Two local events to remember Lafayette’s 1825 visit
Published 3:56 pm Tuesday, February 25, 2025
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Wednesday and Thursday of this week mark the 200th anniversary of Revolutionary War hero General Marquis de Lafayette’s tour of the Roanoke-Chowan area.
General Marquis de Lafayette, hailed as a hero during the American Revolutionary War, spent the night of Feb. 26, 1825 in Murfreesboro and visited Jackson the following day.
In recognition of this historic event, two local towns are hosting celebrations on Feb. 26 (Murfreesboro) and Feb. 27 (Jackson).
In Murfreesboro, the event will start at 5 p.m. with a re-creation of the 1825 welcome ceremony at the Murfreesboro Town Hall. There, Mayor Hal Thomas will issue a proclamation for Lafayette Day.
Murfreesboro Historical Association president Jimmy Moore will reprise the role of Judge Thomas Maney, who issued the original welcome. A representative from the American Friends of Lafayette will respond.
Afterwards, everyone will move across the street to a reception at Hertford Academy.
The ceremony and reception and ceremony are free and open to the public. Those wishing to attend are requested to RSVP so that the association can make an accurate count for refreshments. Responses may be made to the MHA office at 252-398-5922 or to murfreesborohistorical@gmail.com.
The historic celebration of Lafayette’s local visit continues on Thursday in Jackson. There, in a re-creation of the event held 200 years ago, “Gen. Lafayette” and his entourage will arrive at 12 noon in front of the Historic Northampton County Courthouse in a horse-drawn carriage with the sound of bells ringing throughout the town. He will then be welcomed by the official State Delegation just as he was on February 27, 1825.
The horse-drawn carriage will then make brief stops at Lafayette Park and the nearby mural depicting Lafayette’s historic visit to Jackson, painted by esteemed local muralist Napoleon Hill. Lafayette and his party will then proceed to the Bay Sire Bistro for a period dinner featuring a re-enactment of the dinner given to Gen. Lafayette at the Calvert Tavern. The dinner will include a proclamation from the Mayor and the customary 13 toasts.
While the dinner is by invitation only, and is currently full, all other events are free and open to the public, including an exhibition room at the Bay Sire Bistro featuring The American Friends of Lafayette (AFL) traveling panels depicting his life, along with a museum quality memorabilia exhibit featuring material culture dating to the time of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour.
At the conclusion of dinner, Julien Pierre Icher, founder and president of The Lafayette Trail, and a Lafayette scholar, will give a lecture on Lafayette’s 1824-1825 Farewell Tour, as well as sharing some interesting information in connection to his recent tour of La Grange, Lafayette’s country estate in France.
In 1824, U.S. President James Monroe and Congress invited Lafayette to visit the United States, in part to celebrate the nation’s then upcoming 50th anniversary. He traveled to all 24 states as “The Nation’s Guest” along with his son George Washington Lafayette, and his private secretary Auguste Levasseur.
At the time of his visit in 1825, Lafayette was the last living Major-General from the Revolutionary War.