Warren Township bears the name of one of the true heroes of the American Revolution, Boston's Joseph Warren. A fiery patriot, ever firm in the cause of liberty, Warren is remembered, in the words of Daniel Webster, as "the first great martyr to this great cause." His tragic death of the Battle of Bunker Hill at age 34 enshrined his memory in the American pantheon. When Somerset County's newest township was formed in l806, its citizens chose a name that would honor America's first national hero. Born on a Roxbury, Massachusetts, farm in 1741, Warren was the oldest of four sons. His father, a selectman and wealthy farmer who was the developer of the Warren or Russet apple, died when Joseph was 14. His mother, Mary, a woman of piety, independent mind and strong character, encouraged her son to continue his education. He graduated Harvard College at 18, taught school for a year, then studied medicine under Dr. James Lloyd, a noted Boston physician. In 1764 he married Elizabeth Hooton, who brought him a comfortable fortune. Warren was a handsome, broad-shouldered man, tall, blond and blue-eyed. He was well-spoken, obviously intelligent and deeply committed to his patients, who ranged from the very poor (he was the Almshouse physician) to merchants, mechanics and artisans such as William Dawes and Paul Revere who formed Boston's most influential class. A pioneer in American medicine, Warren virtually founded medical education in Massachusetts as he systematically trained other doctors, including his youngest brother, John. At a time when the state of the medical arts in America was woefully inadequate, Warren called for the licensing of doctors and later argued that such licenses be granted only after examination. In 1764 a devastating smallpox epidemic hit Boston. Warren along with Lloyd and others worked around the clock at the hospital in Castle William. His knowledge and skill during this eight-month ordeal earned him a flourishing medical practice. Equally important it gained him the friendship of a man he had inoculated...John Adams. His friendship with Adams was to change Warren's life. Ever after he was at the center of political action, often neglecting his professional career. His high personal character and his vision of the future glory of his country made Warren an effective statesman and political leader. His eloquent speeches and forceful writing was to sway the thoughts of patriots and cause havoc among the British leaders in the Boston area. One out aged Englishman called him the "greatest incendiary in America." An organizer of the Sons of Liberty, Warren went on to found the Mechanics Caucus, a group of men pledged to protest British tyranny with action, and it is believed that he along with Sam Adams encouraged the confrontation that resulted in the Boston Massacre. It is almost a certainty that the doctor was a leader of the Boston Tea Party, donning warpaint to make an important political statement. The British authorities had more than enough evidence to hang him for treason, but his great popularity saved him from the noose. In 1773 personal tragedy struck when his wife, Elizabeth, still in her twenties, died. With American freedom in the balance there was little time for grief. Warren took his four small children to his mother's farm at Roxbury and quickly returned to Boston where he plunged even deeper into politics. Warren's speeches and numerous letters were published throughout the colonies, gaining him a wide reputation for the excellence of his thinking. He was a fiery radical who would write to Sam Adams: "The mistress we court is Liberty; and it is better to die than not to obtain her." In l775, with Sam Adams, John Adams and John Hancock attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Joseph Warren was easily the most influential person in Massachusetts. It was during this period that he drafted the vitally important "Suffolk "Resolves." His first public office was the presidency of the "illegal" Massachusetts Provincial Congress which by the end of 1774 had all but replaced a royal government too weak to exert its authority. Warren worked by persuassion, of which he was a master, slowly convincing the patriots that war with England was the surest road to liberty. As March 1775 became April, Warren was the only leader to remain in Boston to monitor British actions and direct patriot policy. When news came of the pending British march to Lexington and Concord, Warren made the decision to dispatch Revere and Dawes to warn the colonists, and then himself fled to the countryside, only narrowly escaping capture. In his sixty days of service to Massachusetts between April 17, and June 17, l775, Dr. Warren had unlimited power and influence, but he stayed loyal to his principle of a democratic nation. In May he wrote Sam Adams, "I would have such a government as should give every man the greatest liberty to do what he pleases consistent with restraining him from doing injury to another...." These two months were packed with decision-making days and nights for Warren. He called on Congress to authorize a government, he struggled to form the minutemen into an army, get them equipped and adopted as a national army, and through it all he lived by his fiery motto, "no business but war." After authorizing the construction of fortifications at Bunker Hill, Warren rode to Roxbury to visit his mother and children. It was to be the last time they were to see him alive. At noon, June 17, 1775, Warren arrived at Bunker Hill dressed in his finest clothing. His blue waistcoat, white ruffled shirt and white satin breeches were his single extravagance. Although commissioned as a major-general, Warren rejected an offer to command the American troops and fought instead as a volunteer private. He was among the thousands of frightened citizen-soldiers who held their fire until they saw "the whites of their eyes," then repulsed the British regulars twice. His bravery inspired the raw militia until the last round of ammunition had been fired, and then with a handful of other men he stood the ground fighting at times with bare hands to cover the American retreat. As he turned to rally the colonists, a musketball struck him behind the right ear. He died as he had hoped, "knee-deep in British blood." Warren's death was a shock, for few thought of him as a soldier, but rather as a statesman and doctor. For 15 years he had been a much admired leader of the patriot cause and his death was keely felt. "America must and will be free," he once wrote. "The contest may be severe, the end will be glorious." His personal tragedy was to died before his cause was won; he was, as one historian put it, the midwife to the country whose birth he did not live to see. John Trumbull's famous painting, "The Battle of Bunker Hill," depicts the moment of Warren's death. Young America remembered the heroes of her revolution by bestowing their names on towns and villages still only wilderness when independence was won. Washington gave his name to innumerable counties, cities, towns, lakes, rivers and mountains. A close second in popularity was Dr. Joseph Warren. According to research by George Bebbington, some 14 states have counties bearing the name Warren. Here in New Jersey, Warren County was named in honor of the general when it was created in l824, a year before the 50th anniversary of his death. All told, ten localities in New Jersey ranging from Warren Point in Bergen County to Warren Grove in Ocean are named after this hero of the American Revolution. |