Evening star., 1926-10-17
Tales of Well known Folk
In Social and Official Life
Memories of Historic American Family Aroused
by Wadsworth Golden Wedding at Ceneseo
Personal Notes of Interest

By MARGARET n. DOWNING.
The elder James Wadsworths, whose
golden wedding, celehra ted in the his
tortc country seat of the family, Ge-
neseo. attracted the kindly interest
OF hundreds Of friends, are of the
senior branch of Wadsworth. three
separate divisions of which own some
10000 acres of the fertile land of the
Genesee Valley and have been it's pro-
prietors since 1890. 1t was In that
year that James and William Wads-
worth left the home settled by their
forefathers 125 years previously at
Durham. in Connecticut; made their
way through the wilderness of west
srn New York and purchased the val
ley from the Indians at 81 an acre.
Their uncle. jeremiah WadSworth, A
solid citizen of the Nutmeg State and
an earnest patriot during the Revolu-
tionary War, advanced the money to
the two lads who found life in the
village little to their taste and desired
adventure and broader avenues upon
which to travel to fortune. James built
the first house, and his ia miy have
always held the senior rank, but the
fine mansion in which the grandson.
FIVE genera tions removed, celebrat ted
80 years Of happy married life was
erected after the Civil War. The pres
ent owner of GeneseO is the son OF
Gen. James Wadsworth. who fell dur
ing the Civil War, and his wife was
Miss Louise r. Travers Of New York
City. William Wadsworth's family
were extensive landowners in the val
ley. and the descenda nts of a cousin,
Joseph Wadsworth Of Hartford, who
came about 10 years later, are proprie
tors of the land bought 1875 years ago
through the ia .sighted policy OF Jere-
miah Wadsworth, bachelor and then
head of the family. Senator Wads
worth has named his eldest son Jere
miah in honor of this benefactor of his
house, and the name has appeared in
the family annals every now and again
since the celebrated real estate deal
The Wadsworths were I4ondoners who
came to Massa chusetts Colony in 1885
and removed TO Hartford in 1865. 1t
was a Capt Joseph Wadsworth who,
In 1857, hid the charter of Connecticut
in a hollow oak. since known as the
Charter Oak The Wadsworth Athen-
aeum in the capital commemorated the
exploits of this Indian fighter. and it
was his grandson, Joseph Wadsworth,
who, in 1900. bought land in the
Genesee Valley adjacent to that owned
by his cousins, James and William
Wadsworth.
Mr.. and Mrs. Kenneth O'Brien, the
latter so well known in Washington as
Miss Katherine Mackey. have been
spending the latter part of the Sum
mer and Autumn as the guests of Mr..
and Mrs. Ralph Strassburger in their
villa, F'ermedu Coteau. at Deauville.
A gay house party marked the end
of the season, recruited principally
from some guests who had been enter
tanned two years ago by the same
hosts at Southampton. Lord and
Lady Mountbatten were of the COM
pany. AS were Sir John I.aVery. preSi
dent Of the Royal Academy. and Lady
Lavery: Mrs. Burke Roche and her
younger son. Francis Burke Roche,
and Mr.. and Mrs. f. Berry Wall. Mr..
and Mrs. O'Brien may select a villa
and become permanent residents OF
Deauville for the interval between
the end of the social season in South
ampton and the beginning OF interest
ing events in New York City.
MIR. Louis Gordon Hamersley. whose
marriage To Miss Hilles Morris will
he leading event of this month. in
Grace Church. New York City, Is
romantic figure. and as to the essen
walked out of the pages of a Hans
Andersen fairy tale. Left an orpha n
at an early age, young Hamersley was,
with his sister, reared by an intimate
friend of his mother, Mrs. Charles ID.
LoWrie Of Tuxedo. Though cousin
and nearest relative and namesake Of
the enormously rich Louis Gordon
Hamersley. he and his sister were
reared very simply and in complete
ignorance that they would eventually
inherit one Of Gotham'S largest for
tunes. The elder Louis. it will be
remembered. married the renowned
beauty Miss Lilly Warren Price, to
whom he left his fortune unprovi-
Sionally during her life. but leaving
her without power to ALLEVIATE any of
the principal or even to will the in
terest of It, Mrs. HamerSley married
the Duke of Marlborough. father Of
the present duke. and on his demise
welded Lord William Beresford She
spent almost her entire income restor-
ing Rlenheim, the great seat of the
iron dukes of the house of Churchill.
and though she tried to get something
of this hack after the young duke,
her stepson. had inherited. she was
unsuccessful After Lady Beresford's
death the Hamersley fortune became
teieDIdIeu dliu IpnS VIA" IL Otil lCEoi
controversy.
Only five years ago did Young Louis
Gordon Hamersley. first cousin OF the
founder of the fortune. inherit the
hulk of il. with a generous provision
made for his sister, who is now mar
red to Mr.. Henry Coleman Drayton
of New York City and Tuxedo, Long
Island. the half brother Of Mrs. Will
liam Phillips. wife OF the American
Ambassador TO Brussels. Miss Hilles
Morris is the daughter OF Mrs. Stuyve-
SAINT Fish Morris and is granddaugh-
ter thrice removed of President Van
Buren,.
Mr. and Mrs. Owen Barton Jones of
Chicago. the latter we'll known
writer as Constance Bridges, are in
the position of talking as experts
about the price OF living in alien lands.
They recently returned to Lage Forest
after spending nearly two years in
travel and their experiences include
housekeeping in at least six different
countries. They leased a furnished
house in Toxic and one also in Bang
kok with q little experience thrown
in in the house of a friend outside of
Manila Returning to Europe via the
Suez Canal. they stopped off in France
Switzerland and Holland. and then