From its earliest years, Handel and Haydn participated in music festivals and civic celebrations to commemorate significant historical events. For the visit of President James Monroe in 1817, the H+H orchestra performed a march composed for the occasion by their concertmaster, followed by almost two dozen arias and choruses. In 1826, H+H joined the services in Faneuil Hall marking the deaths of President Adams and Jefferson. In 1830 it helped mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of Boston, and it gave a concert in 1833 to help raise funds for the completion of the Bunker Hill Monument. President John Tyler attended an 1843 concert, and the society helped commemorate the death of Daniel Webster in 1852. That same year it participated in the opening of the Boston Music Hall, which later became the first home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The next year it presented the Boston Premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Its 600-member chorus participated in Boston's memorial service for Abraham Lincoln, singing "Mourn, ye afflicted people" from Handel's "Judas Maccabaeus" and "Cast thy burden upon the Lord" from Mendelssohn's "Elijah". It marked the centennial of Beethoven's birth by performing selections from his Ninth Symphony in 1870. When Boston paid tribute to Admiral George Dewey upon his return from the Spanish–American War in 1899, 280 H+H singers greeted his arrival at City Hall with "See the Conquering Hero Comes" from "Judas Maccabaeus". It performed for Grand Duke Alexis of Russia and Queen Elizabeth II. In addition, the society held benefit concerts for the Union Army, victims of the Chicago fire of 1871, and Russian Jewish refugees displaced by the 1882 May Laws.