Henry Hudson Kitson

Sir Henry Hudson Kitson, often known as H. H. Kitson, American sculptor, born in Huddersfield, England on April 9, 1865 and died at Tyringham, Massachusetts, on June 26, 1947. His student and wife Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson was also a sculptor.

Harry, as he was known by his numererous brothers and sisters, migrated to the United States about 1880 where he was employed by his oldest brother John William Kitson. William Kitson was in business with another Englishman Robert Ellin; their firm, Ellin & Kitson, were identified as architectural sculptors. They specialized in interior carving and wood work in commercial structures and churches. Some buildings they worked on were the Equitable Building, the Tilden Mansion, the Astor Memorial Redos and the William K. Vanderbilt House.

Harry and Samuel James Kitson the next oldest brother were both employed by Ellin and Kitson doing sculptural work. According to family oral history, William now quite successful encouraged and finacially provided for Harry Kitson to move to Paris where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under the sculptor Jean-Marie Bonnassieux. He returned to Boston about 1888 where he received numerous commissions and began teaching. John William Kitson died in 1888 (see NY Times) and Samuel James had relocated to Boston. The youngest brother Robert Lewellen Kitson a water-colorist joined his older brothers in Boston about 1902.

In 1893 Henry married Theo Alice Ruggles, a former student of his, who went on to have a successful career of her own as Theo Alice Ruggles Kitson. Theo and Harry had three children: Theo (called Babs), John (named after his grandfather) who became a civil engineer, and Dorthy. None of the children had issue. The noted sculptor Gaston Lachaise worked in his atelier. Many of Henry Hudson Kitson papers are in the Archives of American Art in Washington D.C. as well as the New York Historical Society. Kitson only carried a British passport.

He was the author of numerous public monuments, and left behind his home Santarella in Tyringham. He was knighted by the Queen of Rumania in the early 1900's.

Selected works

* Vicksburg National Military Park
** Union Brig. Gen. Ralph P. Buckland (bust) 1915
** Confederate President Jefferson Davis (statue) 1927
** Iowa Monument (six relief panels 1906 and equestrian statue 1912)
** Iowa Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood (bust) 1928
** Union Brig. Gen. Mortimer D. Leggett (relief portrait) 1911
** Confederate Brig. Gen. Stephen D. Lee (statue) 1909 (first chairman of the Vicksburg NMP Commission)
** Union Maj. Gustavus Lightfoot (relief portrait) 1914
** Union Adm. David Glasgow Farragut (statue on Navy Monument) 1917
** Union Lt. William T. Rigby (bust) 1928 (Resident Commissioner of VNMP 1899-1929)
** Union Lt. Cmdr. Thomas O. Selfridge, Jr. (bust) 1913
** Confederate Maj. Gen. Martin L. Smith (bust) 1911
* Boston area
** David Farragut, Marine Park,South Boston, Massachusetts, 1881
** Minuteman Captain John Parker statue, Lexington, Massachusetts town green 1900
** Roger Conant statue at Salem, Massachusetts 1905
** Henry B. Endicott tablet, Boston, Massachusetts 1921
** "The Pilgrim Maiden" statue, Brewster Gardens, Plymouth, Massachusetts 1922
** Sir Richard Saltonstall monument, Watertown, Massachusetts 1931

References

Family letters, business letters, photos and other documents held by family historian