Lafayette Returns to Portsmouth After Two Hundred Years

 

Langdon House

 

He s back! Lafayette (interpreter Ben Goldman) returns to Portsmouth to reprise his 1824 triumph in which he wowed the citizenry, young and old. On Sunday, September 1, 2024, two hundred years to the day after his Farewell Tour visit, all of the pageantry of Lafayette s arrival ceremony and banquet will be recreated with you in attendance!

 

After a morning traversing the Seacoast towns just as he did 200 years before, Lafayette will arrive in a horse-drawn carriage at 2:30 pm at the John Langdon House, accompanied by a Sons of the American Revolution color guard. After welcoming speeches and Lafayette s reply, at the pavilion behind the Langdon House, and a three-gun salute, Lafayette will reminisce about his role in the American Revolution and answer questions from the citizenry.

 

As part of the banquet ticket price (see below), you will be able to tour the John Langdon House, the Warner House, and the John Paul Jones House. Your pass will be valid all day Sunday at the Langdon House, and on both Saturday and Sunday at the other two nearby historic houses.

 

Langdon House: https://www.historicnewengland.org/property/governor-john-langdon-house/

Warner House: https://www.warnerhouse.org/

John Paul Jones House: https://portsmouthhistory.org/jpj/

 

Warner House mural

 

The banquet honoring Lafayette in 1824 was held at Jefferson Hall, which no longer stands, so our banquet will be held at the Strawberry Banke Visitors Center at 5:00 pm. There you will enjoy Lafayette s company at a wonderful buffet supper. Lafayette will be sure to table-hop and greet you all personally.

 

He may be embarrassed by the speech which Peter Reilly of the American Friends of Lafayette will offer: Lafayette as Superhero: the Farewell Tour in Context. We will then offer toasts to Lafayette, in true 1824 style. There will be a contest with a prize for the person who can give the best toast to our superhero.

 

The cost of the banquet $100 includes admission to three historic houses and an experience that will come only once in a generation, if not a century. The banquet hall holds only 75 people, so register soon by clicking here: https://friendsoflafayette.wildapricot.org/event-5792542/Registration

 

 

 

For more information on the morning events: https://lafayette200.org/event/lafayettes-return-to-the-new-hampshire-seacoast/