Grave of Marquis De Lafayette

The Marquis de Lafayette rests here in a quiet, private corner of Paris, beneath soil he brought back from the United States. During his final visit to America in eighteen twenty-five, he collected earth from the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill. He had originally hoped to gather soil from every state he visited, but a steamship accident on the Ohio River lost his earlier collection, making the Massachusetts dirt his final choice for his burial. His son fulfilled his wish by spreading this American earth over his remains after he passed away in eighteen thirty-four.