Another in a series of historical markers commemorating the travels of Marquis de Lafayette during his 1824-25 Farewell Tour of the United States will be unveiled in Windsor on September 7.

Julien Icher, founder and director of the Lafayette Trail project, will speak about the trail marker project at the unveiling, set for 11:00 a.m. outside the Windsor House on Main Street. Earl Dionne, pastor of the Rachel Harlow United Methodist Church in Windsor, will follow with a brief talk on Lafayette's legacy and his role in achieving the nation's independence. While in the U.S. Navy Dionne served on the USS Lafayette, the only U.S. naval vessel to be named for a French national, and he is well versed in the major general's life and contributions.

Lafayette (1757-1834) fought at Brandywine, Valley Forge, Yorktown and other key Revolutionary battles and played a significant role in the French Revolution of 1789 and the 1830 July revolution. With Thomas Jefferson he wrote Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which inspired the American Declaration of Independence. At the invitation of President James Monroe and the U.S. Congress he visited the United States to help mark the nation's fiftieth anniversary. Lafayette toured twenty-four states and covered more than six thousand miles. He came to Windsor over the Cornish-Windsor bridge on June 28, 1825, and addressed people assembled in front of Pettes' Coffee House, near the site of the Windsor House. From there he visited, among other towns, Hartland, Woodstock, Royalton, Barre, Montpelier and Burlington.

The Lafayette Trail Project, Inc., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting, mapping, and marking Lafayette's Farewell Tour path.

Nov 2, 2024, 9 AM to 12 PM

Nov 2, 2024, 6 to 7 PM

Nov 7, 2024, 6:30 PM