On a drizzly, cool morning, a small crowd of Watertown history buffs came out to celebrate a Frenchman who played an important role in winning the American Revolution. During the ceremony, Watertown’s newest historical marker was unveiled, honoring the Marquis de Lafayette, who served as a general in the American Army.
On Sunday, April 19, the red sign with a blue border and white lettering was presented by Julien Icher, Founder & President of The Lafayette Trail Inc.
The marker celebrates a visit by Lafayette, said Marilynne Roach from the Historical Society of Watertown.
“Lafayette passed through Watertown the last time in 1784. It was the morning of October, Friday the 15th,” said Roach who read from an account from the time. “At the time, a group of Revolutionary War veteran, described as a large and respectable number of authors with whom he had shared the dangers and fatigues of war, met Lafayette and his cortege as it entered the town from the West, at least one of those member of the newly organized Veteran Society.”
The veterans put on a celebration for Lafayette, the exact location was not recorded. Roach, however, has an idea of where it likely took place.
“All of these well wishers escorted their guests along what is now Main Street to a hotel,” Roach said. “We think that was widow Dorothy Coolidge’s tavern. She being a licensed inn holder in 1784, who — still with a license back in 1774 — had catered the Boston Sons of Liberty’s going away celebration when John and Samuel Adams and other delegates headed off for the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.”
In addition, there we only two bridges over the Charles River at the time, one at what is now Harvard Square and the other in Watertown.
“And since Cambridge did not figure in Lafayette’s 1784, progress, according to the newspapers, the procession had to have crossed here in Watertown, where the road ran right past Coolidge Tavern,” Roach said.
The celebration included 13 patriotic toasts, before Lafayette continued on to Newton, then Roxbury where he received an artillery salute, and finally Boston for more accolades, Roach said.
Watertown was the latest stop for Icher, whose organization had put up 225 when he visited town. He had another ceremony planned in Newbury that afternoon.
“I’m doing 11 states in April alone. This is my fifth after North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, and then Rhode Island (on April 18),” Icher said. “So we will do all the other New England states after that. And I’m just very happy to be in Watertown.”
Lafayette’s profile received a boost from the popularity of the “Hamilton” musical, and Icher said parents and children often attend the Lafayette Trail events because they are fans of the stage show.
Originally from France, Icher moved to the United States in 2015, and now lives in Maryland.
“I noticed the difference between how Americans and French people viewed Lafayette,” Icher said.
While toasted as a hero in the United States, in France, Lafayette is a controversial figure, sometimes even mocked, Icher said.
“Lafayette, he always loved this message of American freedom, individual rights of self determination,” Icher said. “That’s something he wanted to push for in Europe as well.”
He went back across the Atlantic for the French Revolution, and pushed for the same rights that Americans had just won.
“Basically, what he wanted to do was to create a constitutional order like in the U.S., with one person in charge, except that that one person in France would be the king, but the king would not be ruling on behalf of God. He would be surrounded by a Congress,” Icher said. “But that view lost in the French Revolution, and anybody that supported having a king on the throne in any way was basically declared a traitor. And so Lafayette eventually became a traitor in France, an idiot, a buffoon, and people mocked him. And so to this day, his legacy is very controversial in France.”
When he learned how revered Lafayette was in the U.S., Icher wanted to celebrate him. He started The Lafayette Trail Inc. seven years ago. The group receives financial help from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation in Syracuse, New York.
“The markers, they are $2,000 each,” Icher said. “So they help us financially with the markers, and that’s how we’re able to remove the financial obstacle.”
In addition, Icher works with local historians and officials to get permission to place the markers.
“Thank you, everyone, the Historical Society, Joyce Kelly. Thank you so much for all your help,” Icher said. “You know, I first called and, you know, I have a little bit of an accent when I speak in English. I call it and people don’t know my area code because I don’t live here, right? So, sometimes people just hang up, they don’t even listen to me. She actually let me introduce myself.”
Icher also thanked Erica Oliver Jerram, Watertown’s Director of Community Design, and Tyler Cote, the Community Engagement Specialist, for hosting the event and getting permissions.
“You guys are like the invisible hands that make all the work done. So thank you. And yeah, thanks to all of you for braving the weather today and being part of that,” Icher said to those gathered.
The marker was placed as part of the Revolution250 celebrations in 2026, Icher said. Lafayette’s visit occurred in 1784, the same year that Congress ratified the treaty that ended the war.
“So we’re very happy, and this marker will be here for generations to come, educating the bypassers and people that go have a coffee halfway across wherever they’re going and get educated on Lafayette. So congratulations again, and very happy that our dear French Marquis here is getting the recognition in Watertown.”
Learn more about The Lafayette Trail at https://lafayette250.org/