Husband of Helen Mitten Woodward Dickinson, son of Charles Storrs & Elizabeth Frances Wright Dickinson.
The third largest gift ever donated to the University of Massachusetts was received from an alumnus of the Class of 1907. Walter E. Dickinson left a total of $200,000 to the university when he died in April 1978. He also left perpetual trusts of $100,000 to the Jones Library in Amherst and $100,000 to the North Congregational Church of Amherst.
Walter was a North Amherst boy, born on September 25, 1885. He lived with his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Charles S. Dickinson, and his three sisters in a house on North Pleasant Street where Puffton Village is now located. His father ran a meat market and slaughterhouse in the rear of that house. A member of one of the four or five Dickinson families in the area, he was a relative of the famous poet Emily Dickinson (they are 3rd cousins 1x removed). After attending Amherst public schools and graduating from Mass Agricultural College - where he belonged to Phi Sigma Kappa and was the artist of the '07 Yearbook - he married the former Helen Mitten and the two left for Cuba where he remained until 1961, his wife died in 1947.
Dickinson was listed as a chemist, a manufacturer's representative, a merchandise broker and a sugar technologist in Cuba, but he made most of his money as a sugar broker. At one time, he was listed as a multimillionaire. The estate he left upon his death was listed as close to a million dollars. In 1955 he was given a medal by the Cuban government. But with the overthrow of the Batista regime, by Fidel Castro, he fell out of favor and was expelled from the country. He was forced to leave everything behind except for a couple suitcases of clothes, his wedding ring and a gold watch. Fortunately, he had the foresight to deposit at least some of his money in a New York bank and was able to pay passage for himself and his housekeeper from Cuba to Spain by radioing the bank from aboard ship. He settled in an apartment in Barcelona.
His last visit to the Amherst area was in 1963 when the parish hall of the North Congregational Church was dedicated. His portrait (see photo), by artist Eleanore Johnson, was hung in the room named after him.
In the last few years he suffered from declining eyesight caused by cataracts and glaucoma, but he persistently fought to continue his reading and writing. Stoically he continued his daily routine, never seeming to lose his sense of humor; "What with the mini skirts getting minier and minier, and the bikinis getting scantier and scantier, and the slacks without slack getting ever less and less slack, it may be better not to see too well."
His only known close relatives are several nieces and nephews.
Information courtest of FAG Contributor 10th Generation.
The third largest gift ever donated to the University of Massachusetts was received from an alumnus of the Class of 1907. Walter E. Dickinson left a total of $200,000 to the university when he died in April 1978. He also left perpetual trusts of $100,000 to the Jones Library in Amherst and $100,000 to the North Congregational Church of Amherst.
Walter was a North Amherst boy, born on September 25, 1885. He lived with his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Charles S. Dickinson, and his three sisters in a house on North Pleasant Street where Puffton Village is now located. His father ran a meat market and slaughterhouse in the rear of that house. A member of one of the four or five Dickinson families in the area, he was a relative of the famous poet Emily Dickinson (they are 3rd cousins 1x removed). After attending Amherst public schools and graduating from Mass Agricultural College - where he belonged to Phi Sigma Kappa and was the artist of the '07 Yearbook - he married the former Helen Mitten and the two left for Cuba where he remained until 1961, his wife died in 1947.
Dickinson was listed as a chemist, a manufacturer's representative, a merchandise broker and a sugar technologist in Cuba, but he made most of his money as a sugar broker. At one time, he was listed as a multimillionaire. The estate he left upon his death was listed as close to a million dollars. In 1955 he was given a medal by the Cuban government. But with the overthrow of the Batista regime, by Fidel Castro, he fell out of favor and was expelled from the country. He was forced to leave everything behind except for a couple suitcases of clothes, his wedding ring and a gold watch. Fortunately, he had the foresight to deposit at least some of his money in a New York bank and was able to pay passage for himself and his housekeeper from Cuba to Spain by radioing the bank from aboard ship. He settled in an apartment in Barcelona.
His last visit to the Amherst area was in 1963 when the parish hall of the North Congregational Church was dedicated. His portrait (see photo), by artist Eleanore Johnson, was hung in the room named after him.
In the last few years he suffered from declining eyesight caused by cataracts and glaucoma, but he persistently fought to continue his reading and writing. Stoically he continued his daily routine, never seeming to lose his sense of humor; "What with the mini skirts getting minier and minier, and the bikinis getting scantier and scantier, and the slacks without slack getting ever less and less slack, it may be better not to see too well."
His only known close relatives are several nieces and nephews.
Information courtest of FAG Contributor 10th Generation.
