Hawley obelisks reset in King Hill Cemetery
News-Press NOW
By: Alexis Kuhnert
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) — The King Hill Restoration & Preservation Association has exceeded its goal of repairing 40 obelisks this year.
The association has repaired 73 obelisks so far.
Volunteers worked on resetting four large Hawley obelisks, a family with no relation to United States Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), at King Hill Cemetery.
Twelve families coordinated and constructed the cemetery at its inception. The Hawleys included. James M. Hawley held a one-sixteenth share of the cemetery in 1868.
In the late 1960s, teenagers vandalized the headstones.
The King Hill Cemetery Restoration & Preservation Association partnered with Brooner Construction and Crane for a four-phase process.
Michael Robertson, co-leader of the association, is also related to one of the founding families that established the cemetery.
“Those tombstones that we put up the obelisk today, weigh 1400-1500 pounds, is what they weigh,” Robertson said. “Brooner Construction volunteered to come down here with their equipment to pick them up so we can put them together and start rebuilding them.”
The association has also partnered with the Conservation Department to rid the honeysuckle and invasive species, as well as to remove hazardous trees.
Robertson and his wife are grateful for the community support and the help in taking ownership of these projects to care for the cemetery.