To George Washington from Thomas Farrington, 23 January 1797
From Thomas Farrington
Roxbury [Mass.] 23rd Jan. 1797
Be pleased, to accept the inclosed, as a real Testimony, of a sincere, & candid Respect, & Esteem from your very Obedient Humble Servant1
Tho: Farrington
ALS, DLC:GW.
Thomas Farrington (c.1751–1807) graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard College (now Harvard University) in 1773, and was a teacher in Medford, Mass., from October to December of that year. Soon thereafter, he opened a store. During the Revolutionary War, he served in the militia. Farrington subsequently held numerous offices, including selectman, assessor, and clerk of Cambridge, Massachusetts. After eventually settling in Boston, he became secretary to St. John’s Lodge of Freemasons and later grand secretary of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. A collector of excise for Suffolk County, Mass., for several years, Farrington unsuccessfully applied to GW for a federal position in 1791 (see Farrington to GW, 29 Jan. 1791). He later resumed his career as a shopkeeper.
1. Farrington enclosed a document titled “Sentiment, Masonic,” which he originally had composed on 25 July 1792, while secretary of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts. The document reads: “When we recognize that Starr, which in ancient Times, appeared in the East, to point out a Saviour to Mankind; Let us greatfully remmember a Washington, who, in later Times, appeared in the West, & led the Armies of America, to Victory, & Glory” (DLC:GW).