The Bronze Bear

                     The Bronze Bear of Geneseo, N.Y.

As you approach Geneseo N.Y from the west, along rural and scenic Route # 39, you come upon the attractive college campus of S.U.N.Y Geneseo, perched atop the eastern edge of the beautiful Genesee Valley. Many thousands of us spent an idyllic four-year undergraduate career here.

In the center of town, right smack in the middle of Rte. # 39, sits an oddity. It is a small circular fountain, with a bronze bear clinging to a central spire of the fountain. Generations of students have marched around the fountain and told stories of the legends supposedly associated with the bear.

One legend had it that the fountain was constructed and deeded to the town with the original land grant, by the prominent Wadsworth Family. The legend warned that should the bear be removed or harmed, the entire town plot of land would revert back to the donors, the Wadsworth heirs.

Another suggested that the bear would surely only fall off its perch if several coed virgins walked around it. Many male students chortled with glee about the bear “having no chance of falling.” The coeds, I am sure, had their own stories.

On the official Town of Geneseo’s official website, we find the following history of the Bear.

“The Emmeline Austin Wadsworth Fountain -- a.k.a. the fountain, the Bear, the Bronze Bear or the Bear in the square -- is one of the most iconic landmarks in Geneseo. Images of the Bear adorn note cards, coffee mugs, holiday ornaments and t-shirts. Legend says that only one thing can permanently remove the bear from his perch on Main Street ... and after 122 years, the Bear is still there!

Brothers Herbert and William Austin Wadsworth commissioned the fountain as a memorial to their mother Emmeline in the mid-1880s. Emmeline was a passionate animal lover, so the brothers thought a fountain for watering horses would be a fitting tribute.

Designed by renowned architect Richard Morris Hunt, designer of the base of the Statue of Liberty and many other famous structures, the fountain was installed to much community fanfare and celebration in 1888.

As time passed, carriages and horses gave way to automobiles, and street signs began to pop up around the fountain. The signs became such an eyesore that community members lobbied for their removal. In response, the Village Board approved a restoration project for the fountain that not only removed the signs, but also repaired damages and rewired the Bear. This was one of several times that the Bear was removed from his perch. Whether due to accident, vandalism or necessary repair, the Bear been removed at least five times in the last 122 years.

The restoration project, then currently underway, is the most complete and comprehensive in the Bear's history. I guess you get the idea from these descriptions, that “The Bear” is a pretty big deal to both the Town and the State University College of Geneseo N.Y..

That is probably why all hell broke loose one fall evening, in the late 1960’s, when two enterprising rascals, who are friends of mine but shall remain nameless, abducted the bear and drove off with it into the night.

To say that consternation ruled for a few hours in Geneseo is an understatement. The New York State Police were called in to assist the local Police Department and Livingston County Sheriffs. Witnesses were interviewed and a dragnet was spread far and wide. I am not sure if police officials put out an All-Points Bulletin on the missing bear, but they sure scoured every inch of the surrounding countryside, looking for the missing icon.

State Police units eventually collared the two rascals who were both students at the college. The missing Bronze icon was lying peacefully in their automobile's trunk. The rascals were escorted to the local police barracks and their parents were summoned from far away Long Island. It was the buzz of the town and college for weeks afterwards.

The families made good on the damages and the Bronze Bear was once more restored to her rightful place of honor in the fountain in the middle of the road. The students were chastised sternly by officials, who were not amused. The families, who had to drive up from Long Island and bail the rascals out, were just as annoyed. “Crazy College kids pulling a harmless prank” was the enlightened attitude of the collective authorities. All charges were eventually dropped in the interests of Town and Gown harmony. Things were a little different back in those days.

And whenever I am fortunate enough to drive through the Town of Geneseo and that beautiful Genesee Valley, I look up at the Bronze Bear in the fountain and smile, thinking of the rascals who carried her off , in an era when things were much simpler and people more relaxed. They didn’t know what lay ahead of them. 

                                               -30-

                                       (822 words)

                               Joseph Xavier Martin