Simon Kenton Sculpture   Save
Ohio Guide Photgraphs
Description: A photograph of a sculpture of Simon Kenton. Ohio sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward designed this statue of Simon Kenton, an early Ohio settler who was known for his conflicts with American Indians, in the early 1860s. He had hoped an enlargement of this statue, to be placed in Columbus, Ohio, would be his first public monument. Due to the outbreak of the Civil War, however, the project was not approved. The statue measures 26" high (66.04 cm). Ward (1830-1910) was born in Urbana, Ohio. He moved to New York in 1849 to study under sculptor Henry Kirke Brown. In 1861 he established a studio and began working on pieces with distinctly American themes. The Indian Hunter was his first public work and one of several pieces placed in Central Park in New York. He also created statues of George Washington and James A. Garfield in Washington, D.C. Ward also created the pediment statues at the New York Stock Exchange, focusing on figures signifying American wealth and commerce. Simon Kenton (1755-1836) was born in Virginia and fled to avoid prosecution for a fight in which he believed that he killed his opponent. Using the name Simon Butler, he settled in Boonesboro, Kentucky. He served as a spy during Lord Dunmore's War and spent time in a British prison in Detroit. He joined General Anthony Wayne's offensive against the American Indians in Ohio in 1793 at fought in the Battle of Fallen Timbers. During the War of 1812 he commanded troops at the Battle of the Thames, in which the Americans were victorious over the British. Kenton died in Logan County, Ohio on April 29, 1836. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B14F04_013_001
Subjects: Sculpture; Ward, John Quincy Adams, 1830-1910; Kenton, Simon, 1755-1836
Places: Urbana (Ohio); Champaign County (Ohio)