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Lexington Cemetery Asked to Take Confederate Statues

J. Tyler Franklin

Lexington Mayor Jim Gray is asking the board at a local cemetery to consider placement of two Confederate statues on its historic burial grounds.

A letter dated August 24 making such a request went to the General Manager of Lexington Cemetery Mark Durbin.

Lexington's council voted unanimously earlier this month to relocate the statues of Civil War figures John Hunt Morgan and John Breckinridge. Council Member Fred Brown believes the Lexington Cemetery is an appropriate spot.

“I think that would probably go over better with the state, because we’ve still got to get through that process, the council or committee that rules on that,” Brown said.

The issue is now before the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission for consideration.

Durbin says the nine-member cemetery board will consider Gray’s request at it’s September 11 meeting and is expected to make a decision then.

Morgan and Breckinridge are both buried in Lexington Cemetery. Durbin says there is a Confederate soldier monument on the grounds, bearing some of the names of people lost in the Civil War.

Stu Johnson is a reporter/producer at WEKU in Lexington, Kentucky.
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