George Keller (December 15, 1842 – July 7, 1935) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

. He enjoyed a diverse and successful career, and was sought for his designs of bridges, houses, monuments, and various commercial and public buildings. Keller's most famous projects, however, are the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, and the James A. Garfield Memorial in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

Biography

He was born on December 15, 1842 in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

in Ireland to Thomas Keller (1804–1880) and Susan Pratt (1805–1888). Keller emigrated with his family to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as a child. Irish immigrants were at the time considered inferior, and during his early years Keller endured a considerable measure of hardship and discrimination. Lacking connections and unable to obtain schooling in Europe like many of his professional peers, an ambitious nature and a

school of hard knocks The School of Hard Knocks (also referred to as the University of Life or University of Hard Knocks) is an idiomatic phrase meaning the (sometimes painful) education one gets from life's usually negative experiences, often contrasted with formal ...

education gave Keller an adequate base of knowledge. As a young man, he accepted employment with an Irish architect in Washington, D.C., but returned to New York to join the firm of architect Peter B. Wight. This was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between the two. Keller's association with Wight introduced him to the

aesthetic philosophy Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

and to serious architectural study, which was cut short by the outbreak of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

. Though Keller planned to join the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

, a dry inkwell prevented him from signing the enlistment papers. Choosing to see this as an ill omen, he gladly accepted an engineering position with the

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...

instead. Moving to Hartford at the war's end, he took a job designing monuments. In 1903 Keller became the 3rd architect to work on the Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford. He based his contribution to the design on the

York Cathedral The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archb ...

, from which Ithiel Town, the original architect, had drawn inspiration.

Public monuments

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch

The postwar building boom brought Keller to national prominence. Though he won design competitions for Civil War monuments in several cities, his Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch at the entrance to

Bushnell Park Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut is the oldest publicly funded park in the United States. It was conceived by the Reverend Horace Bushnell in the mid-1850s at a time when the need for open public spaces was just starting to be recognize ...

, boldly broke the conventional form that had become the accepted configuration. Monuments of this type typically consisted of a cylindrical column, or shaft, surmounted by an allegorical female figure, usually Victory, with four sculpted figures surrounding the base. In contrast, Keller's Hartford monument, an eclectic Romanesque construction dedicated in 1886, was "perhaps the first permanent

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, cr ...

in the United States." One of the arch's most striking elements is a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

frieze featuring life-size figures carved by Bohemian-born sculptor

Caspar Buberl Caspar Buberl (1834 – August 22, 1899) was an American sculptor. He is best known for his Civil War monuments, for the terra cotta relief panels on the Garfield Memorial in Cleveland, Ohio (depicting the various stages of James Garfiel ...

. The north side of the frieze was carved by English-born sculptor Samuel James Kitson. The Memorial Arch was built as a gateway to the pre-existing Park River Bridge, which was renamed the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Bridge. The bridge remains although the river has since been relocated and capped. The upper portion of the bridge arches can still be seen even though the river bank has since been raised and turned into parkland.

Garfield Memorial

Keller's involvement with the James A. Garfield Memorial in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

began after he submitted an architectural design to the trustees of the Garfield National Memorial Committee. The committee, headed by ex-President

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 19th president of the United States from 1877 to 1881, after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and as governo ...

along with Jeptha H. Wade, president of Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery, had been formed for the purpose of securing a plan for a memorial to President James A. Garfield following his assassination in 1881. To this end during the autumn of 1883 the committee sponsored a design competition in which Keller took part. The competition promised a prize of $1,000 to the winning design, thus attracting not only American but also European entries. To judge the submissions, the committee obtained the assistance of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

architect

Henry van Brunt Henry Van Brunt FAIA (September 5, 1832 – April 8, 1903) was a 19th-century American architect and architectural writer. Life and work Van Brunt was born in Boston in 1832 to Gershom Jacques Van Brunt and Elizabeth Price Bradlee. Van Brun ...

and English-born architect

Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape designer, best known as the co-designer, along with his protégé and junior partner Frederick Law Olmsted, of what would become New York Ci ...

of New York City. Both van Brunt and Vaux ultimately chose Keller's design, and he was awarded the commission on June 24, 1884. Excavation for the monument at Lake View Cemetery began on October 6, 1885; it was dedicated on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

, May 30, 1890. Once again, Keller chose Caspar Buberl to execute figural friezes for his design.

Selected works

Other buildings

*Grace Episcopal Church, Windsor, Connecticut (1864–65). *Grace Episcopal Church Rectory, 301 Broad Street, Windsor, Connecticut (circa 1865–70), (attributed). *Asylum Avenue Baptist Church, 868 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut (1872, altered). Part of Asylum Avenue Historic District. *Seyms Street Jail, Hartford, Connecticut (1873, demolished 1978). *Elizabeth Chapel, Connecticut Retreat for the Insane, Hartford, Connecticut (1875). Now

The Institute of Living The Institute of Living is a comprehensive psychiatric facility in Hartford, Connecticut, that offers care across the spectrum of psychiatric services, including: * A 24/7 crisis evaluation telephone assessment and triage: Experienced psychiatri ...

