This is part of a series on Lafayette’s visit to Massachusetts August 23, 1824 to September 3 1824.
The party proceeded to Sterling where Lafayette’s approach was signaled with thirteen discharges of artillery and the ringing of bells. Two companies of light infantry under the command of Captain Caleb Dana and Captain Merriam met him. There was an arch of flowers and evergreens. At the top in gold letters, it read “Welcome Lafayette, America’s Adopted son, Brother and Friend of Washington” and “Our land in trouble found a friend in thee, We’ll not forget thee in prosperity”
Isaac Goodwin (1786-1832), chairman of the board of selectmen and later author of Town Officer, Or, Laws of Massachusetts Relative to the Duties of Municipal Officers, addressed Lafayette:
General Lafayette – The Selectmen, in behalf of the citizens of Sterling, welcome your arrival at their village. The name of this town associates with it the recollection of another transatlantick hero, who, like yourself, Sir, felt a sympathy for our fathers’ wrongs, and whose sword was unsheathed for their redress. Lord Sterling, the gallant and the generous, now sleeps in dust, but the memory of America’s benefactors wills survive the decay of time. The multitudes that hail your march through this part of our country are not the assemblages of idle crowds, seeking to gratify a morbid curiosity, but, Sir, the men around you are independent possessors of their fields, and the defenders of their homes. From hoary age to lisping childhood, our whole population are eager of contributing deserved honors to the companion of Washington, the benefactor of our country, and the friend of mankind.
Lafayette responded:
I feel grateful for my kind reception here. I rejoice in your prosperity, and am happy to be once more among you. The name of your place recalls the recollection of Lord Sterling. He was my intimate friend as well as companion in arms. I venerate his memory, and when at New York, I had the pleasure of calling upon his family.
The General then reviewed the troops.
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For information on the bicentennial of Lafayette’s tour check out lafayette200.org.