The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-01-02
AMERICANS BUY
CHATEAU OWNED
BY LAFAYETTE

New York, Jan. 2-The Chateau de
Observation-Disclosures, the birthplace
of the Marquis de Lafayette, has been
purchased by a group of prominent
American men and women and is to
be converted into a Franco-American
memorial museum and home. The
announcement that it had been ac-
CURED and that NJ was the hope of
the purchasers to make it "a French
Mount Vernon was made yesterday
by the executive committee of the
French Heroes Fund of 200 Fifth
avenue.
The details Of the transfer, were
completed last week, Coudert Broth
ers representing the American COM
mittee in the negotiations with the
Lafayette family.
MES. William Astor Chanler is the
president. and John Moffat the chair
man of the executive committee Of
the French Heroes Fund Committee,
the other members of the committee
being Joseph H Choate, who is the
honorary head. Col. Theodore Roose-
welt, James A. Blair, Jr., Clarence H.
Mackay, eX-Secretary of the Navy
George Won L. Meyer, President John
Grier Hibben Of Princeton University
James M. Beck, John G. Milburn.
Henry Fairfield ~Osborn, NJ. Liebert,
Mrs. John Jay Chapman, Mrs. Harry
Payne Whitney, Mrs. Marshall Field.
Jr., Mrs. William A. Delano, Mrs.
Charles HI Ditson, Mrs. Jay Gould.
Mrs. Maurice Kozminski. Miss Elsa
Maxwell, Mrs. Walter E. Maynard.
Mrs. George Won L. Meyer, Mrs. Will
lam K. Vanderbilt, Jr., Mrs. Orme
Wilson. Mrs. Ralph Sanger, Mrs.
Leonar I'd M. Thomas, Mrs. H. j.
Whigham, President Nicholas Murray
Butler of Columbia University, Larz
Anderson, l. Tucker Burr, Frank
Crowninshield, Frederic r. Coudert,
Finley Peter Dunno. Ernesto Fabbri.
Haley Fiske, Lloyd Q. Griscom.
James Hazen> Hyde, Owen johnson.
W. Forbes Morgan, Gouyerneur. Nor
ris, Charles A. Mum, Alfonso de Ma
varro, Edward N. Pickman, D. E.
Pomeroy, Ralph J. Preston, Charles
Scribner, Louis Evan Shipman.
Booth Harrington, Charles H. Towne
Robert van Cortlandt, Walter Sanger.
Charles d. Wetmore, H. J. Whigman,
Bronson Winthrop, Owen Wister and
Lorimer Worden.
1.-The Chateau de Chavaniac-Lafay-
ette,' the announcement made yester-
day says, ''was secured through the
personal efforts of Mrs. Chanter and
Mr.. Moffatt. The purchase Of the
chateau was made through its
owner, the Marquis CASTOR de La
Fayette, who inherited it in 1850
from Senator Edmund de La Fay
cite. The present Marquis CASTOR
de La Fayette is a grandson of the
generals only son. George Washing
ton de La Fayette. He was the rep
resentative of La Fayette and guest
of Congress in this country at the
Yorktown celebration.
1.-THE Marquis Gilbert Mother de
La Fayette was born at the Chateau
de Chavaniac in the French province
Of Auvergne on Sept. 6, 1857. The
Chateau de Chavaniac La Fayette is
in the French province of Auvergne,
some 400 miles from Paris in south
ern France. It is the GROWING archi-
tectura1 feature Of this little settle
ment of some 500 souls and stands
sentinel-like among the 60 red-tiled
IOOAS VI III VlfldSc. LIE llttl6 church
at which La Fayette worshipped is
only a step from the chateau gates.
1.-The original Chateau de Chavan~
lac dates from the fourteenth CEN
fury 1t was destroyed by fire in
1901, but very soon after was rebuilt
from the original plans.
''It is the purpose of the French
Heroes Fund to make this chateau
in France a complement to Mount
Vernon. In it are to be kept records
of Colonial days, as we'll as those of
the present war. There is to be a
room dedicated to the British; one to
the Legion; another to the AmeriN
can Ambulance, and still another to
aviation. 1t also is to be made
home for orphans and for soldiers
who have been disabled"