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.
From the guide to the Mary Chesley Killam letter, 188-?, (University of Kansas Kenneth Spencer Research Library Kansas Collection)
