The Washington Society (of Boston) originated in 1805 when some of the city’s Republicans formed the Young Republicans of Boston, a group determined to celebrate the anniversary of American independence with a commemorative oration designed to counterbalance the Fourth of July orations offered by Federalists “who merely used the name of liberty to deride its qualities and to excite jealousies and animosities between different sections of our happy land.” In 1811 the organization changed its name to the Washington Society, whose “prime object” was to “encourage, disseminate and support such sentiments as are contained in that correct standard of American political principles, ‘Washington’s Farewell Address to the people of the United States.’” At the Washington Society’s 4 July 1816 celebration at Dow’s Hotel, the ninth of eighteen toasts honored TJ: “His character is the boast of philanthropy, his talents the delight of philosophy, and his name the pride of America.” Members of the group regularly offered similar toasts to TJ at its Independence Day events (Historical View, esp. iii–iv, 5, 45–7, 91; Boston Patriot, 13 July 1811).

The revered name was that of George Washington.