Killam, Mary Chesley, 1835-1916.

Mary A. Chesley Killam was born in February 1835 at Barnstead, New Hampshire to Benjamin and Sarah (Bodge) Chesley. On December 14, 1854, she married George Francis Killam, a native of Temple, New Hampshire. The Killams emigrated to Kansas Territory in 1855, arriving on May 1 at the free-state town of Lawrence. They opened a small Lawrence hotel, the Eastern House, located at the corner of New Hampshire and Winthrop streets, where abolitionist John Brown became a frequent guest. The Killams witnessed the sacking of Lawrence by pro-slavery forces on May 21, 1856. On May 13, 1863, George Killam died at age twenty-seven. On August 21 of that year, Mary witnessed the massacre of Lawrence by William Quantrill's guerrilla band. She died at Lawrence on January 18, 1916.