Holiday Cheer At Vernon's Central Park Joined By A Sobering Presence For 2025

VERNON, CT — There's a sobering addition to the monuments this holiday season across from Vernon Town Hall.

Monuments to different beliefs and practices have been showing up in Central Park around the holidays for the past few years now. Local Christian groups traditionally place a manger scene with Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus displayed prominently.

To the right, looking at Town Hall, the Connecticut Valley Atheists have a sign referring to displays on public land that reads, "Keep America Secular."

The Santa House is nearby. The Santa House was established by a local group to give young people a chance to visit with Santa Claus in a cozy, warm setting.

All sit in the shadow of a large wreath hanging from town hall and the town holiday tree.

And now, enter Mr. Cogswell.

In June, the refurbished Cogswell statue was put into place. The fiberglass replica of the original white bronze statue underwent extensive restoration at Bundy Motors on Route 30. It was placed atop a pedestal that also underwent restoration work this spring at the shop.

Dr. Henry D. Cogswell, a Tolland native, dentist and crusader in the 1800s temperance movement who made his fortune pulling teeth in California during the Gold Rush and making wise investments in San Francisco real estate erected his statue in Rockville in June 1883 to honor his cousin, Rockville resident William T. Cogswell. It was completed by the Monumental Bronze Co., of Bridgeport, and depicts Dr. Cogswell holding a cup of water in his right hand and a temperance pledge in his left. Fountains provided fresh water, which Cogswell believed was much more wholesome than booze.

The statue and its message were popular with Rockville’s mill owners and the old school Yankees, historians tell is. The immigrant groups that worked at the factories — Germans, Irish, Polish and other immigrants were not as enamored of it. No one ever officially pointed a finger, but, about two years after it was erected, in July 1885, Dr. Cogswell went missing.

Historians tell us that wagon tracks led authorities to Shenipsit Lake, and that the statue was found stuck in the mud. It was recovered, cleaned up and placed back on its pedestal.

It soon vanished again, only to be returned to its pedestal in 1908 for the town centennial celebration.
A sign placed on the statue read, "I’ve come back for Old Home Week."
Soon after, the statue was placed in storage in a barn at the Town Farm, but, during World War II it was donated during a scrap drive.

The pedestal remained and a flower pot was placed atop it.

Few of the statues Cogswell placed around the nation exist in their original form. They were either vandalized by people who did not share Cogswell’s views about alcohol, or simply removed. In 2005 a replica of the statue, made of fiberglass, was donated by a historically-minded Rockville resident named Rosetta Pitkat. It was placed atop the original pedestal during a “Welcome Home” ceremony. Mrs. Pitkat, who was a retired school teacher and Rockville native, died in October 2016 at the age of 103.

Exposure to the elements have taken a toll on the fiberglass statue and it has been refurbished twice since 2005. The fountains that once supplied fresh tap water, have long since been disconnected. They do, however, show off just how ornate the monument is.