WORCESTER, Mass. - To celebrate the 200th anniversary of General Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Worcester, the "American Friends of Lafayette" honored his 1824 visit.

Lafayette was a French nobleman who at the age of 19 bought a ship and sailed to America to volunteer in the Continental Army under General George Washington in 1777.

Nearly 50 years later, as part of his farewell tour of the United States, he traveled 6,000 miles to visit the country, which consisted of 24 states at the time, to celebrate the fruits of his labor.

On Sept. 3, 1824, he was welcomed by the citizens of Worcester.

“I guess the best way to say what his values would be were he was a staunch liberal,” said Marquis de Lafayette reenactor, Michael Halbert. “He was an ardent champion of democracy. He was a feminist. He was also an extremely ardent abolitionist in terms of not only the end of slavery itself, but the slave trade in North America to include the British and French possessions in the Caribbean.

Earlier this year, Worcester unveiled a historic marker on Lincoln Street commemorating the 200th anniversary of Lafayette’s tour of the United States.