Ben Goldman, as the Marquis de Lafayette, accompanied by Tom Wilson of the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust, doffs his hat as he approaches Acton Center. On September 2, 1824, the Marquis visited Acton as part of his farewell tour of the U.S. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton Bridge
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Call it a marquis event.
As Acton gears up for next year’s 250th commemoration of the shot heard round the world, the town recognized another milestone on Monday: Two hundred years to the day after the Marquis de Lafayette visited Acton in triumph as a hero of the American Revolution, his re-enactor got the royal treatment in the center of town.
Marquis de Lafayette re-enactor Ben Goldman takes in the crowd as he arrives by horse and buggy at First Parish in Acton on Monday, September 2. The visit came 200 years to the day after the Revolutionary War hero’s visit to Acton as part of his farewell tour of the United States. Next to Goldman is Tom Wilson of the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton Bridge
Lafayette was in his early twenties when George Washington named him a general in the Continental Army. Fifty years after the founding of the nation, President James Monroe invited the French nobleman back for a farewell tour of all 24 states. Lafayette was the last living Revolutionary War general.
Karen Kashian and Shelley Hawks of the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust with Marquis de Lafayette re-enactor Ben Goldman before a horse-and-buggy ride from the Acton Museum to Acton Center on Monday. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton BridgeA crowd on the steps of First Parish in Acton watches as the Marquis de Lafayette’s horse-drawn buggy arrives on Monday. This year’s Lafayette Bicentennial Celebration Tour retraces the Revolutionary War hero’s visit to the 24 United States. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton Bridge
Two hundred years later, the Lafayette Bicentennial Celebration Tour is using multiple Lafayette re-enactors to retrace the tour.
Following an appearance in Lexington, Lafayette took a horse-and-buggy ride from the Acton Museum to the First Parish in Acton, one of the sites of his original 1824 visit.
The Marquis de Lafayette got a hero’s welcome in Acton in 1824, and exactly 200 years later, Concordians greeted his re-enactor. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton BridgeKaren Kashian of the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust gets a helping hand from Lafayette re-enactor Ben Goldman, right, and Tom Wilson, chair of the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton Bridge
On September 2, 1824, Squire Samuel Hoar welcomed Lafayette to Acton; on Monday, a descendant, Judge Samuel Hoar, did the same in front of a large crowd on the First Parish in Acton lawn.
Lafayette re-enactor Ben Goldman addresses the crowd in French and English on the First Parish lawn. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton Bridge
After the laying of a wreath by the Old Acton chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Tom Wilson, chair of the Wright Tavern Legacy Trust, read President Monroe’s letter inviting Lafayette to America.
The Old Acton chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution attends the Lafayette program on the First Parish lawn. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton Bridge
Inside First Parish, more than 250 people heard from Robert A. Gross, a former professor of early American history at the University of Connecticut; Jen Turner of the Robbins House, who spoke about Lafayette and the abolitionist cause; and Sam Williams, a poet and executive director of Acton Prison Outreach, who delivered his “Ode to Contemporary Times” in homage to Lafayette’s farewell.
Re-enactor Ben Goldman sits in a First Parish pew with Stephanie Billon of the American Friends of Lafayette during the Revolutionary War hero’s triumphant return to Acton on Monday, September 2, 2024. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton BridgeBen Goldman’s appearance as Lafayette was part of a larger program commemorating the French nobleman’s 1824 farewell tour of the United States. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton Bridge
The American Friends of Lafayette bicentennial tour of 24 states is just getting started and will continue into 2025. On Monday, re-enactor Ben Goldman also visited Arlington, Lexington, and Bolton.
Lafayette re-enactor Ben Goldman applauds a speaker at First Parish in Acton. Photo: Ken McGagh/The Acton Bridge
