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living with her husband, Joseph W. Lykins, identified as a druggist, and three
children. Lykins County, as Miami County was originally called, was named
after David Lykins Jr., brother of Joseph W. Lykins.
After their mother remarried, the Guilliams sisters went to live with an
uncle (on their mother’s side) in Union County, Indiana. In 1858 Marion
“had a severe illness which terminated in what the doctors called
consumption” and was “practically an invalid all her life.” In 1859 or
1860 Marion moved to Paola, Kansas, where she married Joseph Harmon Phillips
on 2 September 1860. Marion was a charter member of the McCaslin Women’s
Relief Corps of Paola, helping to organize the Corps in 1884.
Merab Brown died 2 January 1872; Joseph W. Lykins died 31 October 1882;
Marian Helen Guilliams died 10 June 1907. All are buried at Paola Cemetery,
Miami County, Kansas – Marian in the Phillips family plot, Merab and Joseph
in the Lykins family plot to the northeast. Just east of the Lykins plot is
the grave of Melissa Guilliams, first wife of Joseph Harmon Phillips, who
died after one month of marriage.
As stated above, only two children of Joseph and Marion Phillips survived
infancy: William Grant “Will” Phillips and Alice G. “Gertrude” Phillips.
Will Phillips, my great-grandfather, was shot to death by a burglar at his
home in Paola. According to family accounts, he was returning home from a
trip to Kansas City, his wife, the former May Dewey, and their son Frank Dewey
Phillips, then nineteen months old, having gone on to Lawrence, Kansas. Will
started up the stairs, and was confronted by the burglar. This is consistent
with the newspaper accounts, which report: Returning to Paola on the 11:00
express train on Sunday night, January 16, having left his wife and baby in
Kansas City, he proceeded to his home and found the back door open. He
started upstairs and was shot from about four feet away by an unknown man who
was plundering the house. Trunks and drawers had been searched, many things
being scattered over the floor, but nothing of value was reported missing.
The first shot missed its intended victim, passing over his head, but the
second shot passed through his left hand. Will ran to a neighbor who lived
across the street in the school building, leaving a trail of blood every step
of the way. Medical assistance was summoned, and he was taken to his father’s
house, during which time the intruder escaped. One witness reported seeing a
prowler in the vicinity that evening, and thought he could easily identify him;
the .38 caliber bullets were recovered as evidence; but the perpetrator of the
crime was never apprehended. Despite “the best of medical treatment,” Will
lingered for 23 days before passing away on 7 February 1888, at the age of
24 years, 4 months, and 17 days. His death was attributed to erisypelas
(skin infection) and blood poisoning. He is buried at Paola Cemetery, the
first to be interred in the Phillips family plot. His funeral was attended
by hundreds. (Paola Times, 19 January 1888, and 9 February 1888; Western
Spirit, 20 January 1888, and 10 February 1888; Miami County Republican,
20 January 1888 and 10 February 1888)
May Dewey Phillips was pregnant during the ordeal. May and Will's daughter,
Helen Tenney Phillips, was born on 29 August 1888.
The land records of Miami County show that May Dewey Phillips, who inherited
her slain husband’s estate, owned Lots 3, 4 and 5 of Block 98 in the City of
Paola, which she sold on 14 April 1900 (Book 76, Page 152). The house of
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