The Gazette of the American Friends of Lafayette No. 92 friendsoflafayette.org June 2020 Washington and Lafayette discuss current events in Yorktown while following CDC guidelines. Table of Contents Title Page President's Message 3-4 West Point Meeting Postponed 5 Rochambeau Statue in Yorktown 6 Yorktown Victory Celebrations 7-9 Veterans Day in Virginia 10 Lafayette Day in Richmond 11-13 AFL Book Donation 14 Massachusetts Lafayette Day 15-18 Medal Awarded to Robert Selig 19 AFL Website 20 Lafayette’s Exile in Holstein 21-38 Lafayette and “Yankee Doodle” 39-44 Adrienne Lafayette’s Genealogy 45-49 Lafayette and Women’s Suffrage 50-53 Trivia Question – Lafayette Stamps 54 Trivia Question – Lafayette Coverlet 55 The Lafayette Stone in Warrenton, VA 56-57 Lafayette Whiskey 58 The Long-Lost Guns of Lafayette 59-76 Lafayette’s Southern and Western Tour 77-80 Concord, NH Welcomes Lafayette 81-83 New Hampshire Bids Lafayette Farewell 84-85 Lafayette - America’s Best Friend 86-87 The New Lafayette Mural in Jackson, NC 88-90 Lafayette’s 1825 Visit to Northampton Court House 91-92 Lafayette Sighting - Buttons 93 Lafayette as Enlightened Warrior 94-107 Book Review – Lafayette Books of 2019 108-111 Researching the French in America 112-115 Liberty-Loving Lafayette 116-117 James R. McConnell, Lafayette Escadrille 118-121 Edmond Genet, Lafayette Escadrille 122-124 Trivia Response – Lafayette Stamps 125-127 Trivia Response – Lafayette Coverlet 128-130 Letters to the Gazette 131 3 President’s Message Dear Friend of Lafayette, As we all try to persevere in the midst of a pandemic, a frayed economy, and nationwide protests and unrest, we offer the 92nd edition of The Gazette of the American Friends of Lafayette. This issue contains scholarly studies – Professor Paul Spalding’s article about Lafayette’s exile in Danish Holstein, Michael Geiger’s piece about his quest to identify “Lafayette muskets,” and Billy Mayer’s article about Lafayette’s relationship with Native and African Americans. Ernie and Janet Sutton have contributed two excellent trivia questions (and responses) and a Lafayette sighting. John Becica has chipped in with a genealogy of Adrienne Lafayette. There are several articles about the Farewell Tour by Barbara McJoynt and New Hampshire historian Aurore Easton. Both Frank Womble and Julien Icher have written about the wonderful new mural commemorating Lafayette’s visit to Northampton Court House, now Jackson, North Carolina. As Julien, the Executive Director of The Lafayette Trail reports, a Lafayette Trail marker will be coming to Jackson soon. Pierre Larroque has an engaging account of a Lafayette stone in Warrenton, Virginia, which is appropriate because the French word for stone is, of course, pierre. Colleen Shogan has written an interesting article about Lafayette and the American Women’s Suffrage movement. Hank Parfitt has written about two members of the Lafayette Escadrille. I hope you find my piece on Lafayette and “Yankee Doodle” enjoyable. You will also find a review of two Lafayette-related 2019 books and notices of new publications. Don’t miss as well reports of past AFL events and notice of the postponement of the West Point meeting to June 2021, authored by treasurer, event planner extraordinaire, and aide-de-camp Chuck Schwam. 4 Thanks to our able membership chair, Almut Spalding, I can report that the AFL continues to thrive. In the past 8 months, 34 new members have joined – 13 Individual, 1 Individual Life, and 10 Family memberships. We currently have 349 members in the US, 4 members with APO addresses, 20 members in France, and one each in Canada and the United Kingdom, for a total of 375. Here, thanks to Almut, is a map showing the distribution of our members among the states. As you know, Lafayette visited all 24 states and Washington City during the Farewell Tour. He also visited Wheeling, which is now part of West Virginia. Of these 26 venues, we have members in 23. Please contact your friends in Vermont, Maine, and Mississippi so that we will be able to report coverage that is coterminous with Lafayette’s journey in the next Gazette. Best regards, Alan R. Hoffman 5 AFL Annual Meeting at West Point Postponed to 2021 by Chuck Schwam After planning the annual meeting for June 11th to 14th at West Point, we moved the event to August 6th to 9th due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after a great deal of deliberation, we have decided to postpone the West Point event to June 10th to 13th, 2021. We will gather at the Thayer Hotel (as originally planned in 2020), and our itinerary will stay the same. Many factors weighed in the decision to postpone the West Point meeting, including New York State guidelines. Certainly, normalcy was a factor as well. Normal attendance, normal touring, normal