Lexington Cemetery (Tour)

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This monument to Kentucky Congressman Henry Clay is located in the center of the Lexington Cemetery. Clay is most remembered as the driving force behind both the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. Clay died from tuberculosis in 1852 and was brought back to Lexington for his burial. Plans to erect a monument in his memory were made almost immediately, though they did not come to fruition until 1857. The monument consists of a limestone mausoleum, a 120-foot tall column, and a statue of Henry Clay. Clay and his wife Lucretia are interred in a vaulted chamber at the base of the monument.

2. “King” William Solomon (1775-1854)

The story of “King" William Solomon is one of historical and scientific wonder and irony. Solomon, the town drunk was sold as a servant to “Aunt" Charlotte, a free Black woman. He woke up from a bender and became a local hero during the Cholera outbreak of 1833. His work digging graves for Lexington is credited with saving hundreds more people from dying at the height of the pandemic. Supposedly protected by his love of spirits and justified aversion to water, his immunity to the disease made him the ideal worker for the cemetery. For his work, he is honored with a special plot in the new Lexington Cemetery with the engraving “For had he not a Royal Heart.” (image 3)

3. Laura and Mary Clay Graves

Laura and Mary Barr Clay were the daughters of Kentucky abolitionist Cassius Clay who was the cousin of famed Kentucky Senator Henry Clay. The women were major advocates for women’s suffrage both in Kentucky and nationally, though the sisters were against the enfranchisement of Black women. Both of the Clay women worked closely with the movement’s leaders, including Susan B. Anthony. Laura Clay was a delegate for the 1920 Democratic National Convention and was even included in a list of potential nominees. Both women are buried in the Lexington Cemetery in Section J, Lot 6.

4. John C. Breckinridge Grave

Vice President John C Breckinridge, the youngest vice president in US history, is buried here in Lexington Cemetery. Breckinridge was a Lexington native and a successful politician, holding a number of state and national offices over the course of his career. A graduate of the nearby Transylvania University, Breckinridge worked as a lawyer in addition to being a politician and served in the Mexican-American War. He would later go on to become a general in the Confederate army during the Civil War. Breckinridge’s grave is in Section G, Lot 1 of the cemetery, not far from the grave of Senator Henry Clay.

5. Ladies' Confederate Memorial

The Ladies' Confederate Memorial was dedicated in 1874 in Lexington Cemetery, just nine years after the Civil War. This monument is located in a cemetery and reflects the grief of Southern mothers, wives, and families who lost loved ones in the war. It was constructed by the Ladies Memorial and Monument Association. The memorial was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 17, 1997.

6. Lexington National Cemetery

The first burials in the Lexington National Cemetery date back to 1861 as Civil War soldiers were buried in a small lot. The lot is located on the edge of the Lexington Cemetery which itself has burials dating back to 1848. The lot was designated as a national cemetery in 1863 and has since become the final resting place of over 1,300 soldiers. A series of white marble posts mark the border of this lot which is centered around a flagpole. Nearby informational signs detail the history of the lot and the soldiers.

7. Mary Desha Grave

Best known for founding the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 1890, Mary Desha was a Lexington native and schoolteacher. Desha also was involved in the United Daughters of the Confederacy and served as the DAR hospital corps’s assistant director during the Spanish-American War. The gravesite features a monument with the DAR’s seal which was dedicated in 1915.

This Tour is a Virtual Museum or Site Tour.

Lexington Cemetery

Created by Victoria Endres on June 1st 2020, 9:44:00 pm.

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Established in 1849, the Lexington Cemetery was Kentucky’s first “rural,” or parklike, cemetery. Originally only forty acres, the 170-acre property now features an arboretum and two large lakes. During the Civil War, a small lot for soldiers was set aside within the cemetery. In 1863, this lot became a national cemetery; this soldiers’ section later closed to burials in 1939. Other notable parts of the cemetery include the Romanesque gatehouse near the entrance, which replaced an earlier version in 1890, and a memorial to Congressman Henry Clay erected in 1857. The Lexington Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

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Lexington Cemetery

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