History
Early Tenney History | Tenney Family
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Early Tenney History
From England to Rowley Massachusetts
A map of early Rowley Massachusetts
A great history of
Rowley from the Boynton Family pages
The official web site of Rowley
Massachusetts
The Rowley Massachussetts
Genealogy Project
The Georgetown Masachussetts Genealogy Project
(formerly New Rowley)
This information was provided by Della Tenney and was taken from the "The
Tenney Family or The Descendants of Thomas Tenney of Rowley, Massachusetts 1638-1904"
by M.J. Tenney
Our Former Home in England
Our English home was Rowley, County of Yorkshire, England. It is situated near the
great waterway, the River Humber, an estuary of the North Sea. Rowley is six miles from
the south bank of the Humber, twenty miles inland from Spurn Head, and three hundred feet
above sea level. It is delightfully located on the top of high hills called the
"Yorkshire Wolds."
A letter written in 1852 by a lawyer residing near Rowley, describes the place as follows:
"Rowley is a small hamlet with not more than a dozen houses and some fifty to sixty
inhabitants who are engaged in agriculture. It has neither trade nor institutions.
Relatively, it was undoubtedly a more important place in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries than it is at the present time. The church parish is comprised of four other
hamlets in addition to Rowley."
Mr. Willis R. Tenney, who visited Rowley in 1896, reported that St. Peter's Church was
built about the year 1400, and that a portion of the main building may date back a century
earlier.
Rev. Ezekiel Rogers, rector of this church in 1638, was a man of learning, very devout,
possessed of much zeal, and felt keenly the religious persecution of King Charles' order
to the clergy to read in church the "declaration of sports." The king directed
that no hindrance should be thrown in the way of those who wished to dance or shoot at the
butts (a target) on Sunday afternoons.
Puritan Rogers, much aggrieved at this and other persecutions, gathered to him in the
parish of Rowley some twenty families (including Thomas Tenney and his wife, Ann) for the
purpose of emigrating to America. They succeeded in leaving England in the autumn of 1638.
The voyage was made in the ship, "John of London" which landed in Salem,
Massachusetts in December. A fellow passenger was Rev. Joseph Glover, now known as the
"Father of the American Press" who brought over with him the first printing
press ever shipped to America.
Putting Down Roots in America
This group of people, remaining in Salem during the winter, settled the following April
in what is now Rowley, Massachusetts. This area was probably selected on account of its
pleasantness, its nearness to the river, and the abundance of thatch found growing on the
river banks.
In colonizing, they formed a community under the direction of their spiritual leader, Rev.
Rogers, and first called it the Rogers Plantation. The General Court, under date of
September 4, 1639, ordered that the settlement "shall be called Rowley." (Mass.
Colony Records, Vol. 1, page 271)
By December 3rd, 1639, a plain meeting-house had been erected. The earliest mention of a
meeting-house bell, which was suspended from a nearby frame, was in 1658. For sweeping the
meeting-house and ringing this bell, a yearly appropriation of S2.10s was granted. There
was no organized school until February 3rd, 1656, at which time William Boynton was
engaged as teacher for a term of seven years. He continued to teach until the end of his
24th year.
The first marriage was recorded in 1639. Rowley had no resident physician until 1652. The
earliest preserved tax list bears the date "ye 9th of June, 1691."
In 1680, there were 129 families living in Rowley. The town records are full and complete.
Not a leaf is missing from the books containing the entries of births, marriages, and
deaths. (History of Essex County)
From the beginning, Rowley was a manufacturing as well as a farming community. Many of the
first settlers were weavers, and, in connection with the fulling mill built in 1643, the
production of cloth was long a profitable industry.
As early as 1680, ship-building was carried on at the warehouse landing. About 1813, Capt.
Perley built a vessel of ninety tons on Rowley Common, one mile and a half from the river.
The ship, which was named "Country's Wonder" was hauled to the river in one day
by more than one hundred yoke of oxen.
(Condensed from Tenney Family Genealogy, pages 7 to 13)
Thus, the Tenney Family began a new life in America. Since then, members of our family
have made their way, and their mark, throughout the United States. Whether in business,
agriculture, industry, the arts and sciences, or the professions, the name Tenney has
become synonymous with sterling character, honesty, and the diligent and successful
pursuit of highly worthwhile objectives.
Educators, ministers, doctors, and lawyers in the Tenney Family have been especially
numerous. Government officials are not infrequent. There have been many well-known
businessmen and manufacturers by the name of Tenney, or from Tenney ancestry. Much Tenney
blood, sweat and tears has been bravely spilled in the service of our country.
A deep sense of respect and responsibility for law and order, family unity, and religious
devotion is a strong family characteristic.
Deacon John Harrison Tenney, father of Harrison E. Tenney who is a present resident of
Rowley, made the following statement:
"So far as I can learn, with very few exceptions, all who have borne the name of
Tenney have been sober, industrious, law-abiding citizens, and some have been highly
honored." (Quoted from Tenney Family Genealogy, pages 375-6)
The following is also quoted from our genealogy:
"Elder Samuel Tenney, grandson of Thomas, was accustomed to pray earnestly for his
children and children's children's children to the latest generation."
How much of the good that has been in his descendants may be in answer to his prayers? Who
can say?
In 1891 several Tenney ancestors gathered to bid farewell to another Tenney family
moving out of state. There were 43 Tenneys in attendance! Then, according to
our archive records, the Tenney family met again in October 1911 and again September 1923.
Pictures and notes from these early reunions have been preserved through the years
by the Tenney Family Association. An entry date of August 23, 1925 indicates the
election of officers, thus, the beginning of the Tenney Family
Association. This association has met annually ever since!
The original name of the association has changed through the years, but the purpose of
these reunions have not. We gather once a year, usually the closest Sunday to the
20th of August, to catch up on family news, to hold our business meeting, to have a nice
lunch and to welcome new "cousins" that have joined the association.
Besides the annual reunion, many members of the association work very hard all year
long
on other Tenney Family Association projects to insure that the association will leave a
proud legacy for all future Tenney generations. In addition, we publish a newsletter
entitled "Tenney Times", approximately four times a year,
full of interesting articles about Tenney places, people and news. The
association has in its archives old photographs, letters, books, newspaper articles, hundreds of
genealogical charts and manuscripts dating back 80 years written by and about
Tenneys.
The Tenney Family Association is committed to sustaining the Tenney family name and
heritage.
Follow this link to read the Tenney Family Association
Constitution.
This page was last updated
December 08, 2006