meals, normal socialization were all at risk. Waiting for normalcy (or a better representation of it) seems prudent. Our hope is that in June 2021, we can have what is close to a normal and fun meeting. The Thayer Hotel will automatically cancel any existing reservations, and they will notify you of the cancellation via email sometime on or after June 22nd. You will need to reserve your room again for June 10th to 13th, 2021. I will email you instructions on how to reserve your rooms for 2021 sometime this summer. The Thayer is offering the AFL the same rate for 2021. I did not deposit the $200 AFL registration checks. I have emailed everyone who had already sent in a check with these three options: (1) I deposit it towards 2021’s registration, (2) I tear it up, or (3) I return it to you. Please let me know which option you prefer before June 22nd. We will hold our 2020 annual business meeting in Yorktown on the afternoon of Saturday, October 17th, 2020. If we cannot gather in Yorktown on October 17th, we will hold the business meeting via video conference for all to see and participate. We will be unveiling the Rochambeau statue the morning of October 18th, attending the annual Yorktown Day Association dinner that evening, attending the annual Yorktown Victory celebration on October 19th, and, of course, enjoying our world-famous cocktail reception that evening. It is my sincere hope that we can gather in Yorktown (October 17th to 19th, 2020) and again at West Point (June 10th to 13th, 2021). I promise to communicate regularly regarding these two events. 6 Rochambeau Statue in Yorktown by Chuck Schwam Artist Cyd Player has been hard at work constructing Rochambeau for the final Yorktown statue. Rochambeau will be joining Lafayette, de Grasse, and Washington on the Yorktown waterfront as part of a statuary hall of fame. The framework has been covered (see below) and the famous general is taking shape. Once the “sculpting” is finished, the statue will be sent off to be galvanized and painted. The unveiling is scheduled for October 18th, 2020. (Save the date !!!) After a brief ceremony and unveiling that day, we will host a party in the Yorktown Freight Shed for statue donors and all AFL members. It will be a wonderful day to celebrate France’s involvement in the American Revolution. I hope to see you then. 7 Yorktown Victory Celebrations by Chuck Schwam The 2019 Yorktown Victory Celebration was a huge success. It was a beautiful day for ceremonies and parades. The world-famous AFL cocktail reception at the Hornsby House was great fun as well. Jerry Meekins and Jenny Cote carry the flag of the American Friends of Lafayette during the Yorktown Day Celebration Parade on October 19, 2019. AFL member Willie Ingram (92 years young) stands with the statues of Lafayette, Washington, and de Grasse. Rochambeau will be added October 18, 2020. 8 Honorary Flag-bearer Bill Cole Proceeds towards the Stage at the Victory Monument. AFL Members and Friends in the Pavilion during Presentations at the Hornsby House 9 The 2020 celebration promises to be a great time as well. On Sunday, October 18 we will unveil the Rochambeau statue on Yorktown riverfront. There will be a ceremony followed by an elegant luncheon on the banks of the York River. Swem Library at the College of William & Mary The next day, Monday, October 19, we will participate in the annual Yorktown Victory Celebration with parades, patriotic exercises, and our famous cocktail party (again !!). We have also arranged a private visit to Swem Library at the College of William & Mary. The library will be displaying Revolutionary War artifacts and Lafayette-related documents exclusively for us. We expect a large turnout for these two days in Yorktown. Unlike past years, we will have an official AFL hotel to accommodate us (October 18th & 19th), and we have negotiated a fabulous rate. We promise to update you on this soon. The AFL has negotiated with the other twelve sponsoring organizations for the right to be hosts of the Yorktown Victory Celebration on October 19, 2024. This is significant since that date is the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s visit to Yorktown in 1824. Even though the AFL was not designated to host until 2030, the Yorktown Day Association understood the importance of the date and will allow the AFL to host the festivities (which will obviously be geared specifically towards our hero). The above event will be just one of MANY events planned for 2024 as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Lafayette's Triumphal Tour of 1824-1825. Frankly, you should clear your calendar for the entire year of 2024. It is going to be one giant party spanning the country from as far north as Portland, Maine, to as far south as New Orleans, and as far west as St.