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DEWEY FAMILY HISTORY
Last Revised June 9, 2010
Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D.
Grandson of Frank Dewey Phillips
Great-Grandson of May Dewey Phillips
Frank Dewey Phillips was my paternal grandfather. Born 16 June 1886, Frank
(his full name) was the son of William Grant Phillips and May Dewey Phillips
of Paola, Miami, Kansas. Frank was the first husband of Norma Celia Heter,
whom he married on 1 October 1913 in Sterling, Rice, Kansas. Her lineage is
presented in a separate study. HERE Frank and Norma lived in Schenectady,
New York, where Frank died suddenly on 30 April 1946.
On 15 January 1888, when Frank was still a toddler, his father, “Will”
Phillips, was shot to death by a burglar at their home in Paola. Will
lingered for 23 days before passing away on 7 February 1888. The perpetrator
of the crime was not apprehended. His mother was pregnant at the time, and
gave birth to Helen Tenney Phillips on 29 August 1888. Helen married Dr.
Robert Elmer Padfield, and they lived in Wichita, Sedgwick, Kansas.
Will Phillips was the son of Joseph Harmon Phillips and Marion Helen
Guilliams, whose lineage is presented in a separate study. HERE Will had
one sister, Gertrude Phillips, born 20 September 1861 in Paola, Miami,
Kansas, identified as a School Teacher in the 1880 census. Four other
siblings died in infancy.
According to family accounts, May Dewey Phillips collected two insurance
settlements following the murder of her husband – one from a life insurance
policy, and one from travelers’ insurance (the couple was returning home from
a trip to Boston, and the policy was valid until midnight). With the $18,000
settlement, May moved to Lawrence, Kansas, hired a nanny, and enrolled at the
University of Kansas. May Dewey Phillips graduated from the University of
Kansas Law School on 5 June 1894. She was only the second woman to do so.
The 1893 college catalog contains an informative passage: “The present
membership is cosmopolitan in its character. Here are to be found
representatives of Caucasian, Ethiopian and Indian races, while even the
restrictions as to sex are unknown, women as well as men being enrolled.”
She practiced law with Judge Barker of Lawrence for several years, then
served as secretary at the engineering school, the chemistry school, and the
alumni office at the University of Kansas. She was one of the founders of
the League of Women Voters. (Wichita Eagle, 10 December 1953)
On 17 June 1895, May Dewey Phillips received a Warranty Deed for Lot 170 (now
1122 Ohio Street), City of Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas (Book 57, Page
460). She lived there for 25 years until 1 August 1920, when she sold Lot
170 (Book 107, Page 600). She owned other lots also. On 26 May 1917, her
son Frank Dewey Phillips received a Quit Claim Deed from May Phillips, widow,
for Lots 177 & 179 on Rhode Island Street, City of Lawrence, Douglas County,
Kansas (Book 98, Page 166). Frank and Norma C. H. Phillips, his wife, both
of Schenectady, New York, sold the lots by Warranty Deed on 7 September 1921
(Book 111, Page 595).
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