09/13/2026
Revolutionary history continues to be made in Warwick.
Today, we held a ceremony in the Warwick Cemetery recognizing John Cowdry's remarkable service during the Revolutionary War and his even more remarkable contribution during the Boston Tea Party. Take a moment to read the release below from the National "Revolution 250" where they have sought out every single member of the Boston Tea Party which led them to our own backyard!
NEW YORK MAN (SIXTH) TO BE HONORED FOR TAKING PART IN THE BOSTON TEA PARTY IN
AMERICA’S 250TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR IN WARWICK, NY
FIRST TIME Boston Tea Party Participant NY Patriot John Cowdrey to be Recognized with Commemorative Grave Marker
120+ Commemorative Markers Placed at Graves of Known Boston Tea Party Participants to Date, an Initiative Led by Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. Sixth New York Patriot to be Honored.
Plus, Two New York State Residents Members of the Boston Tea Party Descendants® Program from Ticonderoga & South Wales, NY
WHAT/WHO:
During this, America’s 250th anniversary, year, members of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, dedicated to accurately reliving and representing a key time in history (1773-1775) through actors, tea throwing reenactments, high-tech interactive exhibits, and authentic replica ships; in partnership with Revolution 250, a coalition of organizations collaborating to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the historic events leading up to and during the American Revolution, and town of Warwick, NY, will honor Boston Tea Party participant John Cowdrey, the sixth known New York man to have taken part in that pivotal moment in American history at the historic Warwick Cemetery on Sunday, September 13, 2026. John Cowdrey’s participation in the historic Boston Tea Party has largely gone unmarked in New York, until today.
About Boston Tea Party Participant John Cowdrey
John Cowdrey was born in Hartford, CT, on November 5, 1757. His family moved to Boston, MA, when he was a child and stayed there until 1775. At age sixteen, Cowdrey participated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773.
Cowdrey's revolutionary fervor was great, and he went on to serve a long and distinguished military career in the Revolutionary War. He enlisted from Boston in early 1775 as drum major. By age seventeen, Cowdrey had been captured by the British after the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775. Released ten days later, he went on to fight at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17. Cowdrey's regiment was ordered to New York, landing on April 5, 1776, where he served in the artillery at White Plains. Attached to General Henry Knox's regiment, Cowdrey evacuated New York for New Jersey, then traveled with the fleet up the North River back to White Plains before being sent to Hartford, CT, for more troops, where he fell ill and remained until the army moved again to New Jersey.
Under General Benedict Arnold, Cowdrey fought at Stillwater, NY in September/October 1777. Wounded the Battle of Freeman's Farm (in Stillwater) on Sept. 19, 1777, he was hospitalized in Albany, NY. In April 1778 he was sent to Hartford, CT, to recover. He went on to serve in the Rhode Island Expedition before being captured and confined in New York in 1779, where he remained a prisoner for nine months. After his release in a prisoner exchange, he enlisted as an Officer of the Marines aboard the brig Trumbull, which ran aground on southern Long Island after being pursued by the British. He went on to help lay out the Artillery Laboratory in Springfield, NY, in the winter of 1780, then spent the rest of that season at West Point. In early 1781, he marched to Verplanck's Point, NY, spending the summer there, and passed the winter of 1782 at Snake Hill, NY until the Continental Army was formally disbanded in 1783.
Cowdrey's post-Revolutionary career included an appointment as Captain of the State Prison Guard of New York City in February 1812, a post he held for a dozen years. He filed a pension claim based on his years of Revolutionary War service and was ultimately granted $400 a year beginning March 4, 1831. In 1832, John was placed on the pension roll of New York for serving two years as Lieutenant of the Massachusetts Militia. He had also married Christina Thompson and had five children.
John Cowdrey died in New York City on January 27, 1835, and is buried in Warwick Cemetery in Warwick, NY
