WARREN COUNTY, N.J. — As Warren County celebrates the 200th anniversary of its founding, officials are working to ensure residents remember the patriot for whom the county was named.
County commissioners on Wednesday unveiled a portrait of Dr. Joseph Warren at the start of their session, noting that the framed artwork hanging in the Wayne Dumont Jr. Administration Building will help raise the Revolutionary War hero’s profile.
“We are excited that as part of our county’s Bicentennial Year we are helping today’s residents and those of the future to remember this important patriot, our county’s namesake, Dr. Joseph Warren,” Commissioner Lori Ciesla said.
Commissioner Director Jason Sarnoski recognized former Freeholder Rick Gardner for his work with the county Bicentennial, Cultural and Heritage Advisory Board, which helps organize bicentennial events.
The portrait dedication comes as the county’s bicentennial leads into the nation’s semiquincentennial next year, Commissioner James R. Kern III said.
Warren is “such an important figure not only to our county but to our country,” Kern said, adding, “There’s not a lot of discussion about him, because, I think, he died so early in the war he kind of gets overlooked by other heroes.”
Born in Roxbury, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1741, Warren was a physician who rose as a leader of the patriot movement. He sent Paul Revere and William Dawes on their midnight rides in April 1775 and fought at the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Weeks later, he was commissioned a major general but chose to fight on the front lines at the Battle of Bunker Hill, where he was killed June 17, 1775, six days after his 34th birthday.
Though he never set foot in northwest New Jersey, Warren’s memory was strong when county founders split from Sussex County in 1825. Today, 14 U.S. counties and 30 townships bear his name.
With attention building toward America’s 250th birthday, Warren has received renewed recognition through recent biographies, including Founding Martyr (2018) by Christian Di Spigna, Liberty’s Martyr (2025) by Janet Uhlar and Dr. Joseph Warren: The Forgotten Founding Father (2025) by David M. Arnold.
The portrait was created by Belvidere artist Jeff Echevarria, who works in charcoal, graphite powder and Panpastels. His work now hangs alongside portraits of former state Sen. Wayne Dumont Jr. and former Gov. Robert Meyner.
“The portrait came out amazing, and I’m so glad that we were able to get a local artist to do this,” Ciesla said.
