Reeves Memorial

Reeves Memorial Park, Winchester’s second black cemetery, which was abandoned and turned into an impenetrable jungle over the years, is finally getting some attention.

The first black burial ground—Daniel Grove Cemetery, incorporated in 1887—was located on Muddy Creek Road. By the 1980s it was abandoned and had become overrun with trees, shrubs and weeds. In 1999 the city began a cleanup of the 10-acre grounds, first removing accumulated trash dumped over the years, followed by removal of trees and brush. The city continues to maintain the cemetery and to keep the grass mowed—an accomplishment that our community can take pride in.

Reeves Memorial Park was a business venture of Luther W. Reeves. In July 1939 he purchased approximately 5 acres across the road from Daniel Grove (on Old Muddy Creek Road). Reeves quickly had his cemetery laid out and recorded the first interment that September.

The following year Clark County Fiscal Court sold the county’s Pauper’s Graveyard to Reeves for $50. This tract, about 1.5 acres, adjoined Reeves’ property on the north.

Reeves operated his cemetery until 1953, when he sold the business to H. K. Walling, including what had been the Pauper’s Graveyard. Walling kept the cemetery going for a few years—the last burial he recorded was in 1956—then apparently abandoned the property.

After Walling closed his business, the black community continued burials there for several decades. The last gravestone found is dated 1987. Finally the grounds became too overgrown for burials. Since that time Reeves Cemetery has deteriorated further, to the point that its condition has become a disgrace to the community.

The property is presently held by an out-of-state owner.

* * *

In 2009, the city cemetery board obtained a small grant to begin cleanup operations, and Public Works made some progress removing vegetation.

In 2016 Janice and Randy Martin, who live nearby, observed a number of veterans’ graves at Reeves. Janice and Randy are both retired ex-military. After obtaining permission from the property owner, they recruited a number of volunteers from VFW Post 2728 and Right Angle 233 Masonic Lodge to begin clearing the cemetery. They have been working diligently without pay for five years.

Volunteers have cleared trees and brush from an area of 1 to 2 acres that includes all of the gravestones found to date. Randy Martin keeps the area mowed.

There is still a large area left that needs to be cleared. Volunteer work has slowed down considerably during the coronavirus pandemic. However, our community cannot rely on volunteers to finish this job and keep the cemetery in satisfactory condition. 362 burials have been identified in Reeves Memorial Park so far, plus an unknown number of burials in the Pauper’s Graveyard. Many veterans’ graves are included in that number.

Graveyards are sacred places. It is beyond irresponsible to allow private owners to reap profits while operating a cemetery business and then abandon it to be desecrated by the elements. State laws in Kentucky provide steps communities may take to protect and restore abandoned cemeteries. Action needs to be taken now.

REEVES MEMORIAL PARK

List 1
Names from gravemarkers (145 names)

Armstrong, Anna L. (1902-1957)

Bass, Julius (1898-1955)*

Bell, Ella (1877-1963)

Bell, George (1871-1953)

Berryman, Fanny (1859-1940)

Boone, Evelyn Chloer (1902-)

Boone, John Walter (1886-1943)

Bosley, Frances (1889-1983)

Bosley, John W. (1888-1969)

Brooks, E. W. (1865-1957)

Brooks, Mary E. (1873-)

Brooks, Oliver (1874-1939)*

Brown, Clarence M. (1889-1963)

Brown, Hattie G. (1892-1942)

Brown, Nelson (1895-1954)*

Bryant, Elizabeth (1898-1949)

Burdell, Mattie (1877-1955)

Bynum, John W. F. (1889-1947)*

Bynum, Lena B. (1897-1971)

Calimese, William A. (1871-1951)

Carroll, William (1915-1956)*

Carter, John William (1903-1966)

Carter, L. L. (1901-1968)

Carter, Minnie Mae (1892-1956)

Chenault, Amanda (1872-1950)

Chenault, Ed Mitchell (1903-1952)

Chenault, Green (1891-1948)*

Chenault, James (1874-1950)

Chenault, James (1889-1944)

Chenault, James Martin (1910-1943)

Chenault, Jeff (1867-1940)

Chenault, Queenie V. (1875-1951)

Chenault, Verna (1900-1943)

Chennell, Charles L. (1892-1969)*

Christian, Gertrude (1895-1953)

Christian, Harold O. (1925-1958)*

Clark, Arthur V. (1919-1949)*

Clay, Anna B. (1880-1951)

Clemens, John H. (1883-1971)

