Peter Postell was originally buried in this cemetery but has since been removed to Cave Spring Cemetery, where other members of his family are buried.
I leave this memorial here because this historical cemetery was the original place of his burial.
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Peter Postell was born in 1841 in York District, North Carolina (Some accounts say South Carolina. He was born a slave, owned by Elijah Postell. He was the son of Mrs. C. Kirkpatrick who was born around 1819 in South Carolina, according to census records. In 1858 in Virginia, at the age of 17, he was sold to Posy J. Glass who brought him to Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

Once the Civil War began, Postell ran away and eventually enlisted in Clarksville, TN along with many other runaway slaves from Kentucky. He joined the 16th Colored Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army. He enlisted under the name of Peter Glass. Although little is known of his war record, he was with the Union regiment that marched through the Kentucky farm of Confederate Gen. Simon Boliver Buckner, best know for his surrendering Fort Donelson in Tennessee.

After the war, he returned to Hopkinsville, where he would marry Pauline Buckner. Family stories handed down through the generations say he met Pauline as his regiment marched on Gen. Buckner's farm. It was sometime between then and 1866, when the slaves were freed in the neutral states, he went back to the Buckner farm and bought Pauline's freedom.
Together, they would start a family and a very successful business. His first store burned in 1882. He built a new store in what was later called the Postell block. The site where the store sat is across from Grace Episcopal Church.

Postell was a very successful businessman. He started out in the grocery business and soon ventured into real estate, loans, stocks and bonds. Many estimated his estate to be valued at $100,000 to $125,000 when he died. Others say it would be closer to between $300,000 to $500,000 total. He was considered the wealthiest black businessman of his time.

He was a member of Hopkinsville Lodge No. 1690, Grand United Order of Odd Fellows, Hopkinsville Lodge No. 1, Union Benevolent Society, and of Freeman's Chapel, C. M. E. Church.
He and Pauline had nine children and lived in a fine Italian vernacular home which stood on the northwest corner of Fifth and Clay Streets. The home is now gone, but we have a photograph of the home and of the large store.

Postell died in 1901 and left his entire estate to his wife Pauline. The only condition in the will was the estate was Pauline's as long as she didn't remarry; A possibility, Postell wrote "..I cannot conceive."

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From the Hopkinsville Kentuckian May 24, 1901

PETER POSTELL
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Richest Colored Man in Kentucky Passes Away
Leaves and Estate Valued at $100,000 to $125,000
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Peter Postell, the wealthy colored grocer, died Wednesday morning, aged 60 years.
He had been a sufferer of dropsy for two or three years and for a year or more had been undergoing a gradual physical decline.
He was the most conspicuous representative of his race in Western Kentucky and leaves an estate estimated at from $100,000 to $125,000. It is doubtful if there was a richer colored man in the State of Kentucky.
He was a light mulatto of almost gigantic frame and was born in North Carolina in 1841.
The late P. J. Glass, of Virginia, purchased him when he was a boy and brought him to Hopkinsville in 1858. Three years later he ran away and joined the Federal Army, enlisting at Clarksville, Tennessee, in Co. H, 16th U. S. Colored Volunteer Infantry.
He returned to Hopkinsville after the war and started a little grocery on the corner of Virginia and Sixth streets and from the first did a prosperous business. He enlarged his business from year to year, and invested his earnings in real estate that increased in value as the town grew.
In time he owned half the square on which he started in business, where the fine Postell Block now stands.
He bought building lots and owned many houses all over the city, including his own fire brick residence opposite the Clay Street Public Schools.
Of late years, his son, Peter Postell, Jr. had been associated with him in his mercantile business and he has greatly prospered. He had large investments in bonds, stocks and loans and added new departments to his business.
He ranked among the city's most public spirited citizens. He gave largely to public improvements. His subscription of $1,000 to the Hotel Latham fund in 1892 was one of the largest individual subscriptions.
He leaves a large family of children. One son, John Postell, is a gauger to the Revenue Service. His second son, Peter, is at the head of his business interests. A third son, Zack, died not long ago.
There are six daughters. The grown ones have been educated at Fisk University and one of them is a teacher of unusual talents and culture.
Deceases was a member of the Colored Methodist Church and held membership in several benevolent orders.
His funeral services were held at 2:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon at the Postell residence, conducted by the Rev. J. W. Luckett, the pastor of his church.
Interment took place at East Hill Cemetery.
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Military records confirms Peter Postell's military service in Co. H, 16th Regt of the U.S. Colored Infantry. He lists an alias of Peter Glass. His highest rank was that of a Private. No discharge date shown.
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