly, so that we can go in soon after it is done.

I send you a very rude sketch of the house, it being my first attempt at any thing of this kind. It is built in the side of the rocky mountain the base of which you see comes to the front side of the lower story, giving place for only a small room, the back & one side being rock, but plastered smooth. The second story extends much farther back, but it's back wall rests also on the rocks of the mountain & the third story, built entirely back of the second, has the same firm foundation; the front of the building is about 24 ft. high by 30. ft wide. The second though large, has but one room, the top of which is supported by an arch, of which the rounded roof is the top. This room will be occupied by the American friends who were here before we came: they will be but four, when Albert leaves. The upper room is for Miss William, an English lady, who has lived sometime in America before coming here, & two of Mr. Meshullam's little girls, which she has in charge, to teach &c. Below this room is our little room, with an arched piazza, (which is higher I think than represented) built to support the additional length of the room above. It is in the inside about 16 1/2 ft. long, by 13 ft. wide. It has a door & a very small window in the west end & a larger one in the east end.

[sketch of building]

[labeled] path garden wall garden

The top is arched, to support the floor above as nearly all rooms are, in this country for timber is so scarce & high, that it canot be used generally for that purpose & as the floors are of square stones, like the marble floors at home, it requires much strength to bear them, as many are quite thick, & you see that stories must be laid in an arch to form the top of a room & an arch will bear a great weight. This room is not what is called a four-square arch, not made like a long arch with square ends, & the sides rounded over, but the centre of each of the four sides of the room at the top is as high as the center of the arch; all the timber used in the building, except for windows & doors, is what is used for the flat roof of the upper room, the top & sides of which are consequently square & more roomy than an arched one, in which nothing can be set in the corners, there being none.

When the friends here heard that we were coming, the first question Mr. M. asked, was , "where shall we put them", as the two back rooms were not then built, and the rest could scarecly find room for themselves, as the room & tents in which they lived through the summer, would not do for the winter. Mrs. William's room had been spoken of & she offered to assist in building it. The very day that we arrived the master mason had told Mr. M. that it must be decided that night, whether the room was to be made, & of course the affair was proposed to us, & as we had come upon them unexpectedly, & wanted shelter, & board for the present, & as the funds of the friends were getting low, I felt it right to assist also, & paid in advance, a little over 70 dollars. When Albert asked Mr. M. if a place for a bed in summer, could not be fixed under the room, he exclaimed "O no", & said it would be but a little place, where some boxes, tools, &c. might be put, & did not even intend to put in any window: but he changed his mind I suppose, for he went without saying anything & began to fix a good room for us, put in as good newer door & window jam as there were in the whole house, & carries it up to a sufficient height, though it made the room above, higher than was at first intended. This was very kind in him as it gives us a good sheltered room, the coolest, in summer, & the warmest in winter, of any room in the house. The wind always blow down the valley from the west during winter, & a few paces west of our door is a projecting rocky point of the mountain which will keep the wind off very much. It is a far better room than I expected to inhabit in the desolate land of Israel.

Now, while I think of it, & have room, I will write of our health & such, like the ill turn that Susan had when I wrote before she got over in 3 or 4 days, & since has had but two turns, & those quite light, lasting but a minute or two: she is very well, & having got acquainted with the people, & place is not homesick as she was the first few days. She has an irritation of the skin which comes out in red spots & gives a good occasion for scratching. Mr. M. says that “every foriegner who comes here must suffer that,” it being the effect of a change of climate. Mrs Minor tells her that is glad to see it come out well as she will be much less liable to the fever of the country. They have the Syrian fever here, & Europeans are subject to the fever & ague. Having myself another complaint, & my skin not being very irritable I have none of the rash, like, & suppose I am not so liable to the fever. Oct. is the most sickly month. In my last letter I spoke of a lameness, in my back, which was afterwards much worse so that for 2 or 3 weeks after arriving I could nothing scarcely, & sometimes hard walk without hurting me much. Dr. Barclay thought it an inflamtion of the kidneys, which I rather think it was, Elijah M. thought it the piles. I have gotten almost intirely well of it now, & for the last two weeks have been at work with a German carpenter, making window frames, & sashes, & have gained strength rapidly, being able to work nearly all day: but I found that my cough did not decrease, as my strength increased, which is I think because the place where we work has a great deal of fine dust, & the bench being quite low, I had to stoop a considerable, both of which are quite bad & I shall stop working there for now. Another reason may be that we have slept in a tent till now and though warm & comfortable enough, the tent being of sail cloth, yet the night air is more bracing than in a closed room. We intend to take it down tomorrow, expecting rain & strong wind every day. For about 10 days before the 7th of November we had slight showers, & a chilly wind, since which the weather has been delightful, the thermometer being often but little below 60° in the morning & generally from 60° to 65° through the day or warmer at noon. The rains have been most providentially delayed or we should have been shelterless. We shall stow closer together till we move into the new house. How do you do sister? Are you better than when we left, & all the folks? How is Aunt Lydia, Cynthia, and all others, and grandmothers (D. and E.?) & the folks in the neighborhood and town. Write to me, & give me the news, & the good word. Give my love to all my friends; I am well pleased in being here & feel no desire to return. (Heb. 11,15,16) Yours, ever, Philip