Lafayette portrait by Ary Scheffer in House of Representatives (1825)

Lafayette’s second trip in New York was in a different direction. In a previous blog, The Lafayette 1824-1825 Bicentennial: Are You Ready?, I presented the first trip. He left New York and followed the Boston Post Road to Boston and the interior of New England. In this blog, I provide the stops on his second trip. This time he heads north and not by land but by water. He travels the Hudson River from New York to Albany/Troy and back.

This 1824 journey occurred as New York State was undergoing rapid changes. One year later, Thomas Cole also would travel on the Hudson and paint View from Fort Putnam. I do not know if he was influenced at all by Lafayette’s own visit to West Point and honoring of the American Revolution. While Washington Irving ironically was in France, James Fenimore Cooper was in New York. He witnessed Lafayette’s arrival and participated in the activities arranged for Lafayette. It certainly is worth pursuing how many of the cultured elite in Manhattan, Lafayette met and what the impact of his proposed visit to all 24 states in the country meant.

In another leg of visit, he would cross upper New York State from Niagara along the partially-built Erie Canal into Massachusetts. So he was traveling to areas that would become part of the Hudson River School even before some of the artists painted it and the writers wrote about New York. I am sure people more knowledgeable than me already have written about the connections he was making in New York City and the impact of his visit. These would be great topics for a Lafayette conference.

As I mentioned in the previous blog, I am working with two French/Lafayette organizations: American Friends of Lafayette and the American Society of Le Souvenir Français. This list was provided to me by the American Friends of Lafayette. Julien Icher is a member of that organization as well as the founder of The Lafayette Trail, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization that “aims to educate the public about the national significance of Lafayette’s Tour and to promote a broader understanding of Lafayette’s numerous contributions to American independence and national coherence in preparation for the 2024-2025 tour bicentennial celebrations.” Readers of this blog may already have or be working with The Lafayette Trail to erect markers at their locations in recognition of his visit to their site.

1824	Sept 5	Manhattan	NY	City Hotel
1824	Sept 6	Manhattan	NY	City Hall, Washington Hall
1824	Sept 7	Manhattan	NY	Academy of Arts, Hospital, Almshouse
1824	Sept 8	Brooklyn	NY	Narrows / Fort Lafayette
1824	Sept 9	Manhattan	NY	St Paul’s Church, the Park
1824	Sept 10	Manhattan	NY	Free Schools, Vauxhall Gardens – Sword and Belt presented to Lafayette
1824	Sept 11	Manhattan	NY	Banquet by French citizens, Chatham Garden Theatre
1824	Sept 12	Manhattan	NY
1824	Sept 13	Manhattan	NY
1824	Sept 14	Manhattan	NY	Castle Garden Party to Lafayette
1824	Sept 15	West Point	NY	United States Military Academy
1824	Sept 15	Newburgh	NY	Orange Hotel
1824	Sept 16	Poughkeepsie	NY	Forbus House, Poughkeepsie Hotel
1824	Sept 16	Staatsburg	NY	General Morgan Lewis’s
1824	Sept 16	Clermont	NY	Robert Livingston’s House
1824	Sept 17	Albany	NY	Cruttenden’s Hotel, Canal Lock, Capitol
1824	Sept 18	Troy	NY	Emma Willard’s Female Academy, Troy House
1824	Sept 19	Albany	NY	Descent of the Hudson River – Arriving at Courtland Wharf
1824	Sept 20	Manhattan	NY	Dinner at Washington Hall – Park Theatre in the evening
1824	Sept 21	Manhattan	NY	At New York
1824	Sept 22	Manhattan	NY	C.D. Holden’s
1824	Sept 23	Manhattan	NY	City Hotel (Address by Mumford), Cincinnati entourage, James Kent

Lafayette made two trips to New England during his 1824-1825 visit. In a previous blog, The Lafayette 1824-1825 Bicentennial: Are You Ready?, I presented the 1824 visit. In this blog, I provide the stops on his 1825 visit. As you see, the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s visit in 2025 coincides with the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. So, for example, he was at Bunker Hill for the 50th anniversary of the battle which now will be the 250th anniversary. It will be necessary for locations to keep in mind these potentially overlapping dates.

