(GEORGE WASHINGTON.) Odes to be Sung at the Celebration of Washington's Birth-Day, by the Washington Benevolent Society of the County of Hampden, at Westfield. Letterpress broadside, 11¾ x 7½ inches; some separations at folds, worn without loss of text. No place, 1816 Contains two untitled, uncredited, but apparently original poems in honor of the late president. "Ode I" begins "When the Almighty's behest / In these climes of the west / Bade empire be / From the treasures of Heav'n / Was our Washington giv'n / And tyrant pow'r was driven / By liberty." "Ode II" begins "While free-born millions swell the song / To hail this joyful day." The second ode was apparently composed by the Rev. Charles Jenkins; it was later published as the closing words of a memorial sketch of Jenkins published in 1833 by D.C. Colesworthy, who asserted that it was "written for the anniversary of Washington's birth-day, and sung on the occasion."
No other examples traced in OCLC or at auction. Brown University holds a similar broadside for the organization's 1813 celebration in Springfield, MA, with different odes.