Clemens, John Julius (1932-1951)

Clemens, Lela (1891-1971)

Conrad, Nannie (1885-1949)

Cosby, Maybelle (1895-1957)

Curry, Dessie W. (1916-1959)

Curry, Willis (1913-1956)

Dennis, Cordia (1872-1951)

Didlick, Mattie (1862-1951)

Diggs, Lula M. (1891-1954)

Dudley, Lillian Earl (1893-1942)

Evans, Lillian Adelaide (1903-1943)

Evans, William H. (1893-1954)*

Frazier, Ida B. (1887-1963)

French, Overton (1875-1949)

Fry, Luther (1891-1956)*

Garrett, Ella (1884-1944)

Green, Ella (1880-1957)

Hackett, Patricia F. (1948-1950)

Haggard, Mary Frances ( -1948)

Haley, Aca (1896-1956)*

Haley, Princess H. (1900-1943)

Hampton, Arthur (1888-1960)*

Hampton, Maggie (1880-1947)

Hampton, Ruth (1908-1955)

Handy, Mattie (1865-1950)

Hawkins, Easter Mae (1915-1951)

Hill, James F. (1923-1951)*

Hixon, Julia B. (1880-1968)

Hodgkin, Ida (1884-1971)

Hodgkin, John F. (1862-1939)

Hodgkin, Mary M. (1862-1961)

Hollins, Leora L. (1903-1950)

Hollins, William (1892-1972)*

Hood, Loraine (1913-1977)

Hopewell, William C. (1880-1955)

Jackson, Katie Tribble (1889-1970)

Jackson, Sadie D. (1895-1957)

James, Eliza (1875-1962)

James, W. M. (1887-1953)

Johnson, Mary L. (1896-1946)

Kelsor, George F. “Cotton” (1919-1987)

Kelsor, Henry (1877-1943)

Kelsor, William Eugene (1922-1983)

Lane, Frank (1907-1950)

Lewis, Lucy E. (1908-1955)

Lisle, Ora (1885-1955)

Logan, Jennie B. (1894-1952)

Logan, Marshall A. (1920-1943)*

Logan, Marshall Sr. (1891-1965)

Logan, Viola G. (1921-1973)

Mack, Winnie Humes (1911-1952)

Massie, James (1902-1940)

McCaffery, Anna B. (1890-1955)

Miller, George (1925-1962)*

Million, Icy Jane (1883-1958)

Mills, Annie B. (1879-1951)

Monroe, Marie (1902-1955)

Morris, Jerry B. (1948-1950)

Morton, Melvin T. (1907-1947)

Morton, Moses W. (1915-1968)*

Owens, Eura B. (1890-1965)

Owens, George Ella (1891-1956)

Patton, Ella B. (1887-1954)

Perkins, Jessie (1892-1945)*

Pleasant, Mary (1873-1953)

Poynter, Walter (1894-1949)*

Ray, Rev. James (1871-1945)

Richard, David McKinly (1913-1945)*

Robinson, Mary E. Green (1897-1939)

Romes, Mary Ella (1912-1955)

Samuels, Ethel M. (1906-1984)

Samuels, Oliver R. (1925-1939)

Samuels, Thomas D. (1900-1978)

Scott, Clara B. (1896-1960)

Scott, John C. (1893-1950)

Seals, Bertie (1894-1950)*

Shackelford, Charles B. (1911-1952)*

Sherman, Carrie (1905-1954)

Simms, Dudley Jr. (1896-1956)

Sledge, Rosa Lee (1921-1953)

Stevens, Amanda Jane (1868-1952)

Stewart, Owen (1893-1939)*

Strode, Henry (1872-1955)

Taylor, John H. (1892-1950)*

Taylor, Sallie Jackson (1855-1957)

Taylor, Vivian M. (1897-1973)

Taylor, William (1880-1939)*

Thomas, Fannie (1885-1956)

Tolbert, James W. (1894-1948)*

Toliver, Sophia (1881-1953)

Toliver, Theresa A. (1914-1943)

Tolliver, John Dave (1883-1945)

Turner, Pearl H. (1884-1968)

Turner, Spencer T. (1876-1941)

Walden, Henry (-1968)

Walden, Lula (1885-1944)

Watts, Allie C. (1879-1950)

Watts, Joseph (1899-1960)*

Weathers, Jesse (1921-1957)

Williams, Flora Belle Miller (1885-1958)

Williams, George W. (1872-1952)*

Williams, Harvey G. (1890-1961)*

Williams, Marie Massie (1905-1987)

Williams, Samuel Carl (1906-1977)*

Wills, Paul Douglas (1922-1948)

Woodard, Granville A. (1912-1949)

* Veterans

Notes: Clara B. Scott remarried an Arnold before her death in 1960. L. L. Carter and Henry Walden’s death dates come from their newspaper obituaries. Only a partial gravestone remains for Lillian Earl Dudley and Sallie Taylor.