. * Temple Beth Israel Synagogue, 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut (1876). Now Charter Oak Cultural Center. * Carl H. Conrads House, 1628 Boulevard, West Hartford, Connecticut (year?). *White Hall, Connecticut Retreat for the Insane, Hartford, Connecticut (1877). Now

. * G. Fox & Company Department Store, 406-10 Main Street, Hartford, Connecticut (1880, burned 1917). * Northam Memorial Chapel and Gallup Memorial Gateway, Cedar Hill Cemetery, 453 Fairfield Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut (1882). * Hartford Public High School, 39 Hopkins Street, Hartford, Connecticut (1882, expanded 1897, demolished 1963). * Thayer Monument, Lake View Cemetery,

Skaneateles, New York Skaneateles ( , ) is a town in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 7,112 at the 2020 census. The name is from the Iroquois term for the adjacent ''Skaneateles'' Lake, which means "long lake." The town is on the western ...

, 1882–83, Carl Conrads, sculptor. * Union Station, Hartford, Connecticut (1889), conceived by Keller, executed by

Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge was a successful architecture firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, operating between 1886 and 1915, with extensive commissions in monumental civic, religious, and collegiate architecture in the spirit and style of Henry ...

. *Columbia Street Row Houses, Hartford, Connecticut, 12 houses on east side (1888), west side (1889). Part of George Keller Historic District. *Park Terrace Row Houses, Hartford, Connecticut (1895). Keller received the house at 26 Park Terrace in lieu of his design fee, and lived there for the rest of his life. *60 Cone Street, Hartford, Connecticut (1895). Part of West End North Historic District. *Grace Episcopal Church Parish House, Windsor, Connecticut (1898). *Simsbury United Methodist Church, 799 Hopmeadow Street, Simsbury, Connecticut (1908). *Albert Pope Drinking Fountain, Pope Park, Hartford, Connecticut (1913). *

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...

Tomb, Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Connecticut, circa 1913.

Libraries

Biographer David F. Ransom calls Keller's three small libraries "the crowning achievement of his career." * Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Connecticut (1888–89). Keller doubled the size of the library in 1911, but maintained the domestic scale of its Shingle Style exterior. *Ansonia Public Library,

Ansonia, Connecticut Ansonia is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. Located on the Naugatuck River, it is immediately north of Derby, and about northwest of New Haven. The population was 18,918 at the time of the 2020 census. The ZIP code for ...

(1891–92).The Anna Sewell Memorial Fountain, a horse drinking fountain outside Ansonia Public Library, is attributed to Keller
Anna Sewell Memorial Fountain
from SIRIS. *Granville Public Library,

Granville, Massachusetts Granville is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,538 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is named for John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granv ...

(1902).

Personal

Around 1885 he married Mary Monteith Smith (1860–1946) and they had three children: Hilda Montieth Keller (1888–1978), George Monteith Keller Sr. (1895–1986), and Walter Smith Keller Sr. (1898–1981). George Keller died in

on July 7, 1935. His ashes and those of his wife are interred within the Memorial Arch. File:Grace Church Rectory Windsor CT.JPG, Grace Episcopal Church Rectory, Windsor, Connecticut (c. 1865–70). File:Temple Beth Israel Hartford CT.JPG, Temple Beth Israel Synagogue, Hartford, Connecticut (1876). Now Charter Oak Cultural Center. File:PostcardHartfordCTMainStGFoxBuilding1905.jpg, G. Fox & Co. Department Store (far left), Hartford, Connecticut (1880, burned 1917). File:Northam Chapel and Gallup Gateway Cedar Hill Cemetery Hartford CT c.1906 (cropped).jpg, Northam Memorial Chapel and Gallup Memorial Gateway, Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford, Connecticut (1882). File:LOC 20216v.jpg, Norfolk Public Library, Norfolk, Connecticut (1888–89). File:Hartford Union Station 1913 postcard.jpg, Union Station, Hartford, Connecticut (1889). File:PostcardAnsoniaCTFreeLibrary1906.jpg, Ansonia Public Library,

(1891–92). File:Granville Public Library, Granville MA.jpg, Granville Public Library,

(1902).

References

* David F. Ransom, ''George Keller, Architect'', intro. Barry Hannegan (Hartford, CT: Stowe-Day Foundation, 1978

External links

George Keller
from

SIRIS Siris may refer to: Geography * Siris (Magna Graecia), an ancient city in southern Italy *Serres, a city in Macedonia called Siris by the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus * Siris, Sardinia, an Italian commune * Sinni (river) (Siris in Latin), Ital ...

.
A brief biography of George Keller at the Bushnell Park Foundation's Web site.
Focus is on Keller's life and work in Hartford, Connecticut.
Garfield Memorial in Lake View Cemetery
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, George 1842 births 1935 deaths Architects from Hartford, Connecticut Engineers from Connecticut Artists from Hartford, Connecticut Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)