This bed frame was purchased at auction in the 1930s for the Rockwood Estate of Wilmington by Edward Bringhurst V. According to family tradition, this item was advertised in the auction as the “La Fayette Bed” with a story that the Marquis de La Fayette slept in it during his last trip to the United States in 1824–25. Bringhurst was queer and instead of marrying he devoted his time to studying history and amassing a collection of important objects from America’s historic past. However, in this case his pursuit of the Colonial Revival allure was mistaken; the bed was built quite a few years after La Fayette’s visit.