Daughters of the American Revolution prepare for rededication of Lafayette marker
The General Richard Butler Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is set to honor a foreign national who played a pivotal role in helping the American colonies secure their independence.
The historic group will recognize the 200-year anniversary of when French aristocrat Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette visited Butler as part of a farewell tour.
A rededication of a marker honoring Marquis de Lafayette is planned at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 1, at the Historic Lafayette Building.
The public is invited to attend the free event.
“That is Butler’s link to the founding of our nation and to remind us of what the United States went through to become its own country,” said Bill May, a local historian and speaker.
At just 19-years-old, Lafayette, a French army officer and politician, voluntarily made the trek across the Atlantic Ocean to become a Revolutionary War major general under George Washington.
“The ideal of American freedom is what he was doing over here,” May said. “It was to create a nation that was not a monarchy, but instead a democracy.”
Lafayette’s courage stood out during the colonies’ fight for freedom.
He was wounded in the leg while leading a retreat during the Continental Army’s defeat at the Battle of Brandywine on Sept. 11, 1777.
Washington’s respect ran deep for the young French national, sending his personal doctors to care for him and famously instructing, “Treat him as though he were my own son!”
Eventually, Lafayette returned to France, where he convinced King Louis XVI to send the French fleet and an additional 6,000 troops to fight the British.
Once the war was won, he went back to France, only to eventually be forced to flee after the country went through political upheaval in the form of the French Revolution.
Decades passed before Lafayette would be asked to visit the United States again — this time for a victory tour of sorts.
At 67 years old, Lafayette returned to the United States accompanied by his son, Georges Washington de Lafayette, and a small entourage. His celebrated tour of the young nation — dubbed the “Nation’s Guest” — began on Aug. 15, 1824, when he arrived on Staten Island.
Over the course of his 6,000-mile journey, he was warmly received in communities all over the country.
May said Lafayette’s historic tour — and the 200th anniversary of it — serves as a powerful reminder of the challenges past generations of Americans have faced and the enduring values they fought to uphold.
“So many people have forgotten our history that it’s a reminder of where our nation began,” May said. “That was very much the case for Lafayette’s visit here in 1825, which is why (former President) James Monroe had invited him. The country felt that the younger generations were forgetting about the Revolution and what had been done to create our independence. I think on this 200th anniversary that it has the same significance and reminds us of the founding of our nation and the sacrifices of men like Lafayette.”
When Lafayette arrived on June 1, 1825, the quaint town of Butler celebrated the occasion with three ceremonial arches.
One stood at what is now South Main and Wayne streets, another at South Main and Diamond and the third was near Cunningham and South Main. At the center of each arch hung a plaque bearing the message “Welcome Lafayette,” encircled by wreaths of fresh flowers and roses.
His visit also included a trip to a redbrick building called the Mechling House, or otherwise referred to as the Mansion House, that was owned by German-American innkeepers Jacob Mechling and his wife, Mary Magdalene.
Two centuries later, the Historic Lafayette Building, which was built in the early 1900s, stands in place of the Mechling House.