List 2

Names from Reeves burial records, no gravemarkers* (205 names)

Alexander, Herbert P. (-1943)

Alexander, Mattie (-1950)

Allen, Elizabeth Morton (-1948)

Arnold, Leroy (-1952)

Barrett, Ella Jane (-1944)

Black, Betty Brooks (-1943)

Blanton, Seals (-1954)

Bly, Fannie Alice (-1947)

Boston, Lavernie (-1943)

Brady, Freeman (-1940)

Brady, Maggie (-1944)

Brady, Robert (-1941)

Brandenburg, Tom (-1945)

Brown, Cordie baby (-1951)

Brown, Mollie (-1947)

Bryant, James H. (-1953)

Buckner, Albert Rice (-1944)

Buckner, Mary Rice (-1956)

Buckner, Thomas Franklin (-1947)

Bush, Amy Parrish (-1940)

Carter, Carl B. (-1945)

Carter, Donald (-1945)

Carter, Everett Grant (-1949)*

Carter, Ruth Lee Jones (-1950)

Chenault, Aggie (-1950)

Chenault, Delphia Ann (-1952)

Chenault, Evree (-1950)

Chenault, Flora (-1948)

Chenault, George (-1951)

Chenault, Henry (-1941)

Chenault, Henry (-1950)

Chenault, Lillie (-1941)

Chenault, Louise (-1948)

Chenault, Sallie (-1942)

Chenault, Sam (-1953)

Chorn, Lou Cooper (-1951)

Clay, Buck (-1952)

Combs, Soffie (-1949)

Covington, Annie Quisenberry (-1943)

Crockett, Charlie (-1951)

Crockett, Dolly (-1947)

Crockett, Margaret (-1951)

Cunningham, Clay (-1947)

Davenport, Rachel Lee (-1945)

Davis, William Armstead (-1950)

Didlick, Lucenia (-1948)

Didlick, William (-1948)

Dodge, Rogenia (-1950)

Dudley, Anderson (-1946)

Dudley, Cordie Denny (-1951)

Dudley, Lucy S. (-1954)

Dudley, Will (-1950)

Duerson, Dorothy Mae (-1943)

Evans, Estella Mae White (-1948)

Evans, Jerry M. (-1952)

Evans, Nannie Baker (-1951)

Fields, Anna M. (-1956)

Francis, Helen (-1951)

Francis, Kenneth Lee (-1951)

Francis, Leroy (-1944)

Francis, Odessa Marie (-1944)

Francis, Walker (-1953)

Frye, Henry Taylor baby (-1951)

Fryer, Jennie (-1943)

Gaitskill, Eliza (-1949)

Gentry, Harvey (-1951)

Gentry, Mattie P. (-1944)

Gess, William Nat (-1952)

Givens, Robert W. (-1949)

Glover, Joseph R. (-1945)

Goff, Tom (-1946)

Gratz, Carrie L. (-1946)

Green, Bell (-1947)

Green, Viney May (-1948)

Green, William Henry (-1949)

Haggard, John (-1944)

Hall, Myrtle (-1954)

Hall, Vina (-1945)

Halliburton, Virginia (-1945)

Hamlett, Fannie Naomi (-1941)

Hamlin, Rose Lee (-1939)

Hampton, Charles Bryson (-1945)

Hampton, James Allen (-1944)

Hampton, Marie baby (-1955)

Hardy, Belle (-1939)

Harris, John Curtis (-1952)

Hawkins, Charline (-1951)

Hawkins, Clarence (-1952)

Hawkins-Daniels, Mary E. (-1942)

Hayes, Samuel (-1943)

Henderson, Kate (-1949)

Hooten, Robert (-1951)

Hopewell, James F. (-1945)

Howell, Susan Williams (-1953)

Hulse, Henry (-1950)

Humes, Noah (-1940)

Jackson, Allen (-1941)

Jackson, Herman (-1944)

Jackson, Lucille Lee (-1951)

Jefferson, John (-1943)

Jett, Tommie (-1953)

Johnson, Maggie (-1939)