In Lafayette’s 1824 trip, he left New York and followed the Boston Post Road to Boston and the interior of New England. In his 1825 trip, he was traveling across New York from Niagara Falls along the Erie Canal (I-90 and Route 20 today) into Massachusetts and then northern New England. He ends fittingly at Lake Champlain where he boards one of those new steamboats, an invention that was revolutionizing tourism.

For more information about Lafayette’s visit to New England, go to the New England Historical Society website:

Lafayette Returns To America

When the Marquis de Lafayette returned to America for an extended tour of the 50-year-old Republic, he was no longer the slim young nobleman in a powdered wig.

At 66 years old, he had cropped his still-dark hair in the fashion of the day. He had acquired gravitas during his political career in France. Lafayette survived the tumultuous years of the revolution and its aftermath, which for him included a five-year prison term.

I wonder how many streets and towns were named after him as a result of this visit just in your state yet alone the entire country of 24 states that existed then, all of which he went to.

Here in New York, I have contacted the New York State Historian about including Lafayette-related events on the state website for the American Revolution 250th events. He has agreed to include them. The situation may vary from state to state. I also hope to have my own County legislature designate the August 20, 2024 as Lafayette bicentennial day in the County with all the municipalities he visited that day participating.

If there are history/museum conferences in 2022, it may be appropriate to have a Lafayette session. Since any such conferences are likely to be virtual based on the present situation, it will not be possible to have a table or booth with Lafayette materials including how to get a Lafayette history marker if you do not already have one. Everything will have to be done online for now.

1825	June 13	Pittsfield	MA	Joseph Merrick’s Coffee House
1825	June 13	Dalton	MA	Nelson’s Coffee House
1825	June 13	Worthington	MA
1825	June 14	Northampton	MA	Warner’s Hotel & Meetinghouse
1825	June 15	Worcester	MA	Exchange Hotel
1825	June 16	Boston	MA	Reception by Mrs. Quincy
1825	June 17	Charlestown	MA	Bunker Hill Monument Ceremony – Webster’s Address – Masonic Procession – Party at Mrs. Webster’s on Summer Street
1825	June 18	Quincy	MA	John Adams’s House
1825	June 19	Cambridge	MA	Divine Service on Brattle Street
1825	June 20	Boston	MA	Banquet at the Mechanics Association
1825	June 21	Reading	MA	Skinner’s Tavern, Barnard’s Hotel
1825	June 21	Andover	MA	Theological Institution, Taylor’s Hotel
1825	June 21	Methuen	MA	Josiah Quincy’s goodbye
1825	June 21	Salem	NH	Londonderry Turnpike
1825	June 21	Derry	NH	Derby’s House / Adams Female Academy / Redfield’s Tavern
1825	June 21	Pembroke	NH	Fisk Tavern
1825	June 22	Concord	NH	New Hampshire State House
1825	June 23	Northwood	NH	Piper’s Tavern
1825	June 24	Wells	ME	Wells, Maine
1825	June 24	Kennebunk	ME	Storer Mansion
1825	June 25	Biddeford	ME	Seth Spring’s Tavern
1825	June 26	Portland	ME	Maine Historical Society
1825	June 27	Hopkinton	NH	Hopkinton Common
1825	June 27	Warner	NH	Meetinghouse
1825	June 27	Bradford	NH	Address by Dr. Tappan – Unknown
1825	June 27	Newport	NH	Cheney’s house – J. Breck House, Common
1825	June 27	Claremont	NH	Opera House Square
1825	June 28	Cornish	NH	Cornish Bridge
1825	June 28	Windsor	VT	Tremont House
1825	June 28	Royalton	VT	Royalton Common / Bridge St
1825	June 28	Montpelier	VT	Vermont State House
1825	June 28	Woodstock	VT	Colonel Cutting’s Hall / meetinghouse / Barker’s Hotel
1825	June 29	Lake Champlain	VT/NY	Aboard the Phoenix steamboat