JOHN PARKE was born in Delaware about 1750. At the commencement of
the Revolution he entered the American Army and was attached to
Washington's Division. After the war he was for some time in
Philadelphia, and was last heard of in Arundel County, Va. A number
of the pieces in his book are dated at camp in the neighborhood of
Boston, at Valley Forge and other places.
VIRGINIA. A Pastoral Drama, on the Birth Day of an Illustrious
Personage and the Return of Peace, February 11, 1784 [4 lines of
poetry in Latin].
Published in a volume of poems entitled _The Lyric Works of
Horace_, etc. Printed by Eleazer Oswald, at the Coffee-House,
1786.
Another edition. Philadelphia: Eleazer Baldwin. 8vo, pp. 14, 1789.
This is probably the first attempt to celebrate Washington's
Birthday.