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By Frank and Gloria Womble, research by Marion J. Watson

This article is the third in a series of three based on an undated booklet published by the Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society. For details of the 2025 celebration of Lafayette’s visit to Somerton on Wednesday, February 26, from 11:00 to 12:00, please see Suffolkva250.com.

On the morning of February 26, Lafayette was joined by the Board of Trustees of Suffolk and the Committee of Arrangements for breakfast. At nine-thirty that morning, Lafayette left Suffolk with his entourage on Thompson’s stage for Murfreesboro, North Carolina. He was accompanied by four or five carriages and gigs filled with Suffolk citizens, escorting him to meet the North Carolina delegation at Somerton.

Murfreesboro, like Suffolk, had not been given much time to prepare for Lafayette’s visit. Thomas Wood Borland, M.D., a former resident of Suffolk and a scholar in Greek and Roman classics, was chairman of the Murfreesboro arrangements committee. The escort sent from Murfreesboro met Lafayette’s part a mile or so north of the present community of Whaleyville. The entire group retired to Washington Smith’s Ordinary in Somerton for dinner. After arriving in Somerton, the North Carolina delegation was formally introduced to Lafayette and his party. At two o’clock in the afternoon, they were served dinner by Washington Smith. Smith was noted for his fine food and drink in that part of Nansemond County.

By three o’clock, dinner was over and everyone took their leave. Although the Suffolk delegation had delivered their prized visitor, many of Suffolk’s citizens were asked and decided to accompany them to North Carolina. Mills Riddick, Dr. William Shepherd, Dr. John Murdaugh and others of Suffolk continued the journey.

Thus ended Lafayette’s brief but glorious visit to Suffolk and Nansemond County. Over the years there have been many forms of honoring the visit of the Frenchman who became “our Nation’s Guest”. People named their children Lafayette (Washington Lafayette Riddick, Richard Lafayette Woodward, Lafayette Bradshaw). There was even a hotel named Lafayette in Suffolk which was run by Henry Riddick.

Unfortunately for Suffolk, on June 3, 1837, fire destroyed the courthouse, Castle Inn and the Holladay Hotel on Main Street. Today, only Washington Smith’s Ordinary remains to remind us of the visit of the last surviving major general of the American Revolution.

At that time, the ordinary had two stories, a cellar and an attic. There were two first floor rooms and a large hall. The second floor had two large bedrooms for overnight guests. The guests could walk out onto a small upstairs porch over the first floor entrance porch. The same style porch was on the east side of the inn. The dinner was held in the basement, which boasted a large dining room and a bar room. The house is currently owned by the Arthur family.

The researcher of the original booklet was Marion J. Watson, (1928-1996), daughter of Dr. Richard Joyner. She was a founding member of the Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society (SNHS). Ms. Watson’s work included extensive historical research of the Suffolk and Nansemond County area, numerous publications available through SNHS, including the original edition of these three articles. An archive that continues to grow and develop as an important resource for the community that she loved.

The American Friends of Lafayette is partnering with Suffolk 250, the Constantia Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Riddick’s Folly, Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, and the Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society to commemorate the Bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour.