FORT KNOX, Ky. — When Harold and Eva Hawkins from Louisville parked in front of Camby Hill Cemetery at Fort Knox May 30, they expressed excitement at how easy it was to get there.
Though the ascent to the cemetery is not very long, it is steep and Eva recalled having to walk the hill 1964 because of the road conditions. The road this year had been freshly bladed and covered in rocks to prevent erosion.
The cemetery is one of 118 identified by Fort Knox officials to date. On Memorial Day each year, officials open the post up to all visitors to visit the identified cemeteries. A popular destination for many tourists is Lincoln Cemetery, where President Abraham Lincoln’s grandmother is buried.
To honor Harold’s great grandfather, who once owned 234 acres of farmland near what was known in the late 1700s as Stithton — the current-day location for the post traffic circle — Harold and Eva planned to plant a rose bush next to his great grandparents’ graves at Camby Hill.
A tall tombstone sits just inside the opening to the cemetery with two sides dedicated to Harold’s great grandparents. The side facing the entrance reads: “Silas H. husband of F.J. Hawkins.” The other side reads: “Frances J. [Barker] wife of S.H. Hawkins.”
“Silas and his brother had inherited 516 acres from their father James, so Silas farmed the land here,” said Harold. “Silas’ and Frances’ 167th wedding anniversary is tomorrow. That’s why we’re planting the rose bush.”
Harold explained that Army officers came into the area prior to World War I and bought up all the Hawkins brothers’ land to build Camp Knox. He recently learned a lot of this and more because of their son Harold Jr.’s interest in the family’s history.
“My son has done a marvelous job of researching all our family history,” said Harold. “My mom and dad didn’t talk a whole lot about the family back in the day. Some things my mother would tell Eva, and some things my dad would tell me. My son really drilled into it and spent a lot of time writing this history of our family.”
Harold said there are approximately 28 Hawkins family members suspected of being buried in cemeteries around the installation, including some at Saint Patrick Cemetery, across the street from the Main Post Cemetery. Harold couldn’t find those tombstones.
Earlier in the day, another group of people arrived at the Visitor Center in search of relatives. Siblings Kenneth Vowels and Diane Vowels Lancaster planned to also visit Saint Patrick.
As they began walking the grounds, they quickly located Vowels.
Diane said the last time she had visited the cemetery was about 50 years ago, when she came with their father. Kenneth said their father retired from Fort Knox, and Kenneth worked here for several years.
From the Flaherty area, they had planned to just visit Vowels graves but quickly realized they had several more relatives buried at Saint Patrick. Some of the surnames include Padgett, Pike and possibly Ray.
“This is something that we’ve been aiming to do for a while,” said Kenneth. “My sister wanted to do this, so we did.”
Matthew Rector, historic preservation specialist at the Cultural Resources Office, positioned himself, as he does every year, at the Visitor Center to help direct people where they wanted to go to find cemeteries. He said families and even visitors stopping by Fort Knox on Memorial Day each year is vitally important to the post.
“The fact that people come to visit buried relatives reinforces the importance of the annual event,” said Rector, “and demonstrates that those buried here are not forgotten.”
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