Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: Side 1: During the American War of Independence, the Marquis de Lafayette came from France to the United States to offer not only his personal services as a major general in the Continental Army but also some $200,000 of his private fortune to the American cause. A few years after his return to France, General Lafayette met with personal difficulties during the French Revolution which left him in dire financial circumstances. In gratitude for General Lafayette's generous aid during the American Revolutionary War, the U.S. Congress granted the French hero approximately $24,000 in 1794 and later, in 1803, some land in Louisiana. In 1824, Lafayette returned to America for a visit. Because he was still in financial difficulty, an appeal was made to the American nation for more assistance. The Congress and people of the United States remembered their debt to this man and recognized his continued support of the new Republic during recent decades. Therefore, he was presented with another $200,000 and an entire township (thirty-six square miles) of land to be selected at his discretion. Side 2: General Lafayette decided upon land near this Tallahassee home of his new friend, Richard K. Call, Florida's delegate to the U.S. Congress. Col. John McKee of Alabama, an experienced land buyer, was delegated to travel to Florida and select a township. On July 4, 1825, President John Quincy Adams signed a warrant granting to Lafayette the chosen township, which lay adjacent to the new town of Tallahassee. It was bounded on two sides by the recently surveyed prime meridian and base line and was termed Township One North, Range One East. General Lafayette never visited his land in Florida. By 1855, all the land included in the Lafayette Township (over 23,000 acres) had been sold to individual buyers.