Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Special Delivery To Westfield, A Fitting First

Previous: The Making Of The Buffalo And Erie Road

Was Lafayette supposed to depart Erie by land or by sea? As late as May 31, 1825, organizers in Erie, Pennsylvania tried to arrange steamboat accommodations for the General. The ship was to convey the Nation’s Guest from Erie directly to Buffalo.¹

Confusion reigned over Lafayette’s exact itinerary. You see, he had promised to attend the dedication ceremonies for the Bunker Hill Monument on the anniversary date of that battle. That meant he had to be in Boston by June 17^th. Initial reports said he would not visit Western New York until after laying the cornerstone on the Bunker Hill Monument.² The newspaper corrected this misinformation the following week, just a day before Lafayette would cross the state line into Chautauqua County.³

What firmed Lafayette’s travel plans? Olive Risley Seward’s grandfather commanded the militia for the Lafayette reception in Fredonia. In addition, her then eleven-year-old father and nine-year-old mother also attended—and remembered—Lafayette’s 1825 visit to Fredonia. Based on the stories from her family, she wrote the following in 1904: “An enterprising-young citizen of Fredonia, Walter Smith, made the suggestion which decided his course.” Despite the abortive machinations in Erie a few days later, word reached Chautauqua County that Lafayette would travel from Erie to Buffalo on the mail route.⁴

That would be the Main road, a.k.a. the Buffalo and Erie Road, today’s U.S. Route 20.

Actually, the plan had Lafayette traveling by both land and sea from Erie to Buffalo. The first leg of the journey, from Erie to Dunkirk, would require a horse-drawn carriage. The second half, from the harbor at Dunkirk to Buffalo, necessitated the use of a steamship.

Using the mail route, however, presented an opportunity to the citizens of Chautauqua County. They could partake first-hand in the great American experience. They could meet General Lafayette face-to-face. Veterans could relive their war experience. Women could realize their dream of hobnobbing in the air of French aristocracy. Children could see with their own eyes what they learned in history class.

But they had to act fast.

On the evening of June 2, 1825, the day before Lafayette’s expected arrival, an ad hoc committee met to plan for the village of Westfield’s reception of the French General. This “committee of arrangements” consisted of Jonathan Cass, Joseph Farnsworth, Henry Abell, Oliver Lee, Joshua R. Babcock, Fenn Demming, E.L. Tinker, Silas Spencer, Thomas B. Campbell, L. Averill, John Dexter, E.P. Upham, William Peacock, and T.A. Osborne. Peacock offered his carriage to carry Lafayette from State Line (in the Town of Ripley) to Westfield (in the Town of Portland). Campbell, Spencer, Upham and Demming formed the welcoming committee and set out with Peacock’s carriage to greet Lafayette at the Pennsylvania border.⁵

We don’t know what time the Westfield delegation left, but we know Lafayette departed from Erie at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.⁶ Unfortunately, we have yet to unearth a definitive record of the time the two groups met at State Line. And neither did the people of Westfield. The military had been in the village all day in anticipation of Lafayette’s arrival. By late in the day, an “immense concourse of citizens from the neighboring towns were likewise waiting, with intense anxiety the signals of his approach.”⁷

Meanwhile, at State Line, the two parties approached each other. While we don’t know the exact time, we do know what Campbell offered on behalf of his committee by way of introduction upon meeting Lafayette:

“General La Fayette:—With hearts full of gratitude from services rendered our country, we, as a committee, in behalf of the citizens of Westfield, have come to meet you and welcome your return to the state of New York. We assure you, General, that the same grateful feelings which have been so unanimously expressed to you by the people of this republic, influence and animate the citizens of this part of our state; and although unable to receive you with the splendor which accompanied your reception on landing upon our shores, yet we do receive you with no less affectionate and grateful hearts.”⁸

Ever the proper gentleman, Lafayette replied:

“Gentlemen:—I am fully sensible of the kindness and affection thus expressed to me by the people of this part of your state; and I assure you, sir, it affords me much pleasure to take you by the hand and return you, and, through you, the citizens of Westfield, my hearty thanks for the respectful manner in which they have been pleased to communicate their feelings towards me. I am very happy to find myself again in the patriotic state of New York. Accept, sir, for yourself and the other gentlemen of the committee, the assurance of my best wishes for your health and happiness.”⁹

Shortly after sunset on Friday, June 3, 1825, the anxious citizens received the exciting news. Lafayette approached. Escorting him were men on horseback. These men came from the nearby towns of Ellery, Chautauqua, Portland, and Ripley. Signal guns announced the General’s arrival. Though not quite twilight, brightly lit public houses provided an impressive runway for the Nation’s Guest. Crackling flames from an immense bonfire danced to the sky from the town square.¹⁰

This was only the beginning of the pageantry. As Lafayette stepped down from Peacock’s ornate carriage, the soldiers let loose a gigantic boom from the cannon. Captain Towle led the Light Infantry, which helped escort Lafayette and his party to a room set aside for the event. Campbell made the introductions.¹¹

Obsorne quickly stood to make the following statement:

“General:—Permit our feeble notes of congratulating Welcome to swell the general anthem of the American nation. Taught from earliest infancy to lisp the venerated name of LaFayette, which now trembles upon our tongues with gratitude and joy, we greet thee as the champion of freedom, the friend of Washington, of our country and her institutions, and the benefactor of mankind.

