 |
View of Frankfort from
the cemetery |
 |
| Cemetery Gates |
The Frankfort Cemetery, in Frankfort, Kentucky is visible from anywhere in the
town. Located on a bluff, it
overlooks the City of Frankfort, with views of the State Capitol building, and
Kentucky River. The rolling lands and vistas are gorgeous, no matter what time
of year you visit.
 |
Ambrose Dudley's
Grave |
Judge
Mason Brown, Edmund Taylor, A.G. Hodges, Henry Wingate, Jacob Swigert, A.P.
Cox, Philip Swigert, Orlando Brown and M.R. Stealey incorporated the cemetery
on February 27th, 1844. Approval
for incorporation was granted by the Kentucky General Assembly. In 1845 thirty-two acres were
purchased from Ambrose and Eliza Dudley for $3,801. The land, at the time was known as Hunter’s Garden. In 1858 and again in 1911, more land
was purchased, to account for the current total of 100 acres in the cemetery.
The Frankfort Cemetery was the second cemetery to be incorporated in the United
States.
 |
| Frankfort Cemetery |
 |
| Early View from Cemetery |
Scottish
landscape architect Robert Carmichael was hired to design the cemetery in the Romanesque
style similar to Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston. Carmichael designed curving lanes and incorporated flowers
not usually found in the region to create a garden style cemetery. He terraced certain areas to overlook
the gorgeous views of the Kentucky River.
Carmichael died in 1858 and is buried here.
In
1848, $15,000 was appropriated to build a monument to those who died in defense
of the country during the Civil War. The State Mound designed by
Russian-American sculptor Robert E. Launitz. Most of the intricate carving was done in Italy and then
shipped to Frankfort up the Mississippi. The military memorial is located on a
twenty feet square granite base in the center of the cemetery. The Statue of Victory tops the monument
and four eagles guard each of the four corners.
 |
| Cemetery Chapel |
In
1890 a Romanesque Revival chapel was built on a hill overlooking the Kentucky
River and Frankfort. Painted a
pale mauve, it blends in with its surroundings, regardless of the time of year.
 |
| Daniel Boone |
 |
| Boone's Monument |
The
most visited gravesite is that of frontiersman Daniel Boone, but the infamous
question is if Daniel Boone is actually buried here? Boone died in Missouri on September 26, 1820. He was buried next to Rebecca, his
wife, at what is now Marthasville, Missouri. The Boone’s remains were supposedly disinterred by family in
1845 and moved to the new Frankfort, Kentucky Cemetery. But Boone’s relatives in Missouri were
not pleased when Kentucky kinfolk came to take the remains South. Legend has it
that they allowed them to exhume the wrong bodies to take back to the Bluegrass
State. It has never been proven if
Boone and his wife were really moved back to Kentucky, or if they remain in
Missouri.
 |
| Boone killing Indians |
 |
| Rebecca Boone |
Regardless,
a large monument stands in the Frankfort Cemetery with four panels that depict
Boone’s life in Kentucky. The
southern panel depicts Boone in a fight with Indians, one has been killed and
one is ready to attack. The panel
on the eastern side shows Rebecca Boone milking a cow.
 |
| Boone & boy |
 |
| Boone at Cabin |
On the northern panel stand a man and boy, said to represent Boone
telling the boy where he wanted to be buried. And the panel on the western side shows Boone sitting by his cabin with a slaughtered deer at his feet.
 |
| Grave of Theodore O'Hara |
 |
| Grave of Paul Sawyier |
Other
notable people buried here include Impressionist artist, Paul Sawyier, Vice
President Richard M. Johnson, and Theodore O’Hara, poet of The Bivouac of
the Dead which is quoted in
numerous cemeteries at war memorials.
The
cemetery also contains the graves of seventeen state governors, those massacred
at River Raisin during the War of 1812, three national poets, and many military
officers and soldiers from the Civil War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War and
numerous other conflicts.
 |
| Tree Replacement Program |
 |
| Memorial Plaque |
Wind
and storm damage on this high bluff over the years, has damaged or destroyed
many of the huge, older trees. The
Frankfort Cemetery completed a tree and garden replacement program in 2010,
where over 500 trees were planted.
Over eighty-five different tree varieties were selected, with 60 of
those being native Kentucky species.
The donation cost to sponsor a replacement trees ranges from $300 to
$600, and a memorial plaque is included.
The
Frankfort Cemetery is located at 215 East Main Street. The cemetery is open from 7:30 to
sunset. The phone number is (502)
227-2403.
 |
| Bivouac of the Dead |
With
the gorgeous views, ample history, and beautiful landscapes, the Frankfort
Cemetery is well worth the afternoon of any Tombstone Tourist!
~
Joy
During
the 1870’s several amendments were added to the National Cemetery Act of 1867
to allow the burial of Union veterans in national cemeteries. In 1872, an amendment was passed to allow “all soldiers and
sailors honorably discharged from the service of the United States who may die
in a destitute condition, shall be allowed burial in the national cemeteries of
the United States.”
The
original fourteen national cemeteries, created in 1862 are – 
Fort
Scott National Cemetery, Fort Scott, Kansas 
Since 1862, more than 3-million burials have
occurred in national cemeteries. The purpose of the National Cemetery System remains
the same as it did 151 years ago; to provide a proper burial service,
headstone, and interment in hallowed ground for veterans, those on active duty,
reservists and National Guard members who have, or continue to, serve and
defend our country.
