Welcome to the Lehigh Valley Landmarks with Leon podcast series, celebrating 250 years of independence. I'm your host, Rachel Leon. Since being elected in 2022 and serving as Vice President of Bethlehem City Council, I'm humbled by the opportunity to serve the diverse communities that make up our great city. But to understand where we're going, we need to understand our past. Each week, I'll share a short feature with a big story about the 250 years that made the Lehigh Valley and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, known as the Christmas City, as we explore historic landmarks.
On October 16th, 1777, from a page in the Diary of the Bethlehem Arabian Church congregation, it is written the Marquis de Lafayette, a handsome young man with his adjuncts, visited the Single Sister's House. He was shot through the leg on the Brandywine, and since the 21st of the September, had convalesced here in the inn.
On September 5th, 1757, in Sivan, France, known today as Sivan Lafayette, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier was born into one of the oldest and most distinguished families in France at the time. At a young age, his father died and he inherited the title Marquis de Lafayette. At 14 years old, Lafayette married Marie Adrienne Françoise de Noailles. He first served in the King's military household as a commissioned officer in the French Musketeers.
Under the guidance of his father-in-law, he was transferred from his duties as a Musketeer to the Naya Dragoons. In September of 1775, Lafayette turned 18 and became a dragoon captain. The following year, the French monarch Louis XVI and his foreign ministers started providing arms and officers to the American rebels.
To join his neighbors across the pond, Lafayette bought his own ship, and in March of 1777, the Ship L'Hermione docked in South Carolina. Shortly after his arrival, the Continental Congress would appoint Lafayette as a major general in the Continental Army without pay. Fluent in English, he was assigned to George Washington's staff.
The two men met on July 31st, 1777 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They became almost instant friends, in part due to the fact that they were both Freemasons. On September 11th, 1777, Lafayette participated in his first battle alongside his new friends at the Battle of Brandywine near Chadds Ford, PA. Under Brigadier Thomas Conway, Lafayette and the Third Pennsylvania Brigade attempted to face the superior British and Hessian forces.
Lafayette was hit with a musket ball below the knee, but no bone was broken. The injured Lafayette was sent to recover in the Moravian community in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Originally, the patient was taken to the Sun Inn, but it was noisy and unsettling due to the large number of soldiers that needed medical attention.
Instructions were given by George Washington that Lafayette was to be cared for as if he were "my own son." It was decided that a private dwelling would be best for Lafayette's recovery. The family of George Frederick Beckel agreed to take Lafayette into their home. Beckel was the superintendent of Bethlehem's farms that provided food for the town's inhabitants.
The chief task of caring for Lafayette would be borne by the women of the family; his wife, Barbara, and his daughter, Liesel. What is known is that throughout his stay, Lafayette spent a lot of time rehabilitating on the second floor of the Beckel's home. On October 18th, 1777, after a full recovery, Lafayette mounted his horse and rode out of Bethlehem never to return.
At the intersections of Main Street and Walnut Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, stands a historic marker where George Frederick Beckel opened his home to the Marquis de Lafayette. Although the Beckel house has been razed, the chair in which Lafayette convalesced is held in the Moravian Museum.
