William Austin Dickinson (April 16, 1829 – August 16, 1895) was an American lawyer who lived and worked in Amherst, Massachusetts. Known to family and friends as "Austin", he was, notably, the older brother of poet

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

. After graduating from both Williston Seminary and

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

, where he was a member of the

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (; commonly known as Alpha Delt, AD, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in ...

, Dickinson taught briefly before pursuing a legal education. He attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, then joined his father, Edward Dickinson, in his law practice. After his father's death, Austin became treasurer of Amherst College from 1873 until his death. In addition to his law practice and treasury work, Dickinson took part in numerous civic projects and responsibilities, such as moderating the town meetings from 1881 until his death, and acting as president of the Village Improvement Association. He was responsible for getting

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

to design the Amherst Common, and was instrumental in the development of Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst. On July 1, 1856, Dickinson married Susan Huntington Gilbert, a friend of his sister Emily from childhood. They had three children and resided at the Evergreens, which stood, and still stands, adjacent to the Dickinson Homestead in downtown Amherst. Aside from his connection to his world-famous sister, Emily, Austin is also known for his longtime affair with Mabel Loomis Todd, a young Amherst College faculty wife who would eventually edit the first few collections of Emily Dickinson's poetry. Austin is buried in the cemetery he helped found, Wildwood Cemetery, as is, in a separate family plot, Mabel Loomis Todd. Emily Dickinson is not buried at Wildwood, but at Amherst West Cemetery. Austin and Susan Dickinson's home, largely intact since they died,See Amherst paper note about repairs to both Austin and Susan's home, and Emily's. https://www.amherst.edu/news/news_releases/2018/9-18/protecting-the-evergreens can be visited through the Emily Dickinson Museum.

Notes

References

*Longsworth, Polly. 1984. ''Austin and Mabel: The Amherst Affair and Love Letters of Austin Dickinson and Mabel Loomis Todd''. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. . *Sewall, Richard B.. 1974. ''The Life of Emily Dickinson''. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. .

External links

* People from Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst College alumni Harvard Law School alumni 1829 births 1895 deaths 19th-century American poets American male poets Dickinson family {{US-law-bio-stub