By Caitlin Wolfe
DouglasNow.com
The Dickerson home on 115 North Gaskin Avenue was built in a beautiful Queen Anne style back in 1905 by Judge Marcus Dickerson. Judge Dickerson and his wife, Ethel, lived in the home for many years and together the two had three children: David, Will, and Ethel.
The story of the Dickerson family seems to be one of happy times and pleasant memories. That is until the year 1946. Over the next 7 years, Ethel would lose both of her sons and her husband before deciding to sell their lovely house in Douglas.
The series of seemingly unfortunate events begins in 1946 with the Dickersons’ youngest son, Will. Will Dickerson was born in Douglas in 1909. As he grew older, he realized he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a lawyer. It was eventually decided that he would attend Washington and Lee University to live out his dream. He was even considered to be one of the smartest and most accomplished lawyers to graduate from Washington and Lee.
After graduating in 1928, he headed back home to join his father’s law firm, Kelly and Dickerson. However, new job opportunities arose. Will later became a member of the FBI, stationed mainly in Atlanta and New Orleans. After that time ended, he joined the Department of Labor with offices at the Capitol in Atlanta.
In December of 1938, Will met and married a woman from Cartersville named Mary Pettit. They eventually went on to have two children, Mary Malinda and Bill. Not long after Mary and Will’s marriage, World War II broke out. He joined the Army and set off to Europe. Shockingly enough, Will fought in the largest and deadliest battle fought by the U.S. in World War II, the Battle of the Bulge. It was during this battle in Germany that the U.S. suffered roughly 80,000 casualties, including over 19,000 soldiers. Luckily, Will escaped with his life before returning home to his old job with the Department of Labor in Atlanta.
Will, his wife, and two kids were living with his parents on Gaskin Avenue in 1946 while waiting for their new home in Jonesboro to be completed. The children were still quite young, as Mary Melinda had just started 1st grade in Douglas. On the weekend of Saturday, December 6, Will and his family took off to Atlanta to see the progress of their new home that was being built.
They checked into room 1634 on the top floor of one of Atlanta’s most elegant hotels at the time, The Winecoff Hotel. Sadly, before the sun could rise on Sunday, December 7, 119 people would die in an uncontrollable fire that broke out at The Winecoff. Among the 119 who passed were Will, his wife Ethel, and their two children. Word of the devastating event quickly reached Will’s family back home; however, they had no clue if their loved ones had survived or not. They quickly flew from Douglas to Atlanta, only to find out from Will’s in-laws that they had all died from suffocation due to the intense smoke and heat. How tragic and ironic that Will Dickerson survived the bloodiest battle in World War II, only to perish with his entire family in a bizarre hotel fire?
Just 5 years after the tragic loss of their youngest son, Judge Dickerson would pass away after an illness kept him confined to his home for several months. This left Ethel alone in their sweet little house until she became the primary caregiver of her oldest son, David Dickerson. He became extremely sick and required constant aid for several months leading up to his passing. He died in his mother’s Gaskin Avenue home in July of 1953, just 2 short years after his father.
Ethel sold the impressive house in 1957 to Eric and Miriam White before moving to Virginia to live with her daughter. The home sat vacant for a while before being purchased by Luke Morgan in 2002. It was restored to its glory by giving special attention to its historic details like plaster walls, reconstructing the impressive staircase, and keeping the stained glass windows. Of course, in true southern fashion, its wrap-around porch still remains. Over the last 118 years the families of this Gaskin Avenue home, like its many neighbors, have experienced beauty, tragedy, and everything in between. We can only wonder what stories it will hold in the many years to come.