While the burst of grateful acclamation which hailed your landing upon our shores has been borne on the tide of hearts, until the remotest parts of the Union have vibrated with its influence, we of the Western New York have cause for deep and peculiar emotions.

At the period of your valuable labors for the establishment of our republic, the spot upon which you stand was only tenanted by the howling inhabitants of the wilderness. Until a long subsequent period, our country was with a name and without a population. Now, within its borders the hearts of more than twenty thousand freemen beat your welcome. It is to you, whom we now address, that, more than to any other, this important change is to attributed. The councils of your wisdom were felt in the cabinet, and your youthful arm lent vigor to their execution in the field. Animated by your spirit and fired by your example, your king and your country stepped forth in the cause of liberty and man, and forever sealed the fate of tyranny in this western hemisphere. The life giving energies of the triumph of liberty were felt in the rapid increase of population and settlement. Had a state of colonial servitude and dependence continued, your eye would not now have witnessed our fields covered with golden grain, waving their undulating shadows with sportive playfulness in the breeze. Compare, as you traverse the mighty Niagara, the colonial and independent shores, and by their contrast test the influence of liberty on the improvement and settlement of the country, and the promotion of the social happiness of man.

Finally, General, in behalf of the citizens of the vicinity, we tender to you their most cordial congratulations upon your arrival among them, and the anxious aspirations of their hearts, that the evening of your days may be as serene and tranquil as your life has been constant in the pursuit of freedom. That they have enjoyed the felicity of meeting and welcoming you among them, will ever be among the most gratifying of their recollections, while the remembrance of the affectionate farewell which they must shortly bid you, their father and their friend, cannot fail to awaken the liveliest sensibilities of their natures, and call forth the most poignant grief.”¹²

Again, with heartfelt emotion, Lafayette answered:

“Gentlemen:—I cannot express to you my happiness at the kindness of your reception. When about ten months since I first landed upon your shores, I was received in a manner which can never be forgotten. The impression then received has been heightened by every subsequent event. Wherever I have been, I have received the kindest welcome. But it affords me peculiar pleasure to be thus received here in Western New York, and to witness the astonishing rapidity of its progress in improvement and settlement. Accept, sir, of my best wishes for your personal happiness, and, gentlemen, for the happiness of you all. I am happy to enjoy the interview; to see you all assembled; and most sincerely regret that circumstances render it necessary that my stay with you should be short.”¹³

Indeed, this visit was short. It contained no documented toasts or other fanciful orations. But it did have a common feature. After the brief formalities, Lafayette dove into the crowd, greeting each person—ladies and gentlemen—as the long-lost friends both believed they really were. Lafayette worked the crowd with “cordial, animating, and affecting” sincerity.¹⁴

As usual, he met many Revolutionary War soldiers. Could one of these veterans have been Samuel Shattuck?

No sooner had the visit begun than it was over. At ten o’clock that same evening, after only roughly a two-hour stay, the Fredonia delegation took the reins from Westfield’s committee of arrangements. And with the sound of twenty-four artillery rounds, Westfield said goodbye to the hero, proud to now have been a part of those lucky few whose lives he had literally touched.¹⁵

With that, Lafayette left the hamlet of the first permanent settlers of Chautauqua County, a fitting first step into Western New York.

Back on the Main road went the Nation’s Guest for what was hoped to be a quick trot to Fredonia.

Next Week: Gaslighting The General

¹ Buffalo Emporium and General Advertiser, Saturday, June 25, 1825, p. 3
² Fredonia Censor, Wednesday, May 25, 1825, p.3
³ “La Fayette,” Fredonia Censor, Wednesday, June 1, 1825, p. 3
⁴ Seward, Olive Risley, “The Marquis De Lafayette: His Great Service to our Country and His Visit to Chautauqua County,” The Centennial History of Chautauqua County, Chautauqua History Company, Jamestown, p.457
⁵ “LaFayette in Fredonia,” Fredonia Censor, August 21, 1872, pp 1-2 (reprint of the June 8, 1825 edition)
⁶ “Arrival of Gen. La Fayette at Erie, Erie Gazette, Wednesday, June 9, 1825, p.3
⁷ “LaFayette in Fredonia”
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ibid.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Ibid.