Second Day of Caching in Frankfort 4/30/2009

Well we're back into the rain thing again, can't go a day without getting rain at sometime or another. It rained most of last night and as we got to our first cache it started raining. We did find our first cache at Fort Hill park overlooking Frankfort. Fort Hill is a hill overlooking downtown Frankfort, Kentucky, where military fortifications were built during the American Civil War to protect the city and its pro-Union state government.
Although the Commonwealth of Kentucky did not secede from the Union, 63 counties of 88 did, setting up a Confederate government at Bowling Green in Western Kentucky. A Bluegrass Kentuckian, George W. Johnson of Scott County, was elected first Confederate Governor of Kentucky. He was killed at the Battle of Shiloh. After his death, Richard Hawes of Bourbon County was inaugurated the next Confederate governor at the Old Capitol Building in Frankfort, on October 4, 1862.
While the inauguration ceremonies were still underway, Federal forces appeared on the hill to the west of Frankfort and caused Governor Hawes and the Confederates to speedily conclude the ceremony and withdraw from Frankfort toward Versailles in Woodford County.
In 1863 two earthen forts, Fort Boone and the larger New Redoubt, were constructed by army engineers and civilian labor. In 1864, local militia in Fort Boone successfully repulsed an attack on Frankfort by raiders from the Confederate cavalry under John Hunt Morgan.
The Fort Hill site is now a park and historic site, with a beautiful view of the city and the Kentucky River Valley. The 124-acre heavily forested park preserves the remains of the two Civil War earthwork forts, and is also used for Civil War reenactments. A circa 1810 log house, known as the "Sullivan House," has also been moved to the site. It houses exhibits about Fort Hill and the history of Kentucky's log buildings. The Sullivan House also serves as a site for living history activities.
After we had found the cache it really let loose and started pouring so we called it a day. We had to pick up Mom's scripts at CVS so we went there and then had to stop at JoAnn Fabrics. By that time the rain had let up and and it was getting brighter so we decided to go back caching. We drove into downtown Frankfort and started with a cache at Liberty Hall. Liberty Hall in Frankfort, Kentucky was built in 1796 and was the home of Senator John Brown (Kentucky).
John Brown (September 12, 1757 - August 29, 1837) was an United States lawyer and statesman who was very involved with creating the State of Kentucky. Before statehood he represented Virginia in the Continental Congress (1777-1778) and the U.S. Congress (1789-1791). While in Congress he introduced the bill granting Statehood to Kentucky. Once that was accomplished, he was elected a U.S. Senator for Kentucky.
Home to two U.S. Senators, one Vice-Presidential candidate, one Governor of Missouri, one Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, one Ambassador to France, one U.S. District Attorney, three U.S. Army colonels, two doctors, one newspaper editor, and the ancestral home of one of the most beloved children's authors, Margaret Wise Brown. His wife Margaretta and Elizabeth Love began the first Sunday School west of the Alleghenies in the garden. Guests at this house included James Monroe, Zachary Taylor, Andrew Jackson and General Lafayette. It was declared to be a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1971.
Next cache was located near the "Singing Bridge" in Frankfort. It is a 406ft. Pennsylvania Steel Through Truss Bridge. It is known as the Singing Bridge because it has a steel grate deck and the tires of traffic sing as they drive over the deck. There is a bridge plate located on the end post. This King Bridge is a historic landmark in downtown Frankfort.
Then it was off to the Frankfort Cemetery for 3 caches. The first was near the Eternal Light, which overlooks the Kentucky River from Frankfort Cemetery, was dedicated on November 11, 1943 - the 25th anniversary of the Armistice, which ended WWI.
