As long as the British troops occupied Boston and Charlestown, Joseph Warren’s mother, Mary, and his brothers, Sam, Eben, and Jack, were unable to retrieve his remains from Breed’s Hill. It would be almost a year before the British evacuated. Joseph died without a will, therefore, during this darkest period of grief his loved ones took care of the immediate needs of Joseph and his wife Elizabeth’s four orphans, …
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Jul 2026
JACK WARREN WAS THE YOUNGEST OF THE FOUR WARREN BROTHERS – THE SONS OF JOSEPH WARREN SR. AND MARY (STEVENS) WARREN. Joseph Sr. died instantly from a fall while picking apples in the family’s orchard in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Jack, only two-years-old, witnessed his father’s death. The shock of this tragedy can hardly be imagined Joseph, Mary’s eldest son, had just begun his freshman year at Harvard. He was fourteen …
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Jun 2026
On June 16, 1775, Warren was president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, chairman of the Committee of Safety, and awaiting his commission as major-general of the Massachusetts forces (which could only happen after a new president was seated in congress). His concerns were vast and colossal – how to feed, cloth, house, and supply the tens of thousands of men that turned out to face the British in battle …
What was he able to accomplish by staying? British General Thomas Gage was instructed to arrest Warren – why didn’t he? I’m not aware of any historians who have seriously considered these questions. I have co-authored an article, soon to be published, that addresses these questions – and will offer concise, historically documented answers. Warren’s unique ability to remain safely in Boston was his carefully strategized rise to the …
Joseph Warren was able to take on risks no other Patriot leader could due to his prominent Masonic position of Most Worshipful Grand Master of North America. His name and position were known throughout the colonies. This position offered him respect and protection from fellow colonists and British officers alike. As mentioned in my previous post, when Boston Patriot leaders feared taking on a necessary secret mission to England, …
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May 2026
In my last post I presented the probability that members from St. Andrew’s Masonic Lodge participated in the destruction of the tea on Dec. 16, 1773. Both Joseph Warren and Paul Revere were prominent members of this lodge. Warren had also been appointed the Most Worshipful Grand Master of North America, offering him prominence in Freemasonry throughout the colonies and amongst British Officers who were Masons. Though he and …
Nathaniel Philbrick is heralded as an expert on the American Revolution. He’s a New York Times bestseller, interviewed by the Smithsonian Magazine, the keynote speaker at major events of prestigious historical societies. and will be interviewed in the upcoming Ken Burn’s documentary. Yet, Nathaniel Philbrick created libelous fictitious narrative about Dr. Joseph Warren in his book Bunker Hill. Given the present national attention to the Jeffrey Epstein pedophile ring, …
Early scholars carefully laid the foundation in their presentation of Joseph Warren’s life by adhering to the available historical record, except in their brief references to Warren being betrothed to a woman named Mercy Scollay. The earliest references to this betrothment cited no documentation. Biographer John Cary expanded the narrative a bit using a letter Scollay wrote to John Hancock as his citation, even though there is no reference …
Many ask, “Why did Joseph Warren risk his life by participating in this battle?” His friends and colleagues implored him not to go. His commission as major general of the Massachusetts forces was not official. “You are needed in council” they protested. His response to such protests: “Dulce et decorum est pro patris mori,” (“It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country,”) Was his determination to participate …
In 1768, 1,200 British troops occupied Boston to quell the protests of the townspeople against arbitrary taxation – a standing army in time of peace was contrary to the accepted rights of Englishmen. The soldiers, seeking extra money to supplement their army pay by moonlighting, competed with the townsmen for jobs. (They also competed for the attention of Boston’s maidens.) Tension was in the air. Townspeople suffered abuse at …