Fluvanna to celebrate 200th anniversary of Lafayette visit

Contributed by Mike Feazel

In 1824 Revolutionary War hero the Marquis de Lafayette, maybe the 1820s equivalent of Taylor Swift in popularity in America, came to Fluvanna, and Fluvanna is going to commemorate the 200th anniversary of that visit Nov. 3.

 The commemoration will include a re-enactment of Lafayette’s arrival in a horse-drawn carriage at 3 p.m. in Wilmington for the dedication of The Lafayette Trail Marker at Currin’s Tavern.  The historical marker dedication at Currin’s Tavern will include fife music, welcoming speeches and unveiling of a historic marker about Lafayette’s visit, before moving the quarter mile to the main event at Lyles Baptist Church, 92 Lyles Church Lane, Palmyra (4 miles east of Palmyra at the end of Courthouse Road).

The festivities will continue at Lyles Baptist Church with singing, dancing, period children’s games, and feasting. The buffet will feature foods that would have been enjoyed by the group of Fluvanna citizens in 1824, including Thomas Jefferson’s favorite macaroni and cheese, Virginia ham on biscuits, venison, turkey, period relishes, cookies, tea biscuits and cider. Attendees at the family-friendly event are encouraged to wear period or patriotic costume and to bring chairs. 

“This is going to be a really big event for us,” said Carolyn Talley, one of the Fluvanna County Historical Society organizers.  She said the commemoration is a kickoff to the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War, which happens in two years.

The event is being organized by the Fluvanna Historical Society, the Fluvanna Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Council, and the Point of Fork Daughters of the American Revolution. Sponsors and contributors include James Monroe’s Highland, Fluvanna 250, Lyles Baptist Church and Fruit Hill Orchard, among others.

 “This will be a typical country village celebration,” said Linda Gore, another organizer. Fluvanna County Supervisor Mike Sheridan and others will speak. George Gaige will interpret the role of Lafayette with Dr. Randy Lanford re-enacting Rev. Walker Timberlake, the master of ceremonies.   Period music will be provided by Kristin Sorrell on fife, with drummers from Fluvanna County High School.  Period songs will be performed by The Community Singers and other women singers from the community.  One of the featured songs, Ode to Lafayette, was penned by Fluvanna’s own Virginia Randolph Cary.  The Fluvanna Flutterwheels will dance The Virginia Reel, encouraging audience participation.  

Lafayette had been only 19 years old when he came to America to volunteer to fight against the British in the American Revolution. He became a general and a top aide to George Washington and participated in the final defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

During his 1824 return to the U.S., at age 67, he toured all 24 states that then comprised the United States of America.  He also visited the grave of George Washington at Mt. Vernon, and went to Yorktown, where Fluvanna Gen. John Hartwell Cocke invited him to Fluvanna.  He was accompanied by an escort of 50 or 60 during his visit to Fluvanna, which included stops in Columbia and Wilmington.  Local tradition says Lafayette attended a ball in Wilmington that evening, then proceeded to Albemarle County the next morning.

For more information about the commemoration or to get involved, contact 434-981-8085 or email fluvannahistory.or