Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Wowed Waterloo Overcomes Tragedy To Welcome Hero

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Waterloo Hotel became the Madison House before being converting into Twin Brothers’ Yeast Cake factory (pictured here). The factory burned down in 1877. Source: Becker, John E., A History of the Village of Waterloo, Waterloo Library and Historical Society, Waterloo, NY 1949, p. 81

The party began early in Waterloo on the morning of Wednesday, June 8, 1825. It was like a festive holiday. A great anticipation thrilled the small village and those visitors who had come to town for the special occasion about to unfold. Revolutionary War hero and valiant icon of freedom, the Marquis de Lafayette was about to visit.

Excitement filled the air. And cannon smoke.

There was no way to contain the enthusiasm. Several villagers expressed this feeling by gathering at Earl’s tavern, as the Waterloo Hotel had been known. Ab Falling built the three-story brick structure in 1817. Located in the center of its west side, the main entrance faced the public square. The upper floor had a ballroom and a Masonic Hall.¹

That same year, Junius Lodge No. 291, F.&A.M. received its charter from the Grand Lodge of New York on June 5. The growing lodge began meeting at the Waterloo Hotel on July 1, 1819. By 1825, only one of the original petitioners—Dr. Jesse Fifield, Treasurer—held a leadership position.²

Captain Jehiel P. Parsons was a member of Junius Lodge No. 291.³ He wasn’t among the citizens celebrating at Earl’s tavern. Instead, he chose to have breakfast across the street at the Mill. The partiers at the tavern would show their delight for the joyous day by periodically firing the small cannon pointing towards the public square in front of the establishment they were in. To get an increasingly louder report, they’d increase the load each time. As Captain Parsons finished his breakfast, the wannabe cannoneers loaded the muzzle heavy and, using the butt end of an axe, rammed down oakum on top of the load. At that moment, Parsons left the Mill and began walking towards the cannon. One of the men drew a match to it, but it failed to fire. Parsons just happened by and decided to do it himself. In an instant, the cannon blew up. A piece of it angled straight through Parsons above his hips, killing him instantly.⁴

Whatever the shock that must have ensued wore off by shortly before two o’clock in the afternoon. That was the moment Captain Lemuel Ruggles, a Waterloo native and also a member of Junius Lodge No. 291, appeared on horseback with his cavalry troop, all men of Waterloo. They formed the head of the procession leading Lafayette to Waterloo. The cannons roared (at least those didn’t blow up), the music played, and the dazzling display of colors and military pronounced the arrival of the Nation’s Guest. As the local newspaper reported that day, “With this great character, ideas of all that is dear to Americans in a civil point, is intimately and closely connected. The revolution-the days of our fathers their inflexible patriotism-their unbending firmness, their undaunted courage-their battles and their sufferings in times that tried men’s souls, all rush upon the mind at the sight of the General, with sublime and irresistible force.”⁵

In a scene familiar to Lafayette, he could hear the music from a distance as he approached the main entrance of the Waterloo Hotel. Above it was a second-floor balcony. On the balcony was a band replete with matching white uniforms. The music played as Lafayette’s carriage stopped in front of the door. It continued until Lafayette had entered the building.⁶

There are no official records of the number of people that attended the event. It is only said that the streets were dense with people. At the time, 700 people lived in Waterloo,⁷ with the official 1825 census of Junius (which includes Waterloo and Seneca Falls) listed at 5,113.⁸ The entire county of Seneca had a population of roughly 18,000, or over 23,600 people if you include the towns of Wolcott and Galen, which had recently been taken from Seneca County to form Wayne County.⁹

As with other stops on his tour throughout the United States, Lafayette met with Revolutionary War veterans and members of the Masonic fraternity (often one in the same).¹⁰ Lafayette greeted citizens at the stairs near the entrance of the Hotel. There’s a story, written much after the fact, that he recognized one veteran—Rev. John Caton—and called him by name. After spending sufficient time with the people of Waterloo, Lafayette went up to the lodge room of Junius Lodge No. 291. There, Caleb Fairchild, Master, Oren R. Farnsworth, Senior Warden, and Abraham Lisk, Junior Warden, offered him a Masonic greeting and an opportunity to rest.¹¹

After a short visit of about an hour, Lafayette’s party boarded their carriage and headed down the main road, crossing the Cayuga bridge before transferring to the Auburn committee in East Cayuga.

Lafayette did not hear of the Parsons tragedy until he arrived in Syracuse.¹² Once aware, he asked Mr. G.A. Gamage of Auburn to look into the matter. Gamage came to Waterloo and interviewed Captain Parsons’ mother and surviving sisters. He let Lafayette know the family depended financially on Captain Parsons. Grieved from the unfortunate accident, Lafayette penned the following letter to Captain Parsons’ mother:

“Dear Madam:

The dreadful event, which took place on the morning of my introduction to the citizens of your town, when it became known to me, filled my heart with the most painful and sympathetic emotions. Every subsequent information relative to the melancholy loss of your son, could not but enhance those feelings.

Permit me to avail myself of our community of regrets, to obtain from you an assent to the offer which may not afford to you, but will to me some consoling relief. Learning the situation of the family, the acceptance of the enclosed bill of One Thousand Dollars, will confer upon me a great obligation. Be pleased, dear madam, to receive my affectionate and condoling respects.

LaFayette.”¹³

Next Week: Bigotry Cannot Defeat A Good And Honorable Man

¹ “Waterloo Factory Burned 45 Years Ago,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Wednesday, May 17, 1922, p.13
² Becker, John E., A History of the Village of Waterloo, Waterloo Library and Historical Society, Waterloo, New York 1949, p. 74-75
³ Ibid., p. 390
⁴ Auburn Free Press, Wednesday, June 15, 1825, p.2
⁵ Seneca Farmer, Wednesday, June 8, 1825 [via Waterloo Observer, Friday, March 13, 1903, p.1]
⁶ “Would Name Waterloo Park After Lafayette,” Geneva Daily Times, Friday, June 10,1921, p. 5
⁷ Becker, p. 98
⁸ 1865 NYS Census data on 1825 Census
⁹ Becker, p. 99
¹⁰ Wilcox, William, “General Lafayette,” Waterloo Observer, Thursday, June 8, 1922, p.7
¹¹ Becker, p. 99
¹² Auburn Free Press
¹³ Becker, p. 100