Geneseo NY Reunion July 1 - July 3, 2022

Reunion 2022 will be the 3rd that has been held with the Wadsworth Families of Geneseo, NY, Farmington, CT and Litchfield, CT. It will be organized so that those attending will have the option to participate in as many of the planned family activities as they wish. Recognizing that the area has a lot of terrific attractions, attendees may want to plan their schedules to include some of those.

New to this reunion will be a focus on historical roots. Each family member is invited to share their history and background. We will have specific times set aside for discussions and talks. Family lineage will be displayed on our name tags. William Wadsworth of the Litchfield, CT branch and Adrian Wadsworth of the Farmington, CT branch have done considerable research and will share some of the very interesting and surprising stories they have discovered.

There will be events at both the Hartford House and Wadsworth Homestead as well as the War Museum of Geneseo, as described in the schedule that will continue to unfold and be shared over these next several months on this website.

In the back of our minds is to prepare the family for the 400th Anniversary of the Wadsworth's arrival in America in 1632. There is a Reunion planned for 2032 that has a web site at Wadsworth 400th Anniversary.

Geneseo NY Reunion July 12, 2015

In 2014, Kathy Wadsworth Delano, Jorge Delano and I, John Wadsworth, visited Geneseo and The Wadsworth Homestead and were treated to a tour with Will Wadsworth. It was very impressive, interesting and filled with hundreds of years of family history. The Wadsworth Homestead had been a private home to six generations of the Wadsworth family and has played an integral role in American History.

Will said that, in 2011, the family decided to open the property to the public for weddings and events. This got me thinking. How great it would be to invite my family members from the Farmington CT branch and have a splendid dinner at The Homestead with our Wadsworth cousins from Geneseo!  The dinner became a weekend affair with a great time had by all, which included another recently found relation, Will Wadsworth and his wife, Jane, from Tuxedo NY. There were tours of the historic Hartford House, owned by Corrin Strong, grandson of James Jeremiah Wadsworth, and visits to the Livingston County Museum.

The picture to the right are most of the Wadsworths in attendance

The Farmington, CT and Geneseo, NY Wadsworths have a common ancestor in William Wadsworth, who sailed from England aboard The Lion in 1632, settled for a time the Boston area before leaving for the Connecticut River Valley. He and his family were among those families that founded Hartford, CT. Ancestors of the Geneseo Wadsworths lived in Farmington CT and then moved to found Durham, CT. Colonel Jeremiah Wadsworth, served in the Revolutionary War as Commissary General, among many other former and later important positions and was in Western NY and acquired an interest in the the Phelps and Gorham purchase. In 1790 Jeremiah sold 2000 acres to his Durham cousins, William and James, and hired them as his land agents and they traveled to and settled in the area during that year. Col Jeremiah, as a representative of the US government, appointed by President Geo Washington, came himself to the Geneseo Valley in 1797 to sign the Big Tree Treaty with the Seneca Nation.The family has owned a large amount of land, been a major presence in Livingston County, New York and served the Country in many capacities.

Picture to the right shows Cynthia Wadsworth Lorenzoni, John Wadsworth and Will S Wadsworth.

Farmington, CT Reunion July 28 - July 30, 2017

In 2017, Katherine Wadsworth Delano and Mary Lou Wadsworth planned a similar reunion gathering in Farmington CT, location of our Wadsworth family home since 1600's. Upon arrival a visit through the house at 107 Main St, over 350 years old (original section) and then it’s front half, which had been added in 1780 was of major interest.

This go ‘round we had over 90 in attendance, with Will Wadsworth of the Litchfield branch being able to gather up a good number of his family, also descendants of the same William Wadsworth, from his second wife, Eliz Stone. The patriarch of their branch being Capt. Joseph Wadsworth, who, in 1687, took and hid the Royal Charter of the Connecticut Colony in an Oak Tree to keep it out of the hands of the King’s emissary.

This was a 3 day event with many activities and local attractions to visit, including hiking on Rattlesnake Mountain to the cave site of the notorious, local, 18th century ne’r do well, Will Warren; tours of the Wadsworth Atheneum, established in 1844 by Daniel Wadsworth, son of Col. Jeremiah Wadsworth; guided strolls in the Village of Farmington, showcasing the locations of the many Wadsworth homes  built in the 17th & 18th centuries, a tour of 107 Main St, a dinner party under the ‘big top’ and finishing with a program at the First Church of Christ about its history and purposes in Farmington for all these hundreds of years.

All who could stay gathered at Bill & Kate Wadsworth’s for a farewell luncheon, a swim in the pool and the family photo, just as we had done at the Homestead in Geneseo in 2015.