Pvt. Leverett Holden of the CT 29th at East Avon Cemetery
“You are the Pioneers of the Liberty of Your Race….”
Frederick Douglass’s speech to 29th & 39th CT before they departed to join the Civil War, January 28, 1864.
Formal acknowledgement of the site on the Connecticut Freedom Trail held on June 2, 2025 at Pvt. Holden’s memorial stone.
Pvt. Leverett Holden: A Freedom Seeker and Civil War Hero
Avon is proud to be one of the heritage sites included in the CT Freedom Trail. Their site honors Pvt. Leverett Holden, a resident of Avon and veteran of the U.S. Civil War, served in the 29th Connecticut Infantry Regiment, Colored, from 1863 through 1865. He was one of over 1,300 who joined.
A Life of Labor and Advocacy
His enlistment documents show he was born in Vernon, CT, about 1825. The 1850 U.S. Census shows he was working and living at the Wadsworth Inn at 1234 Prospect Street in Hartford, likely as a servant or laborer. Abolitionist James W.C. Pennington may have influenced him and possibly attended abolitionist events, such as Hartford’s 1856 celebration of the end of slavery.
According to a late-19th-century Avon resident’s diary, Holden lived in Avon in the mid-1850s. After moving to Avon, CT, Holden worked various jobs, including cleaning bricks for the Avon Congregational Church chimney, cutting wood for a local business, and living in a small rental home on West Avon Road.
Military Service and Sacrifice
During the Civil War, Holden fought in multiple battles with the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry, a unit composed of Black soldiers fighting for the Union and freedom. The Unit was involved in several engagements in 1864 in Virginia, including at Petersburg, Chaffins Farm, Darbytown Road, and Kell House. In September 1864, after the Battle of Petersburg, VA, he was hospitalized at an X Corps Flying Hospital and later honorably discharged in November 1865 in New Haven, CT.
February 22, 2014, rededication ceremony at Pvt. Holden’s memorial stone with reenactors and family descendants.
A Legacy That Endures
Upon returning to Connecticut with the regiment in late 1865, he resumed his life in Avon. A memorial stone commemorating his service, provided by the State of Connecticut, was placed in the East Avon Cemetery behind the Avon Congregational Church on May 29, 1890.
A Headstone Rededication Service was held on February 22, 2014. The service was adapted from the 1917 Service for the use of the Grand Army of the Republic; it was used to dedicate a headstone for a Civil War veteran.
Holden passed away on October 10, 1877, and was buried in East Avon Cemetery, where his grave was originally segregated from others. His gravesite, the first visible upon entering the cemetery, was added to the Connecticut Freedom Trail in February 2023.
His name is also inscribed on the 29th Regiment monument in Criscuolo Park, New Haven, and outside the African American Civil War Museum in Washington, D.C.
During the State of Connecticut’s 150th commemoration of the Civil War (between 2011 and 2015), questions were raised as to whether this stone marked his grave or was just a memorial to Pvt. Holden. In December 2023, with the help of the Avon Historical Society, the East Avon Cemetery Association applied for and received a grant from the State Historic Preservation Office of the Department of Economic and Community Development to fund a geophysical survey of human burials to provide the answer. Ground-penetrating radar conducted in September 2024 around the memorial stone showed no indication of a grave at that site. Therefore, the memorial stone is now confirmed to be in honor of Pvt. Holden’s service in the U.S. Civil War.
If you are interested in learning more about this research, you can download the PDF of the ground-penetrating radar report.
A ceremony to formally acknowledge the site on the Connecticut Freedom Trail was held on June 2, 2025 at his memorial stone. The audience was then invited to the church for presentations at 7:00 pm. Guest presenters were Tammy Denease, Outreach Coordinator for the CT Freedom Trail; John Mills, historian of the 29th CT; and Andre Keitt, CT Storyteller, who explained the meaning of Juneteenth.
This amazing event can be viewed via this Youtube Link.
Terri Wilson, President of the Historical Society, has been researching and speaking on Leverett since 2010. For all the years of her research, Terri was never able to find if he had any marriages or descendants. However, in May 2025, two very skilled genealogists, John and Erica Mills, decided to take a closer look, and what they found was astonishing. Not only did Leverett have family around him, but he also has descendants in the form of 3rd- and 4th-great-grandnieces and nephews who live in CT and North Carolina!
Each year, Holden is honored by the Avon Historical Society for his service, a lasting tribute to his courage, sacrifice, and commitment to freedom.
This site is open to the public.
