Four Black Lexingtonians who fought for freedom are memorialized again.

The four new headstones at African Cemetery No. 2 honor four Civil War Veterans who fought for their own freedom, four of some 24,000 Black Kentuckians to do so.

Historian Yvonne Giles gathered information about them from military databases and other records to document their personal and military histories. Those sources include the 1890 Federal Census for Veterans, the Adjutant General’s Report for Union Civil War Veterans, Volume 2, Applications for Headstones Provided to Deceased Union Veterans, 1879 to 1903 the Registers of Signatures of Depositors in Branches of the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company, 1865-1875, Freedman’s Bureau Records, 1865 to 1878. Field Reports and Decade census records 1860 to 1940.

The headstones were dedicated in November, 2021. Every Juneteenth, military veterans will be honored at the cemetery. The next one will be on June 18, 2022.

Thomas Gant: Born into enslavement in 1833 in Scott County. At the age of 28, he joined the Colored Division 119th Infantry in 1865. He was deployed to various places around Kentucky until it mustered out in Louisville in 1866. He was listed in the Lexington city directory as a Baptist preacher affiliated with Pleasant Green Baptist Church. He and his wife, Mary Freeman Gant lived at 140 W. Fourth St. with their three children. He died in 1902, according to records requesting a military headstone, which was placed in Cemetery No. 2, later lost or stolen.

Michael Jackson: At 18, he traveled to Camp Nelson to enlist in the 114th Infantry. He was sent to Virginia, where he fought in the Appomatox Campaign that resulted in the surrender of Robert E. Lee, which basically ended the war. While he was fighting, he was paid less than white soldiers, about $10 a month compared to $13, and they had to pay back the army for any piece of equipment they lost. After the war, the regiment was sent to Brownsville, Texas, where it was disbanded. He married his wife Mary Ann, had four children and lived on Corrall Street. He worked at a hemp factory. He died in 1899 and his family applied for his military marker in 1901.

Isaiah Mason: One of eight siblings born to George and Caroline Mason, Mason was enslaved to William Van Meter when he enlisted into the 12th Heavy Artillery Regiment at the age of 18. He served from 1864 to 1866. He later married Julia Hawes Mason and lived at 631 Ballard St with four children. Mason worked nearby at Yellman’s hemp factory. His military marker was originally placed in the cemetery after his death in 1902.

Squire Stout: Born in Bourbon County, Stout joined the 123rd Infantry in 1864. He was mustered out in 1865 in Louisville. He and his wife, Sarah Barton Stout, and their four children lived at 188 Constitution St. Two of their sons, Willis Ray and Alexander, were involved in the horse industry and are also buried at African Cemetery No. 2.

This story was originally published February 27, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Four Black Lexingtonians who fought for freedom are memorialized again.."