New England Society Event

1805

The New England Society is founded on May 6. James Watson, successful merchant and U.S. Senator, is elected first NES President.

First Annual Dinner was held on December 21 at the City Hotel on Broadway with 154 members in attendance; 18 toasts were made.

1806

A Charity Committee is established at the November 14 Board Meeting, and 50 loads of oak firewood are ordered for the “suffering poor from New England”.

1812

On December 22, NES hosts its Annual Dinner. After 18 toasts were made, guests U.S. Naval Officers, Commander Stephen Decatur, Jr. and Captain Isaac Hull, both War of 1812 heroes, retired early. An additional 23 toasts were enjoyed.

1816

Annual Dues: $2.50 with a $5 initiation fee; Life Membership category established at $50.

1817

First annuity of $50 was paid to the widow of Captain Sherry

1832

Daniel Webster, statesman and orator, speaks for the first time at the Annual Dinner. There is no record of this address, but those of 1843 and 1850 are preserved.

1835

NES Treasury contains $11,301.94.

1843

Members travel to Boston by steamboat and train to take part in the June 17 dedication of the Bunker Hill Monument.

1858

William M. Evarts, founder and president of the New York Bar Association, Secretary of State and U.S. Senator, is elected 11th NES President.

1868

Bust of Daniel Webster by sculptor Thomas Ball was presented to NES by William H. Aspinwall, Esq. Now on loan to Dartmouth College, this bust was the basis for Ball’s statue of Webster located near the West 72nd Street entrance to Central Park.

1870

Essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers his last public address at the New England Society's 65th Annual Dinner.

1872

First NES reception with Ladies was organized on February 6th at Delmonico’s with 400 people. Tickets: $4 for gentlemen and $3 for ladies. The event netted a $281.15 profit and all agreed to hold it annually.

1875

President Ulysses S. Grant and General William Tecumseh Sherman attend the 70th Annual Dinner. The New York Times provides lengthy coverage of the event.

1876

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) is a guest and speaker at the Society’s 71st Annual Dinner. He delivers a speech The Weather of New England.

1880

Ulysses S. Grant, victorious commander of the Union Army and U.S. President (1869-1877), speaks at the 1880 Annual Dinner.

1885

June 6 is the unveiling ceremony of the Pilgrim Statue by sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward, a gift to New York from NES erected at the East 72nd Street entrance to Central Park.

1889

J. P. Morgan, noted financier, book collector and philanthropist, is elected 26th NES President.

1907

NES Treasury contains $150,000.

1920

NES donates $50,000 to build a fireproof portico for Pilgrim Hall Museum (U.S. Register of Historic Places) in Plymouth, MA. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest public museum in the country.

1927

NES appropriates $5,000 for the relief of sufferers from the Vermont floods.

1933

NES helps fund a replica of the Aptucxet Trading Post in Bourne, MA on Cape Cod. The post (est. 1627) encouraged trade with Pilgrims and Native Americans.

1945

NES launches the College Students’ Loaning Fund to provide emergency loans to New England college and university students. The Fund runs through 1990.

1952

NES establishes the Reginald T. Townsend Award to recognize outstanding achievement and the finest attributes of the New England character.

1953

The NES Scholarship Program is launched to fund New York City students attending New England colleges and universities.

1963

The Annual Dinner scheduled for November 25 is postponed due to the death of NES Member President John F. Kennedy.

1985

Rededication Ceremony for the 100th anniversary of the Pilgrim Statue in Central Park.

2005

NES celebrates its 200th Anniversary, and receives citations from Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

2011

The New England Society Book Awards are launched to recognize books that honor New England culture.