Husband of Helen Mitten Woodward Dickinson, son of Charles Storrs & Elizabeth Frances Wright Dickinson.
The third largest gift ever donated to the University of Massachusetts was received from an alumnus of the Class of 1907. Walter E. Dickinson left a total of $200,000 to the university when he died in April 1978. He also left perpetual trusts of $100,000 to the Jones Library in Amherst and $100,000 to the North Congregational Church of Amherst.
Walter was a North Amherst boy, born on September 25, 1885. He lived with his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Charles S. Dickinson, and his three sisters in a house on North Pleasant Street where Puffton Village is now located. His father ran a meat market and slaughterhouse in the rear of that house. A member of one of the four or five Dickinson families in the area, he was a relative of the famous poet Emily Dickinson (they are 3rd cousins 1x removed). After attending Amherst public schools and graduating from Mass Agricultural College - where he belonged to Phi Sigma Kappa and was the artist of the '07 Yearbook - he married the former Helen Mitten and the two left for Cuba where he remained until 1961, his wife died in 1947.
Dickinson was listed as a chemist, a manufacturer's representative, a merchandise broker and a sugar technologist in Cuba, but he made most of his money as a sugar broker. At one time, he was listed as a multimillionaire. The estate he left upon his death was listed as close to a million dollars. In 1955 he was given a medal by the Cuban government. But with the overthrow of the Batista regime, by Fidel Castro, he fell out of favor and was expelled from the country. He was forced to leave everything behind except for a couple suitcases of clothes, his wedding ring and a gold watch. Fortunately, he had the foresight to deposit at least some of his money in a New York bank and was able to pay passage for himself and his housekeeper from Cuba to Spain by radioing the bank from aboard ship. He settled in an apartment in Barcelona.
His last visit to the Amherst area was in 1963 when the parish hall of the North Congregational Church was dedicated. His portrait (see photo), by artist Eleanore Johnson, was hung in the room named after him.
In the last few years he suffered from declining eyesight caused by cataracts and glaucoma, but he persistently fought to continue his reading and writing. Stoically he continued his daily routine, never seeming to lose his sense of humor; "What with the mini skirts getting minier and minier, and the bikinis getting scantier and scantier, and the slacks without slack getting ever less and less slack, it may be better not to see too well."
His only known close relatives are several nieces and nephews.
Information courtest of FAG Contributor 10th Generation.
The third largest gift ever donated to the University of Massachusetts was received from an alumnus of the Class of 1907. Walter E. Dickinson left a total of $200,000 to the university when he died in April 1978. He also left perpetual trusts of $100,000 to the Jones Library in Amherst and $100,000 to the North Congregational Church of Amherst.
Walter was a North Amherst boy, born on September 25, 1885. He lived with his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Charles S. Dickinson, and his three sisters in a house on North Pleasant Street where Puffton Village is now located. His father ran a meat market and slaughterhouse in the rear of that house. A member of one of the four or five Dickinson families in the area, he was a relative of the famous poet Emily Dickinson (they are 3rd cousins 1x removed). After attending Amherst public schools and graduating from Mass Agricultural College - where he belonged to Phi Sigma Kappa and was the artist of the '07 Yearbook - he married the former Helen Mitten and the two left for Cuba where he remained until 1961, his wife died in 1947.
Dickinson was listed as a chemist, a manufacturer's representative, a merchandise broker and a sugar technologist in Cuba, but he made most of his money as a sugar broker. At one time, he was listed as a multimillionaire. The estate he left upon his death was listed as close to a million dollars. In 1955 he was given a medal by the Cuban government. But with the overthrow of the Batista regime, by Fidel Castro, he fell out of favor and was expelled from the country. He was forced to leave everything behind except for a couple suitcases of clothes, his wedding ring and a gold watch. Fortunately, he had the foresight to deposit at least some of his money in a New York bank and was able to pay passage for himself and his housekeeper from Cuba to Spain by radioing the bank from aboard ship. He settled in an apartment in Barcelona.
His last visit to the Amherst area was in 1963 when the parish hall of the North Congregational Church was dedicated. His portrait (see photo), by artist Eleanore Johnson, was hung in the room named after him.
In the last few years he suffered from declining eyesight caused by cataracts and glaucoma, but he persistently fought to continue his reading and writing. Stoically he continued his daily routine, never seeming to lose his sense of humor; "What with the mini skirts getting minier and minier, and the bikinis getting scantier and scantier, and the slacks without slack getting ever less and less slack, it may be better not to see too well."
His only known close relatives are several nieces and nephews.
Information courtest of FAG Contributor 10th Generation.
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