Samuel Tenney (November 27, 1748 – February 6, 1816) was a
United States representative from
New Hampshire. Born in
Byfield in the
Province of Massachusetts Bay, he attended
Governor Dummer Academy
The Governor's Academy is an independent school north of Boston located on in the village of Byfield, Massachusetts, United States (town of Newbury), north of Boston. The Academy enrolls approximately 412 students in grades nine through twelv ...
and graduated from
Harvard College in 1772. He taught school at
Andover and studied medicine, beginning practice in
Exeter, New Hampshire. He was a surgeon in the
Revolutionary War. He tended the wounded patriots following the
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved in ...
then for the next year served as Surgeon's Mate alongside Massachusetts troops. For the balance of the war he was a surgeon attached primarily to the
1st Rhode Island Regiment
The 1st Rhode Island Regiment (also known as Varnum's Regiment, the 9th Continental Regiment, the Black Regiment, the Rhode Island Regiment, and Olney's Battalion) was a regiment in the Continental Army raised in Colony of Rhode Island and Pro ...
. He was present at the surrenders of
Burgoyne
Burgoyne is a surname introduced to England following the Norman conquest of 1066, which denoted someone from Burgundy (''Bourgogne'' in French). Notable people with the name include:
*Alan Burgoyne (1880–1929), British soldier, politician a ...
and
Cornwallis; encamped at
Valley Forge,
Pennsylvania, during that fierce Winter 1777/78; was designated Acting Surgeon General of the Army upon general orders of General George Washington; and then returned to Exeter at the close of the war where he took up politics and other scholarly pursuits. He was a delegate to the State
constitutional convention Constitutional convention may refer to:
* Constitutional convention (political custom), an informal and uncodified procedural agreement
*Constitutional convention (political meeting), a meeting of delegates to adopt a new constitution or revise an e ...
in 1788 and a judge of
probate
Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...
for
Rockingham County from 1793 to 1800. He was secretary of the New Hampshire Medical Society and commissioned
Paul Revere to produce the first engraving of that organization's seal. Used the pseudonym "Alfredus" to publish commentary as part of public debate over the design and ratification of the U.S. Constitution. He was elected a Fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1791,
and was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society in 1815.
Circa 1800 he commissioned a home which was built in the center of Exeter on Front Street next to the
First Church, now part of the
Front Street Historic District. It would be his primary residence in New Hampshire. In 1893, long after Samuel's death, the home was relocated to 65 High Street to make way for construction of a new County Courthouse. On November 25, 1980 the
Samuel Tenney House was placed on the
.
Tenney was elected as a
Federalist
The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''.
History Europe federation
In Europe, proponents of de ...
to the
6th U.S. Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
William Gordon; he was reelected to the
7th,
8th, and
9th Congresses and served from December 8, 1800, to March 3, 1807. While in the House, he was chairman of the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business (Eighth and Ninth Congresses). Upon retiring from Congress, he continued to pursue literary, historical, and scientific studies and died in Exeter in 1816; interment was at the Winter Street Burial Ground.
In 1788, Tenney married
Tabitha Gilman (1762–1837). Tabitha, born in Exeter, was descended from one of New England's mainline families. Tabitha's father Samuel Gilman died in 1778 and it is believed she stayed at home helping to raise her six younger siblings. Tabitha Gilman Tenney is a notable author in early
American literature
American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...
. In 1801, while living with Samuel in Washington D.C., Tabitha wrote and published her most recognized work, ''Female Quixotism: Exhibited in the Romantic Opinions and Extravagant Adventure of Dorcasina Sheldon.'' Samuel and Tabitha Tenney had no children. Upon her 1837 death in Exeter, she too was buried at the Winter Street Burial Ground.
[FindAGrave.com]
Tabitha "Tabby" Gilman Tenney
accessed 2010.07.10
Sources
* . accessed 2010.07.08
* Tenney, Jonathan and Tenney, M.J.
The Tenney family, or, The Descendants of Thomas Tenney of Rowley, Massachusetts', Pages 86–87. Rumford Press, 1904. accessed 2010.07.10
* Bell, Charles Henry.
History of the town of Exeter, New Hampshire', Pages 382 & 383. Press of J. E. Farwell & Co., Boston, 1888. accessed 2010.07.07
* Ewell, John Louis.
The story of Byfield: a New England Parish'. G.E. Littlefield, 1904. accessed 2010.07.10
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenney, Samuel
1748 births
1816 deaths
People from Newbury, Massachusetts
American surgeons
Harvard College alumni
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
New Hampshire state court judges
Continental Army officers from New Hampshire
Federalist Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Hampshire
Members of the American Antiquarian Society
Physicians in the American Revolution
People of colonial Massachusetts
The Governor's Academy alumni
Military personnel from Massachusetts