Memorials › Gustie Guy Phillips

Gustie Guy Phillips

2 Apr 1900 – 27 Dec 1966

Birth2 Apr 1900
Death27 Dec 1966
CemeteryVisalia Public Cemetery
Visalia , Tulare County , California , USA
Added bySimmons Family on 11 Nov 2015
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/67751580

Bio

Gustie Guy Phillips was born 2 April 1900 in Barber, Arkansas. He was 4th of the 9 children born to Henry Anderson Phillips (1868-1938) and Margrett Ann Howard Phillips (1876-1917). Siblings: Epsie [Phillips] Blanton (1891-1961), Jerry Thomas Phillips (1894-1963), Vernie Adeline [Phillips] Compton (1897-1976), Evelyn Ann [Phillips] Ayers (1903-1959), George Harvey Phillips (1905-1987), Limuel Buel Phillips (1908-1966), Paul Anderson Phillips (1912-1964) and Hattie Irene [Phillips] Hughes (1916-1983). At the age of 22, he was married to Nellie Jane Moore (1905-1987) on 17 September 1922 in Barber, Logan, Arkansas. They were the parents of 8 children: They are the parents of 2 daughters Fannie Margaret [Phillips] Peel/Frey (1923-2003) and Marcella May [Phillips] Sebo (1925-2004) and 6 sons Clarence Eugene Phillips (1927-1994), Hiram Allen Phillips (1930-2007), Kenneth Ray Phillips (1932-1997), Ralph Leo Phillips (1935-2020), George Ervin Phillips (1937-2016) and Marvin Harold Phillips (1940-). Shortly after his marriage, Gustie went to work in the oilfields in Wyoming. While there he was on a train that plunged into Cole Creek. Following are excerpts from the Burlington Bulletin #40, "Wyoming Flooding 1923, The Cole Creek Disaster" by Richard Patterson: "It was Thursday, September 27, 1923. Out on the northwestern plains, the weather was badly unsettled. Extraordinary amounts of rain and very violent storms - unusual for so late in the year - were being reported throughout Wyoming and Nebraska.....On the evening of September 27, train No. 30, the Billings-to-Denver passenger train which was then originating in Casper due to the track washouts further west and north, was being readied for its scheduled 8:35 p.m. departure for Denver....The passengers holding tickets on No. 30 this day were a varied lot. Among them were several business owners, a number of traveling salesmen, oilfield construction laborers, tourists, two children traveling with their mother, an Internal Revenue Service agent, a painters union organizer, the state superintendent of Baptist missions and a couple journeying to Denver to be married.....No. 30 left Casper on time at 8:35 p.m. and headed east. It was carrying approximately 70 passengers and crew. There was a light rain falling. The engineer had orders stating, "Heavy rains reported between Casper and Douglas, run carefully where track is liable to be affected." No slow orders had been issued, and the track had just been patrolled and found safe.....Thirty minutes and 14 miles later, No. 30 approached the Cole Creek bridge at a speed estimated to be between 35 and 40 miles per hour.. Continuous rain in the area drained by Cole Creek had finally overloaded the natural dams upstream....One after another, in a domino effect, the sandy dams gave way, sending a wall of water roaring down the creek, under bridge 98 and into the North Platte River. On its way, the torrent of water mixed with sagebrush, prairie grass, clay and sand to create a thick amalgam of quicksand in the lower streambed. At the time of the accident, water in the normally dry creekbed was running at nearly bridge embankment level. To this day, it is not known if the bridge had been washed out just before No. 30's arrival or if the rushing water and mud had only weakened the structure. In any event, it could not support the train. Engine 350 and her tender plunged into Cole Creek. Both the cab and pilot truck were torn from the locomotive as she dropped into the rushing water. Engine and tender both came to rest on their right sides, 15 feet south of the bridge and 10 feet from the east bank....The next three cars, baggage/mail car and coaches Q5940 and C&S 551 - went into the creek....Wood-bodied coach 5940 came to rest on the bottom of the streambed and was crushed by all-steel coach 551, which rested partially on top of it. The greatest loss of life, not unexpectedly, came in the two coaches. Many occupants were trapped and crushed. Others were swept into the stream, with several bodies never recovered. Survivors reported almost no sound except for the rushing water. The cars sank into the thick, muddy water so quickly that no screams from the victims were heard.. Coach 5940 was full of laborers and steelworkers. They were riding the short distance from Casper to Lockett, where a new tank farm was being constructed to serve the Big Muddy oilfield. Gus G. Phillips of Barber, Arkansas, was the only one who escaped from the submerged car. He was in the restroom at the rear and was thrown out upon impact. He crawled out over the firebox of the engine and reached the east bank, badly burning himself in the process. He then walked the mile-and-a-half east to Lockett....The rear brakeman, L. Krews, took his lantern and flags and started walking west to protect the rear of the train. Meanwhile, Gus Phillips had reached the Lockett depot. The operator there sent a telegram to the Casper dispatcher, saying, "A man just came in. He's scalded head to foot. He's dying. Get a doctor." She did not provide further details, and the Casper dispatcher did not realize a train had wrecked. " Name: Gustie G Philips Event: Census Event Date: 1930 Event Place: Braden, Le Flore, Oklahoma Gender: Male Age: 29 Marital Status: Married Race: White Birthplace: Oklahoma Estimated Birth Year: 1901 Immigration Year: Relationship to Head of Household: Head Father's Birthplace: United States Mother's Birthplace: United States Enumeration District Number: 0004 Family Number: 13 Sheet Number and Letter: 1B Line Number: 52 NARA Publication: T626, roll 1910 Film Number: 2341644 Digital Folder Number: 4661226 Image Number: 00587 Household Gender Age Gustie G Philips M 29 Spouse Nellie J Philips F 24 Child Fannie M Philips F 6 Child Marcella M Philips F 4 Child Eugene C Philips M 2 Jerry T Philips (Brother to Gustie) M 35 .

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