Being unemployed , Gordon decided to go to Palestine which at the time was part of the Ottoman '' vilayet '' of Syria , a region he had long desired to visit , where he would remain for a year ( 1882 – 83 ) . During his " career break " in the Holy Land , the very religious Gordon sought to explore his faith and biblical sites . In Jerusalem , Gordon lived with an American lawyer Horatio Spafford and his wife Anna Spafford , who were the leaders of the American Colony in the Holy City . The Spaffords had lost their home and much of their fortune in the Great Chicago Fire and then had seen one of their sons die of scarlet fever , four of their daughters drowned in a shipwreck followed by the death of another son from scarlet fever , causing them to turn to religion as consolation for unbearable tragedy , making them very congenial company for Gordon during his stay in Jerusalem . After his visit , Gordon suggested in his book '' Reflections in Palestine '' a different location for Golgotha , the site of Christ 's crucifixion . The site lies north of the traditional site at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and is now known as " the Garden Tomb , " or sometimes as " Gordon 's Calvary . " Gordon 's interest was prompted by his religious beliefs , as he had become an evangelical Christian in 1854
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Charles George Gordon