Lafayette in Stamford

Friday August 20, 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM

At about 5:30 on Friday August 20, Lafayette and his entourage were greeted by a salute at Mianus Landing where they were met by a Connecticut Troop which led them to the home of Hon. John Davenport. It was reported in The Commercial Advertiser, a New York newspaper, that the doors of the Davenport mansion were thrown open for a reception. Here Lafayette was greeted by John Davenport and his wife, Mary Sylvester Welles Davenport and hundreds of ladies and gentlemen from the surrounding area. 

Major John Davenport (1752-1830) would have been seventy-two years old when Lafayette emerged from the carriage and entered his home in Stamford. It is not surprising that this was one of the stops along Lafayette’s route in Connecticut as Davenport, in addition to being one of the most important residents of Stamford, served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, attaining the rank of major and was a charter member of the Connecticut Order of the Cincinnati. From 1776 to 1796, Davenport served in the Connecticut House of Representatives. In 1799 he was elected to Congress and served until 1817.   

Presumably, the “hundreds” of reception attendees had been invited guests and were from prominent Stamford families. However, hundreds more of Stamford’s 1824 population of about 2,800 citizens gathered in the streets surrounding the Davenport mansion and collected along the Boston Post Road, the route Lafayette would take on his departure from the town.  A salute was fired, and the bells rung while fresh horses were brought to the carriages. 

At about 6:00 Lafayette appeared at the door of the mansion and was escorted to the waiting carriages, most likely shaking hands with anyone fortunate enough to get close to him. Once the visitors were safely installed in their carriage, the Connecticut Troops took to their mounts and the cavalcade began the trek to Norwalk. Many of the citizens of Stamford accompanied the General along the Post Road on horseback, sending up clouds of dust in their wake.       

Today in Stamford Lafayette is remembered by a street named in his honor, Lafayette Street.