George Richards
George Richards was an American poet and preacher, likely born in Rhode Island in the late 1750s or 1760s. His early life remains largely undocumented, but he showed an aptitude for composing verse from a young age. Following the Revolutionary War, he relocated to Boston, where he worked as a teacher and became affiliated with the Universalist Church, often preaching and contributing poetry to local publications. Richards's work was significantly influenced by the revolutionary spirit of his time, leading him to create a satirical poem about Boston's political landscape and a series of poetic histories related to the Revolutionary War. Notably, his long poem "The Declaration of Independence" highlighted the names of all signatories of the document. Later, he served as a preacher in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he developed an interest in Freemasonry and produced several patriotic works, including an ode to George Washington. In 1811, he moved to Philadelphia, where he edited the Free-Mason's Magazine and published his final work, which called for moral reflection after a tragic theater fire. Richards passed away in Philadelphia around March 1, 1814, leaving behind a body of work that, while not considered great literature, provides insight into the sentiments and aesthetics of early post-Revolutionary America.
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George Richards
Poet
- Born: c. 1760
- Birthplace: Rhode Island
- Died: c. March, 1, 1814
- Place of death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Biography
George Richards was probably born in Rhode Island in the late 1750’s or 1760’s. Nothing is known of his childhood, other than he learned to compose verse at a young age. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts, sometime after the end of the Revolutionary War and worked as a teacher. The revolution apparently influenced his poetic sensibilities, and Richards would return to the period as a source of inspiration for his work.
By 1785, Richards’s name was associated with the Universalist Church of Boston, where he apparently preached on occasion. He also was contributing poetry to local newspapers and magazines. In 1789, Richards produced a satire of the Boston political scene, The Political Passing Bell: An Elegy, Written in a Country Meeting House, April, 1789. Both the title and the style of the poem suggest more than a passing knowledge of the work of the English poet, Thomas Gray.
Richards next turned to a history of the Revolutionary War in verse. From 1789 through 1792, portions of “The Zenith of Glory” were serialized in a number of local publications. In July, 1793, Richards introduced his long poem, The Declaration of Independence: A Poem . . . at a public reading. The poem is notable because it cites the names of all of the people who signed the declaration.
From 1793 through 1808, Richards was the preacher of the Universalist Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. During this time, he developed a growing interest in freemasonry. He contributed to an 1804 edition of Illustrations of Masonry, written by William Preston. In addition, Richards continued to compose many patriotic poems and songs, many dedicated to George Washington. Perhaps the most notable of these was “An Historical Discourse on the Death of General George Washington,” which was included in an anthology of hymns and odes to Washington that was published in Portsmouth in 1800.
In 1811, Richards moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he founded and edited the Free-Mason’s Magazine and General Repository, a position he held for about a year. His last published work, Repent! Repent! Or Likewise Perish! The Spirit of an Evening Lecture, February 16, 1812 . . . , was dedicated to the citizens of Philadelphia. This work, apparently precipitated by a theater fire that killed many playgoers, is an exhortation to the citizenry to change its ways. Richards died in Philadelphia on or about March 1, 1814.
Richards was by no means a great poet. Nevertheless, his work reveals a particular kind of evangelical and patriotic fervor popular in the day in which he lived. Consequently, his writing has historical value because it reveals both popular sentiment and aesthetics in the years following the Revolutionary War.