A former Hopkinsville man, Joe Craver, will soon be honored with an “Award of Distinction” by the Kentucky Historical Society — thanks to his recovery efforts of the once-forgotten Vine Street Cemetery near old Attucks High School.
Craver’s work, which reportedly got going in 2016, grabbed the attention of Hoptown Chronicle co-founder and KHS Board President Jennifer Brown, as well as Wynn Radford. Each submitted a letter nominating him.
In a February 14, 2020, online dialogue from Brown, Craver is described as an “interested volunteer” and retiree, whose work in genealogy and generosity confirmed the names of more than 180 people buried in what is officially known as Union Benevolent Society Cemetery.
It’s a graveyard for African Americans, once maintained by the fraternal organization following Emancipation, but fell into disrepair until 2016 — when Christian County Jail employee Brad Hewell forwarded inmates to the location, in order to remove dead trees and vegetation.
Hopkinsville City Council then approved and established ownership, and it was rededicated in 2018 under the city’s watch.
From the News Edge archives, Craver tells the history of the UBS, and how he walked most of the cemetery and collected names and dates on headstones in order to cross reference online sources like obituaries, military records and census data.
Former Mayor Carter Hendricks noted then that the grounds deserved more.
Deep research from Craver, according to Brown, revealed a headstone for 1st Sgt. John Collins — a former soldier in the 54th Massachusetts, a notorious all-Black Union unit from the Civil War. Attorney Robert Lander and wife, Fannie, known for their challenging of segregated passenger trains, rest there. Peter Postell, a former slave and success black business owner, remained there until he was exhumed and placed in Cave Spring on Greenville Road.
Within its humble confines: a large hillside, a running creek along its right flank, several trees that have withstood heavy winds and swirling storms, and so many other historical figures in Christian County’s Black History annals.
And just this week, the landscaping remains unfinished or in need of updating. A number of trees have been felled in torrential rains and straight-line winds, and its creek is partially filled with brush, trash and debris. Several stones are broken and toppled, or covered with new vegetation.
Regardless, Craver’s awareness garnered an invitation for the June 3 awards ceremony at Thomas D. Clark Center in Frankfort, where KHS officials will celebrate “Kentucky History Day.”
Brown’s report can be found here: Local man’s UBS cemetery research enhancing local Black history archive (hoptownchronicle.org)