Next cache was at the grave site of Rebecca and Daniel Boone. Famed Kentucky explorer and pioneer Daniel Boone died September 26 1820 in Warren County, Missouri. Daniel was buried in a family plot next to his wife Rebecca Boone who died seven years earlier. In 1845 Daniel and Rebecca were exhumed by the State of Kentucky, and re-buried in the Frankfort Cemetery. They now rest atop of a cliff overlooking the rolling hills of the Bluegrass. But that may not be end of the story. It is rumored that Daniel Boone may still be buried in Missouri. Due to poor burial records or the ill will of the residents of Warren County towards the State of Kentucky, many believe that the wrong body brought back to Frankfort. Everyone agrees that Boone died at his son's home near Defiance, Missouri, in 1820. Everyone also agrees that he was buried nearby in Marthasville (about 14 mi. west), near the grave of his wife, Rebecca. But then the story gets muddled. The folks in Frankfort, Kentucky, would have you believe that Rebecca and Daniel were exhumed 25 years later and reinterred in Frankfort Cemetery. The marker near Defiance mentions the reinterment, but...
According to Defiance, Frankfort dug up the wrong body. The grave next to Rebecca's was already occupied when Daniel died, they say, so he was buried at her feet. Daniel's relatives were angry at Frankfort and didn't tell them about his true burial plot. They let Frankfort cart away the body next to Rebecca's, the body of a stranger.
Scientific scrutiny seems to support Defiance's claims. A forensic anthropologist studied a plaster cast of the skull in Frankfort's "Daniel Boone" grave in 1983 and said that it really belonged to a large black man. Frankfort, of course, pooh-poohed those allegations.
Both graves have worthy monuments. Frankfort's is bigger (that was, ostensibly, the reason for the move in the first place) but it's in a big cemetery and must share its surroundings with other dead people. The memorial near Defiance is out by itself, and it's worth remembering that Daniel Boone's own reason for leaving Kentucky was that it was "too crowded."
We say, since the marker is all you get to see anyway, it's a toss-up. Daniel Boone is buried in the spot easiest for you to get to on your next trip. Case closed and who really knows.
The final cache of the day was near another part of the cemetery where the Kentucky Daughters of the Revolution have moved Revolutionary soldier's remains to this lot from elsewhere in the state where old cemeteries are threatened. After we found this cache we looked around and as you can see by the pictures we saw several Revolutionary War garves. Frankfort Cemetery has quite a history as articles of incorporation for Frankfort Cemetery were approved by the Kentucky Legislature 27 Feb 1844; and at the time it was only the second incorporated cemetery in the country. It began with a 32 tract known as Hunter’s Green and today Frankfort Cemetery totals 100 acres. It is the final resting place of over 22,000 Kentuckians. Overlooking the Kentucky River and city of Frankfort, probably the best view of Kentucky’s capitol building is from Daniel Boone’s grave.
Planning this cemetery took place in a golden age of cemetery design. The cemetery board chose a Scotsman, Robert Carmichael, to landscape the grounds. He is also buried in the cemetery, not far from Daniel Boone. His use of winding roads, integration of river terraces and hills, and so many varieties of trees make Frankfort Cemetery one of the state’s most beautiful spots and an absolute glory when in spring or fall color.
A list of famous Kentuckians buried here includes 16 governors, the artist Paul Sawyier, numerous business, philanthroptic and industry leaders, and soldiers of every war from the Revolution on. Many of these notable Kentuckians are in section M and the adjoining State Lot. Four KY governors buried in the state lot- Greenup, Scott, Adair and Madison - were Revolutionary War soldiers.
The State Mound, wherein stands the Military Monument, and is also seen in our pictures, was deeded to the Commonwealth in 1847 for purpose of memorializing Kentuckians lost in the nation’s wars. It quickly moved into use with those lost in the Mexican War at Buena Vista. The Military Monument lists the names of those who had died in all wars (at the time of dedication) except the Civil War. There were too many to list on the monument. A drive through the cemetery will reveal many, many Union and Confederate soldier’s tombstones. In the Glen’s Creek section, once the only place where blacks could be buried, rest many soldiers of the Colored Infantry units.
Some of the other interesting things we saw as we cached were: Glenn Willis House, KY Bar Center, First Presbyterian Church, Garradrd-Crittenden House, Orlando Brown House, Bibb-Brunley House (Bibb was the developer of Bibb lettuce), Vest-Lindsay House, Justice Todd House, Good Sheperd Church, Sawyer Public Library, site of the Love House, William Goebel Monument, and the John Hampton House. Then it was on back to the RV and we had lunch and Mom did our cache logs. I worked on the blog and by then it was dinner time. We ate and called it a day. Well until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad