LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Kentucky man reached the big leagues more than 130 years ago, and Tuesday, he was remembered with a proper gravestone.
Theodore "Huck" Conover of Lexington pitched a game with the Cincinnati Reds in 1889, their last season as the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Conover also pitched another eight years in the minors.
When Conover died in 1910, he was buried in an unmarked grave.
David Shannon, an administrator for the Gone but not Forgotten Unmarked Graves Project, came looking for Conover’s grave 112 years after his passing. Shannon then learned that three pro players were buried in the Lexington Cemetery.
He couldn't find Conover, so he decided to add a gravestone in his honor.
"There's so many graves in the Lexington Cemetery that have historic significance, and we just added one," said Shannon.
Shannon contacted Conover's descendants to get their blessing, and together they dedicated the new marker with a ceremony this morning.
“I started looking up articles, newspaper articles on him and I found dozens,” said Edie McClellan, a descendant of Conover’s sister. “He made the paper a lot. Usually little short snippets, but whenever he would go out of town or come into town, apparently there was a lot of excitement about that."
