DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give it to you straight. Ezekial Thomas Phillips was a Civil War veteran, born in 1830, and in 1869 he loaded up his family and moved them to Falls County. He had plans for this land — good plans.
One particular piece of it he set aside as a wedding gift for his son, Robert M. Phillips, born in 1857. A father's gift to a young man about to start a life of his own.
Now, you can feel where this is going, and it's heavy. On March 18, 1883, a short time before that wedding was supposed to take place, Robert was killed in a shooting accident. They buried him right here, on the very tract his father had meant to give him as a gift.
That land meant for celebration became land set apart for mourning. And here's the thing about grief that sometimes surprises people — it draws a community together. Requests for burials at this site came in, and they kept coming, so numerous that Ezekial Phillips did something that speaks to the kind of man he was.
In 1903, he donated that land as a public cemetery. He himself was laid to rest here, as was his wife, Louise Jane Phillips — known to folks as Lucy — born in 1836, died in 1897. There are three hundred and fifty known graves in Phillips Cemetery.
A tract meant as a wedding gift became a place where an entire community has buried its dead for over a century. Some land just ends up holding more than anyone planned.
What the marker says
Ezekial Thomas Phillips (1830-1905), a Civil War veteran, moved his family to Falls County in 1869. His son Robert M. Phillips (b. 1857) died in a shooting accident on March 18, 1883, a short time before his wedding. He was buried on this tract, which was to have been a wedding gift from his father. Requests for burials at this site were so numerous that Phillips donated the land as a public cemetery in 1903. There are 350 known graves, including those of Phillips and his wife Louise "Lucy" Jane (Wade) (1836-1897). Phillips Cemetery has served residents of the area for over a century.