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Fayetteville and France: |
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The Lafayette Saga
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He was a hero of two revolutions—American and French.
From the moment he heard on August 8, 1775, of the conflict in the colonies, he was driven to head for America. Once he met George Washington, they became battlefield and lodge brothers for life.
His name was actually Gilbert de Motier. But don’t try to sell that to the citizens of Fayetteville, North Carolina, who revere the name Lafayette as unassailable. He personally came to visit that city, which was the first to be named in his honor.
Not for a moment was his Masonry in doubt. The French lodge St. Jean d’Ecosse du Contrat Social unanimously declared him their member. He said so June 24, 1782. Tradition has it that Washington sponsored him as he was raised as a Master Mason shortly after his arrival in America in 1777 or 1778. He also said publicly he had visited 24 American lodges. The Grand Lodges of Delaware, Maryland and Tennessee made him their honorary members.
And talk about your Masonic burials, he was interred in the Cemetery of Picpus in Paris under one ton of earth he had sent over from Bunker Hill, Massachusetts.
He repudiated his “Marquis de Lafayette” identity in June, 1790, for good reason. That timeless Mason was no longer part of the French aristocracy of his birth that lost power—and heads—after Bastille Day July 14, 1789. Here he had been a committed American Revolutionary officer, a diplomat serving without pay, donating his personal wealth to the American cause, steadfastly abhorring aristocrats and championing social equality.
Never has a foreign-born Mason ever been so honored as Lafayette. Many lodges throughout the US carry his noble name, including LaFayette 83 at 305 Chaney Avenue, Jacksonville, NC.
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Produced by the public relations committee of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of Masons in North Carolina,
2921 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27628 MMVIII
Author/editor: Walter J. Klein wklein(at)carolina.rr.com
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