On Halloween many students at Lyon College are led to Tommy Phillips’ grave to pay homage to him with marbles or small change so he won’t haunt them. The Greeks especially love to do this and its probably been going on since about 1950 when the college campus moved to its present location from downtown Batesville. What could be spookier than to stumble around in the dark among trees and fields looking for a grave?
Actually, this is not a grave. Tommy Phillips actually was an orphan at the Masonic Lodge for Orphans and the Lyon College campus sits on this site. He's on the role list found at the Old Independence Museum in Batesville for the orphanage. That’s why there’s another legend out there about the ghost babies crying in Spragins Hall, but that’s for another article.
You can see the Masonic symbol in the concrete where the boys pushed marbles into the wet concrete to outline the symbol. At the time that rock was chiseled, there was no lake, just a creek running by and the kids did not have streaming media, cell phones, computers, or any of the amenities we take for granted. Who knows why they built it? It had to be more than one boy because the rock is massive and there is the mixing of concrete involved. Maybe they were bored? Maybe they were very creative?
So, go ahead and visit his stone. It’s located on the East side of Bryan Lake, and is currently roped off with construction tape so bulldozers won’t eat it. You’ll see the masonic symbol in marbles and some initials too. The tradition lives on, and when this Covid Pandemic is over and students are back at Lyon, you can be sure they will pay homage to the grave of Tommy Phillips.
0 Comments.