Our Chapter

The Lamar-Lafayette Chapter NSDAR was chartered in October 1928 and takes its name from two notable men. “Lamar” honors Georgia native Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, a legislator, cabinet member, and Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. His name was chosen for Lamar County, which was formed in 1921 by the Georgia General Assembly. The second name, “Lafayette,” honors the Frenchman Marquis de Lafayette, Revolutionary War patriot and hero.

The choice of the name Lafayette is rooted in local legend. In 1825, when the Marquis de Lafayette made his Farewell Tour of the United States and traveled through Georgia, a Frenchman named Benjamin Gachet had a home on the Alabama Road in Pike County, which is now part of Lamar County. According to a story that has been repeated locally for many years, Lafayette spent the night of March 19, 1825, at the Gachet home. In 1954, a Georgia Historical Marker was erected at the site of the supposed visit of General Lafayette, at the request of the Lamar-Lafayette Chapter N.S.D.A.R. We now know that a visit to this location is not documented in records of his travels. The house still stands and is occupied today.