Norwich bulletin., 1919-05-08
DESCRIBES LAFAYETTE'S
 VISIT TO NORWICH

Bella P. Learned Wednesday afternoon at the meeting of Faith Trumbull chapter, D. A. R.. which was held at
 the chapel at Norwich Town, in which | Mrs. Learned brought out incidents of the visit of the great F'renchman to | Norwich during Revolutionary times, made an interesting part of the pro- i gramme of the meeting.
 | Mrs. w. Tyler Browne, the regent, l presided and after the patriotic open | ing exercises. Miss Hannah Crowell l gave a brief talk on the Victory loan.
 A letter from the state regent. showed
 that D. A. R. chapters of the state
 had invested s12.27o in previous loans and that individual members had in- vested s4,377175.
 r Announcement was made of the me morial exercises, which are to be held | Thursday, May 29, at the boulder 1 erected in memory of the French sol diers at the old Norwich Town ceme- tery. Complete arrangements for these
 exercises will be announced later, it 1 having been decided now that the date i has been set to go ahead with the plans.
 Miss Hazel Banfield of Greeneville
 delighted the members with two alto
 numbers and encores. Miss Banfield
 was accompanied by Mrs. Harry, Steb- | bins. 1 Mrs. LearnedS paper on the Mar
 quis de Lafayette called attention to | the fact that although a nobleman, married to rich young wife. and having at his command all the pleas
 tres of the gayest court in Europe, he gave it all up because of his inherent
 love for liberty, to fight with a peo- pie struggling for liberty.
 Of his visit to Norwich she said: : n cnnnaption wit fo at tn' Ia cf visit to America in 1924 there are
 some charming "reminiscences of his
 visit to Norwich. East of the trian- gular lot called the Little Plain is the house now owned by B. P. Bishop which was built in 170O by Thomas Colt. It was bought in 1916 by John De Witt. who married Harriet. daugh- ter of Gen. Jedediah and granddaugh- ter of Gen. Jabez Huntington. The
 last time Lafayette was here he went
 to zee Mrs. De Witt at this house, now MT. Bishops. and asked if there were
 any other descendants of Gen. Jede- diah living here. Little Sarah Hunt ington, who we all knew as Mrs. Ed
 ward Huntington. was sent for. She was about F years old then and re- membered him as tall and yer thin
 When he went away he kissed her
 and she vas the Ia t one living in this C1ly al least WHO Ht1u tIie HOiloT ol De- ing kissed by Gen. Lafayette. Many
 of the old houses about the green and
 the streets leading to it have a strong Revolutionary interest. The house now owned by Mrs. William Fitch was built by Gen. Jedediah Huntington } and served in all important engage [ ments in the war. At a ball that Gen
 Huntington gave there soon after the war. Rochambeau and Gen. Lafayette f as well as Gen. Washington were present.
 I But back in ITS, succeeding the , battle of Rhode Island, Aug. 29, a de ' tachment from Lafayette's army wa:
 ordered to join Washington's army
 then in need of endorsements. This command marched by the way of tho . old Providence and Canterbury roads l, and hence through the town highway to our beautiful and historic greer
 where necessary halt was made oI
 account of illness among the troops
 Tents were spread, camp established l and the old court house then standing : on the plain was utilized as a tenn 5 iporary hospital. Skill and experienced l. nursing and sympathetic heart: : sought to relieve suffering and save , lives yet one by one these lonely
 French soldiers died and were buried l in Norwich soil. The story of thei t lives and deaths belongs to the people . i of Connecticut. of New England. o e our country and of France. July 4 { 1901, Faith Trumbull chapter, D. A . R. unveiled a tablet placed in mem r ory of men who 123 years before ha(
 sacrificed their lives in a foreign lanc
 that they might help the American colonies to win their independence. z Mayor Desmond in his very fine ad dress given in French to the famous
 veteran French Army band recent. r alluded to this event.