Kensington Monument Listed As Nation’s Oldest Civil War Memorial

Posted on by Listify Me

BERLIN — It was a coming-out party Sunday for the solemn brownstone obelisk that for 150 years has stood largely unnoticed outside Kensington Congregational Church.

Following morning services, parishioners, neighborhood residents, assorted dignitaries, local veterans and a color guard of Civil War re-enactors led by President Abraham Lincoln turned out in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Kensington Soldier’s Monument, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the country’s oldest, permanent Civil War monument.

First dedicated on July 28, 1863, the 20-foot tall memorial was created to honor the memory of six Kensington men who had died by that point in the war. Eleven more names were added as the war continued and the casualties grew.

Four female descendants of one of those named – Private Elijah W. Bacon who died May 6, 1864 and was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor for heroism at Gettysburg – lay the a ceremonial wreath at the monument.

“Now that it is on the National Register of Historic Places perhaps it will receive more attention. The attention it deserves,” Senator Richard Blumenthal said, speaking to a gathering of an estimated 150 participants and onlookers.

The very “simplicity and modesty” of the memorial, located at 312 Percival Ave., has caused it to be largely overlooked, Blumenthal said.

“I guess 99.9 percent of people who drive down this busy road have no idea that a monument of historic significance is here.”

A campaign directed by Central Connecticut State University history professor Matthew Warshauer, co-chairman of the Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission, culminated July 3 with the National Register listing. It had been placed on the State Register of Historic Places in April.

Among the approximate 150 Civil War memorials in Connecticut, the Kensington Soldier’s Monument is the only one that was constructed during wartime, and it had a specific purpose, as reflected by its funereal design.

“This is not merely a monument to service. This is a monument specifically to honor those who died during the war,” Warshauer said at the dedication.

Unlike later civic memorials, the Kensington Monument remains under the ownership and care of the church, which celebrated its 300 anniversary last year.

The Rev. Elias Brewster Hilliard, the congregation’s patriotic wartime minister, proposed its construction in late 1862. It was designed by Nelson Augustus Moore, a noted landscape painter and church member, whose original sketch hangs inside the church meetinghouse. The brownstone used was quarried in Portland, and brought by an oxen-pulled sledge to an East Berlin stone yard where the monument was cut. The cost — $475 – was paid for by the congregation and community residents.

It remains in excellent condition, despite being carved from vulnerable brownstone. “The care that has been taken has allowed it to survive these 150 years,” Warshauer said.

To mark its sesquicentennial, a church committee was formed to push for federal recognition for the monument and plan its re-dedication. A landscape architect was retained to design a memorial garden which is enclosed by a new decorative, wrought iron fence. The iron fencing that Moore installed around the monument in 1873 was used in the fabrication.

Michael Cavaliere, chairman of the monument committee, said all the preparations were completed just last week. The fencing was installed four days ago, and the surrounding lawn only just seeded and sprayed. “We’re pretty pleased,” he said.

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