Johnson, Velma Patton (-1950)

Joiner, Ella Kate (-1941)

Jones, Nick (-1952)

Jones, Oliver C. (-1946)

Jones, Raymond (-1942)

Keese, Will Henry (-1942)

King, John Henry (-1954)

Lane baby (-1947)

Laurence, Gladys (-1942)

Lilly, Annie (-1947)

Long, John H. (-1940)

Lyle, Harry (-1946)

Lyle, Otis (-1948)

Mack, Anna Belle (-1945)

Magee, James (-1951)

Mason, Mamie Hampton (-1949)

McGee, George (-1940)

McGee, Lila (-1939)

McGee, Walter (-1953)

Meadows, Anna (-1953)

Miller, Barbara (-1952)

Miller, David (-1939)

Miller, Dovie (-1940)

Miller, Gilbert E. (-1940)

Mitchell, Alice (-1939)

Mitchell, Lena (-1942)

Mitchell, Mary (-1940)

Monroe, Marie (-1955)

Morris, Sam (-1941)

Morton, Earl (-1951)

Mullins, Carrie (-1954)

Munday-Lattimore, Lee (-1941)

Murphy, Willie (-1956)

Nichols, James B. (-1944)

Parks, William (-1949)

Parrish, Scott (-1942)

Patton, Garland Bush (-1954)

Paul, Margaret (-1954)

Payne, Clarence E. (-1950)

Perkins, Christine (-1944)

Perkins, Maggie Hopewell (-1950)

Perkins, Thomas (-1943)

Perry, Minnie (-1947)

Perry, William R. (-1952)

Quisenberry, William (-1947)

Randall, Curtis (-1941)

Ray, Nettie (-1943)

Ray, William (-1945)

Richard, James (-1953)

Richard, Riolon Dillard (-1949)

Robinson, Harvey (-1946)

Robinson, William (-1948)*

Rucker, Jonas D. (-1952)*

Satterfield, Minnie Gertrude (-1951)

Scott, James (-1950)

Scott, Queenie (-1943)

Scott, Robert (-1944)

Scott, Roosevelt Jr. (-1953)

Shackleford Frankie (-1954)

Simms, Mary (-1954)

Simpson, James (-1941)

Singleton, Harvey (-1941)

Singleton, James L. (-1951)

Skinner, Chester (-1948)

Small, Emma (-1952)

Smith, Glorina (-1953)

Smith, James Hall (-1946)

Smith, John (-1953)

Smith, Laura (-1952)

Smith, Willis (-1949)

Starr, Flora H. (-1944)

Stewart, Elgie (-1954)

Strode, Albert baby (-1948)

Strode, Charles Edward (-1950)

Strode, Sterling (-1942)

Strong, Dock (-1944)

Swift, John (-1943)

Talbert, Sallie Lisle (-1953)

Taulbee, James Washington (-1948)

Taylor, Annie Shepherd (-1949)

Taylor, James Leroy (-1947)

Tolbert, Della Perkins (-1948)

Toliver, T. (-1949)

Tribble, Mary E. (-1950)

Tribble, W. Alford (-1949)

Turney, Horace (-1945)

Waddell, Fannie (-1942)

Washington, George (-1951)

Watts, Henry (-1947)

Webb, Ruben (-1950)

Wells, Mathovia (-1950)

White, Alice Hall (-1946)

White, Charles Robert (-1952)

Williams, Dave (-1942)

Williams, Ed baby (-1945)

Williams, Eugene (-1952)

Williams, Jean Carrolton (-1947)

Williams, Malinda (-1946)

Williams, Mary Harris (-1952)

Wills, John (-1954)

Wills, Seth (-1949)

Woodford, Helena (-1946)

Wright, Jerry Lena (-1948)

* The record book for Reeves Memorial Park lists burials between 1939 and 1956.

List 3

Names from death certificates, no gravemarkers* (12 names)

Bates, Carrie Hall (1878-1951)

Clay, Charlie (1885-1956)

Clay, Samuel (1909-1959)

Cooper, Zelma M. (1964-1965)

Copher, Julia (1863-1949)

Haddix, Richard (1863-1956)

Hall, Ruth Elizabeth (1924-1952)

Hughes, Beatrice Mance (1903-1956)

Nicholas, Mary Lou Chambers (1896-1960)

Slegins, Bettie (1900-1961)

Tribble, Hallie Jane (1882-1958)

Wirthlin, Annie Lee (1891-1956)

* Death certificates report burial at Reeves Cemetery.

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