Trunk, 1770-1815. Loaned by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, GL2004.2055. Photograph by David Bohl.
This leather and wood trunk decorated with brass studs is thought to have belonged to Dr. John Warren (1753-1815) of Massachusetts. Its side handles and manageable size (11-7/8” x 13-1/2” x 24-1/2") made it both portable and practical. Through the service of its dynamic owner, this trunk may have seen military action during the American Revolutionary War.
Born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, Dr. John Warren was the younger brother of Dr. Joseph Warren, whose death at the Battle of Bunker Hill made him a martyr to the Patriot cause. John Warren studied medicine at Harvard, graduating in 1771. He became a surgeon with a militia regiment commanded by Colonel Timothy Pickering in 1772 and in that capacity, responded to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775.
In 1775, Warren was practicing medicine in Salem, Massachusetts. He traveled with his regiment to the various battles in which he was involved. Like many Massachusetts militia members who were called out for the Lexington Alarm, Warren remained in the Boston area into the month of May. Warren likely brought his own medical supplies with him when he traveled. He owned two amputation kits. Based on the dimensions of these amputation kits, both items could have been carried inside this trunk.
By June 1775, Warren had returned home to Salem and received news of the start of the Battle of Bunker Hill. He hurried down to Cambridge in the early hours of the following morning to treat wounded soldiers. At the same time, Warren fretted about his brother Joseph who had fought during the battle. At one point, Warren left the medical area in Cambridge and went to Bunker Hill to find his brother, asking any and all soldiers he encountered about Joseph’s whereabouts. One of these was a British sentry, and Warren received a bayonet wound to his side in response to his inquiry. Unfortunately, Joseph “fell on the field,” as John later wrote in his diary.
His fervor for the Patriot cause and his brother’s death motivated Warren. According to Sibley’s Harvard Graduates, “He enjoyed helping repulse the raid at Lechmere Point, and, case in hand [emphasis mine], took his post on Cobble Hill at night hoping for another Bunker Hill.” The “case” mentioned in this quote was likely a medical case, possibly this trunk. Cobble Hill was a colonist-fortified hill in Charlestown with an excellent view of Boston Harbor. Warren may have carried his medical supplies in this trunk during the early days of the Revolutionary War when the action was focused in Massachusetts.
It's also possible that Warren brought this trunk with him when the action moved away from Massachusetts. The nascent Continental Army struggled to provide uniforms, firearms, and other supplies to its soldiers. Warren’s medical tools and supplies would have been highly valued and were likely brought with him when he left for New York in May 1776, after the British evacuated from Boston.
Warren later served as Surgeon General of the army hospitals in Long Island, New York and Bethlehem, New Jersey in 1776. In the latter location, he – and possibly this trunk – saw action at the Battles of Trenton and Princeton. Warren also participated in the Rhode Island campaign in 1778, perhaps due to his 1777 marriage to Abigail Collins, the daughter of Rhode Island Governor John Collins.
Dr. John Warren was a knowledgeable and dedicated surgeon, who put his medical skills to use in service of the American cause. This trunk, both substantial enough to hold needed medical supplies and portable enough to carry into battle, is an apt symbol of his service.