Connecticut's Civil War Monuments

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Town Green
10 Kenea Avenue
Wolcott, CT

Dedicated: May 30, 1916
Type: Granite pedestal and figure
Donor: Leverett Dwight Kenea
Supplier: Thomas F. Jackson Company
Height: Approximately 18'

KENEA SOLDIERS MONUMENT, Wolcott, is significant historically because it is the gift of a single individual, Leverett Dwight Kenea. It thus joins the company of WILCOX SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, Madison, and SOLDIERS AND SAILORS MONUMENT, New London, among others, in this respect. The Kenea family resided in Wolcott for several generations. The street separating the Green from the town hall is Kenea Avenue.

The donor personally presented the monument to the town in the dedication ceremony on May 30, 1916. Wolcott sent 75 men to the Civil War, 14 of whom died in service. The four veterans still living in Wolcott in 1916 unveiled the monument.

Leverett D. Kenea (1831-1922) was born in Wolcott, but lived most of his adult life in nearby Thomaston, where he was associated with, and an original stockholder of, the Plume & Atwood Company. He was also an investor in other successful local firms, including American Hardware Company and Colonial Trust Company. Kenea left an estate of $424,962 to his only surviving daughter, Edith. According to his obituary, Kenea made "many benefactions bestowed so quietly that few knew of them." At 91 years of age, he was thought to be the oldest resident of Thomaston at the time of his death. The name of the open space in which SOLDIERS MONUMENT, Thomaston, is located is Kenea Park.

KENEA SOLDIERS MONUMENT, Wolcott, is significant artistically because it is an example of a generally conventional pedestal with figure that is unconventional in the details of absence of waist belt and the way the rifle is held.

Usually, the soldier at parade rest wears a waist belt with buckle front and center bearing the letters U S, and with cartridge box, other accoutrements, and bayonet suspended from the belt. At Wolcott the coat simply hangs straight down. Also, at Wolcott the rifle is held well to the soldier's right and by his right hand only. Normally, the rifle is centered and both hands are on the barrel. The fact that the figure is not only a different granite but a different color granite from the pedestal is unusual as well (see also SOLDIER'S MONUMENT, Guilford).

"The monument was built and erected by the Thomas F. Jackson Co. of Waterbury," according to an undated, unidentified newspaper clipping at the Wolcott Public Library. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that Jackson cut the statue, a conjecture supported by the fact that it is a different stone. Also, it is possible that Jackson arranged production of the pedestal by a quarry, rather than fabricating it in his shop.

Ten years earlier, Jackson erected SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, Prospect, which also memorializes several wars.

KENEA SOLDIERS MONUMENT is relatively simple in design. There are no raised trophies. Only the front is lettered, and the lettering is incised, which is less expensive than raised lettering. Nonetheless, the proportions are pleasing, the moldings are well-defined, and the frieze and pedimented cornice reflect good contemporary practice, recognizing the popular influence of the Neo-Classical Revival in architectural design at the time.

KENEA SOLDIERS MONUMENT, Wolcott, consists of a gray granite pedestal and tan granite soldier's figure. Sited in the middle of the Wolcott Town Green, across the street from the town hall and Congregational Church, it is dedicated to Wolcott men who served in the War of the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.

The low plinth supports a high pedestal base. Transition from base to dado is made by cyma and torus moldings. The dado is slightly tapered. The front face (only) is polished and lettered, as recorded below. At the top of the dado a torus molding marks the lower edge of a plain frieze which terminates in a scotia molding below a plain cornice and low pediment.

At the top the gray granite of the pedestal is cut to form a square base which supports the tan granite base of the statue. The soldier stands with his right foot forward and the butt of his rifle held perpendicular to the direction of the feet. His right hand is on the barrel, which is positioned to his right. His left arm and hand are held down at the left side. The overcoat is not buttoned and is worn without waist belt. The cape falls straight down on all sides. The soldier's shirt collar is open; he is clean-shaven, wears a kepi, and looks slightly to his right.

A granite stele at the east edge of the triangular green memorializes Operation Desert Storm. At the west edge a gray granite obelisk commemorates World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Persian Gulf War.

Front (north) face of pedestal, caps incised in polished surface:

175th Anniversary, 1796-1971 (Wolcott: Wolcott Lions Club, 1971), p. 49.

Leverett D. Kenea, Probate Record No. 802, 1922, Thomaston Probate District. Connecticut State Library.

J. Paul Loether, Historic and Architectural Resources Survey of Wolcott, Statewide Historic Resource Inventory, Connecticut Historical Commission , Hartford, 1986, Form #l5.

The Thomaston Express, August 18, 1922, 1:1.

Undated unidentified newspaper clipping. Wolcott Public Library.

"Wolcott in the War Between the States" in Landmarks and Legends. Wolcott Public Library.