John Warren (July 27, 1753 – April 4, 1815) was a

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

surgeon during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, founder of the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

and the younger brother of Dr. Joseph Warren.

Early life

Warren was born in

Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for ne ...

, and studied at

The Roxbury Latin School The Roxbury Latin School (informally known as RL) is a private, College-preparatory school, college-preparatory, all-boys day school located in West Roxbury, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1645 by Puritans, Puritan missionary John Eli ...

after which he proceeded to

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

where he graduated in 1771. He studied medicine under his elder brother Joseph, later becoming a renowned doctor in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Military activities

Warren joined Colonel Pickering's Regiment in 1773 as an army surgeon. On June 17, 1775, he was in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

tending to the wounded coming in from the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Boston, Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peri ...

Breed's Hill The Bunker Hill Monument is a monument erected at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Massachusetts, which was among the first major battles between the United Colonies and the British Empire in the American Revolutionary War. The ...

over four miles away. Worried about his brother Joseph, who had joined the fighting and died, Warren went to search for him after the battle was over. A British sentry told John he could not pass and then

bayonet A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...

ed him as a warning, forcing the depressed Warren to go back to Cambridge. After his brother's death, Warren volunteered for service and was made a senior surgeon at the hospital in Cambridge. He became surgeon of the general hospital on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

in 1776 during General Washington's defense there. He also served at the

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, crossing of the ...

and the

Battle of Princeton The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the comma ...

. Warren returned to Boston in 1777 to continue his medical practice while still serving as a military surgeon in the army hospital there.

Civilian practice

Warren became very successful in the years after the war, performing one of the first abdominal operations in America. In 1780 he began teaching a course on dissections and founded

in 1782. He was also one of the founders of the

Massachusetts Medical Society The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization t ...

in 1781 and the Boston Medical Society in 1780. He was known as an excellent teacher, giving "eloquent" lectures. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1781.

Later life

While Warren had suffered from heart disease for many years, he died on April 4, 1815, from inflammation of the lungs at age 61. He was buried in the former crypt of the St. Paul's Church in

. When church and family crypts were cleared by order of the town for public health reasons, later in the 1800s, his buried remains were removed to

Forest Hills Cemetery Forest Hills Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery, greenspace, arboretum, and sculpture garden in the Forest Hills section of Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The cemetery was established in 1848 as a pu ...

. Plaques in the church still commemorate him, and other members of his family.

Personal

Dr. Warren was raised in a

Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

home; some members of his family, including his son

John Collins Warren John Warren may refer to: Entertainment * John F. Warren (1909–2000), American cinematographer * John Warren (actor) (1916–1977), British screenwriter and actor * John Warren (musician) (born 1938), Canadian baritone saxophonist and compos ...

, later became associated with the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church. He was given to bouts of depression, perhaps as a result of his

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

, to the extent that he lost the will to live to an old age. He was said to be generous and charitable. Warren was of middle height, and carried himself with a military bearing of a gentleman, but with an agreeable nature. Warren was married to Abigail Collins, the daughter of

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

Governor John Collins. His son, Dr. John Collins Warren succeeded him as professor of surgery and anatomy. His brother, Joseph, was a character in Esther Forbes' 1943 novel '' Johnny Tremain'' although it is possible that the character could easily have been based on John himself. Both he and his brother were army surgeons in the early revolutionary war. His brother was joined in the fighting at the Battle at Bunker Hill while he mended the wounded from the battle in Cambridge. Both Joseph and John Warren were active

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. John served as Grand Master of the Massachusetts Grand Lodge (Antients) for two non-consecutive terms, 1783–84 and 1787-88. He was reelected in 1788, but declined the honor. John was present in 1792 when the Massachusetts Grand Lodge and St. John's Grand Lodge (Moderns) united to form the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, and installed John Cutler as the first Grand Master of the united Grand Lodge. John Warren Lodge in Hopkinton is named after him.

References

* James Jackson, ''Life'', (Boston, 1915)

Sources

John Warren Biography (1753–1815)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, John 1753 births 1815 deaths American surgeons Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Harvard Medical School faculty Harvard College alumni People from colonial Boston People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution Physicians in the American Revolution 18th-century American physicians People from Roxbury, Boston Roxbury Latin School alumni