When General Worth's Family Came Home to Fort Worth

“Hi Carlo, I’m the great-great-great-granddaughter of General William Jenkins Worth. Your city is named after him.”

That was not an email I expected to receive.

Two years later, the City of Fort Worth welcomed members of General Worth’s family and accepted artifacts that bring an important part of our city’s history into public view. The family donated his U.S. Army uniform, worn from the War of 1812 era through his death in 1849, along with his hat, epaulets, and field desk. The collection is now displayed at Fort Worth City Hall.

History can feel distant when it exists only as a name on a map or a paragraph in a book. It becomes more immediate when we encounter the objects people carried, the clothing they wore, and the descendants who preserved those items across generations.

The experience also demonstrated what can happen when someone sends an unexpected message and another person takes it seriously. A simple introduction developed into a two-year effort involving a family, a museum, elected leaders, and city staff. The result created a tangible connection between Fort Worth’s name and the person behind it.

Special thanks to the Sprague family, General Worth’s descendants; the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History; Mayor Mattie Parker; Bethany K. Warner, CPC; and the city employees who created a thoughtful program honoring this history.

Strong communities do not treat history as decoration. They make it accessible, examine it honestly, and give residents opportunities to understand how the past continues to shape local identity.

Sometimes one email opens a door to a story a city did not know it was ready to tell.