Ammon Meshach Tenney (November 16, 1844 – October 28, 1925) was an American

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New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

and

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, who taught the message of

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(LDS Church) to peoples of the Zuni and the Isleta Pueblos, baptizing hundreds. He also was the first

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of the Mexican Mission after it was reorganized in 1901.

Biography

Tenney was born in 1844 in

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. He came to Utah in 1848 and later moved with his parents to San Bernardino County, California. It was in San Bernardino that Tenney first learned Spanish. In 1858 the Tenneys moved to Utah, settling in Grafton, Utah in 1859. Starting about this time Tenney worked closely with Jacob Hamblin in missionary work among the

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, Kaibab and other Native American groups. In 1876 Tenney was among the first seven LDS missionaries called to go to Mexico. In 1879 Tenney bought the land rights for

St. Johns, Arizona Saint Johns ( nv, , )Wilson, A. ''Navajo Place Names'' Audio Forum 1995 is the county seat of Apache County, Arizona, United States. It is located along U.S. Route 180, mostly west of where that highway intersects with U.S. Route 191. As of t ...

from the Barth brothers and began the Mormon settlement of that city. In 1887–1889 Tenney again served in the Mexican Mission, this time heading missionary efforts in Northern Mexico. Tenney started with a group of four other elders. However the first on this mission went to the vicinity of

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and

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Encarnacion Valenzuela, a Papago who had been a member of the LDS Church for some years. This rebaptism was to symbolize Valenzuela's new commitment as a missionary and not due to any lack of current standing in the church on his part. Valenzuela and Cheroquis, another Papago Latter-day Saint, who had been sealed to his wife in the

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by Wilford Woodruff joined Tenney and his associates. Then went south preaching to the

Pima Pima or PIMA may refer to: People * Pima people, the Akimel O'odham, Indigenous peoples in Arizona (U.S.) and Sonora (Mexico) Places * Pima, Arizona, a town in Graham County * Pima County, Arizona * Pima Canyon, in the Santa Catalina Mountains ...

in Arizona and the Yaquis in Mexico. To do baptisms Tenney, Valenzuela and their associates dug holes that filled with well water. Among those Tenney baptized when he presided over the newly reopened Mexican mission starting in 1901 was Fidencia Garcia de Rojas, then age 18, who was still alive to see the organization of the hundredth LDS stake in Mexico in 1989. In 1901, Tenney also baptized Margarito Bautista, and after his baptism Bautista helped Tenney proselytize in Mexico. Bautista went on to become a notable preacher and missionary in his own right and later a leader in the Third Convention movement.

Notes

References

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Online reprint
by

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). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tenney, Ammon M. 1844 births 1925 deaths 19th-century Mormon missionaries 20th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in Mexico Mission presidents (LDS Church) American Mormon missionaries in the United States Mormon pioneers People from Lee County, Iowa American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Latter Day Saints from Iowa Latter Day Saints from California Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from Arizona Latter Day Saints from New Mexico