Boston Seaman's Friend Society

It contains, among other rooms, seventy-two dormitories for the use of the boarders, and a large and spacious reading-room, which is furnished with a library, the newspapers, and periodicals of the day.

"[3] In 1841: "the Mariner's Church has now about 150 members, more than half of them males, two-thirds of whom were once living in all the wretchedness and vice of drunken sailors.

"[5] In 1899, the Society called a Conference of Sailors' Workers to form a committee "to promote and strengthen missions on this continent and among the islands in which we are now interested",[6] 32 years before the first formal meetings of the North American Maritime Ministry Association (NAMMA).

[10] Anniversary events commemorated the society's activities through the years, held for example at Park Street Church (1842),[11] Tremont Temple (1850-1851, 1855, 1862),[12][13][14][15] and Boston Music Hall (1853, 1856).

Its chaplains and missionaries supply relief to destitute seamen, comfort the sick in hospitals, and bury the dead.

"[18] As of 1999, "the society is now known as 'Seafarer's Friend' and its geographical reach extends to ships arriving in Portland, Maine, and Portsmouth, N.H., as well as Boston.