Charles H. Tenney
Encyclopedia
Charles H. Tenney he was proprietor of C. H. Tenney & Co., established 1868 and would become one of the most successful commissioned merchant and hat dealers in the world; also a director of Bank of the Manhattan Company
and life trustee of the Bowery Savings Bank
.
, he was the youngest of four sons of John Ferguson Tenney, a well-to-do farmer, and Hannah Woodbury. He married Fannie H. Gleason on November 23, 1865, and they had two children: a son, Daniel Gleason, and a daughter, Adelaide, who died as an infant. His grandson and namesake Charles Henry Tenney
, was, from 1955–1964, Commissioner, Corporate Counsel, City Administrator and Deputy Mayor of New York City and nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President John F. Kennedy
in 1963.
C. H. Tenney was educated at the New Hampshire Conference Seminary in Tilton. In his youth he helped tend his family farm and was a clerk in a general store. The family later moved to Methuen, MA where his father opened a grocery and hardware store on Hampshire Street. His two older brothers, Daniel and George Washington established Tenney & Co. shoe manufacturers and were Methuen civic leaders. Charles and his brother John Milton established the hat manufacturing enterprise, in which Charles sold his interest to J. Milton in 1883.
In 1868, C. H. Tenney opened offices in New York and established himself as a wholesale commission agent, handling a very large part of the hat production in the U.S., and selling more than any similar concern in the world. He would live principally in New York and have offices headquartered at Washington Place & W. 4th Street. His hat business was located at 610-618 Broadway, with more than 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) of floor space. He was a member of the Union League Club of New York
, the Metropolitan Club
, New York Yacht Club
, Sleepy Hollow Club, New York Athletic Club, New York Chamber of Commerce and New England Society of New York
. He was also a sustaining member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and the Museum of Natural History.
Although his principal residence was at 570 Park Ave., he died in his apartment at New York's Plaza Hotel
. Memorial or funeral services honoring Tenney were held in New York City, Salem and Methuen. Interment, alongside his wife who died December 15, 1905, was in the Tenney Mausoleum at the Walnut Grove Cemetery
in Methuen. The Tenney Memorial Chapel, designed by architect Grosvenor Atterbury
, and located within the Walnut Grove Cemetery was dedicated (1927) by Daniel Gleason Tenney in memory of his parents. C. H. Tenney's estate was valued at more than $4.3 million and he left $1 million to his son and $250,000 to each grandchild. He had always been a generous benefactor to Methuen. He dedicated the Hannah Tenney United Methodist Church in Salem Center to honor his mother. His will designated a quarter of a million dollars to a collection of churches, hospitals and schools in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
s" who grew rich in the city of Methuen, Massachusetts
, during the industrial boom of the late 19th century. His surname (as well as that of fellow "Methuen city fathers" Edward F. Searles and David C. Nevins, Sr.) appears in the name of many things in Methuen. Including the "Searles Tenney Nevins Historic District" established by the City of Methuen in 1992 to preserve the "distinctive architecture and rich character of one of Massachusetts’ most unique neighborhoods".
The trio’s collective vision and fantastic architectural rivalry can still be seen in the industrial and civic buildings, as well as churches, mansions and monuments. The historic district boundaries were established to include properties and buildings constructed or used by the Searles, Tenney and Nevins families and the people who worked for them.
On July 24, 1888, the benefactor unveiled a Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial on Charles Street in Methuen, MA, created by sculptor Thomas Ball and honoring among others, those who had served in the Sixth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.
(aka Tenney Castle) designed by Carrère and Hastings
, prominent New York architects, was the centerpiece of the Charles Tenney's 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) rolling estate Fair View Park. Begun in 1890 and completed two years later, the mansion was modeled after Château d'Yquem
, the ancestral seat of Montaigne, and served as the Tenney family's summer home. Ernest W. Bowditch, designed the grounds. He had laid out several estates in Newport, Rhode Island
, including Marble House
, W. K. Vanderbilt
's estate; designed Tuxedo Park
in New York; and landscaped Colgate University
. His designs for Greycourt's surrounds won a prestigious horticultural prize in 1902. The remains are now a Massachusetts State Park.
From New England families, genealogical and memorial a record of the achievements of her people in the making of commonwealths and the founding of a nation by William Richard Cutter (1913)
, the Tenney Gatehouse (aka Tenney Gate House) was originally a rough stone farmhouse built by Richard Whittier in 1830. Tenney purchased it in 1882 and remodeled to become the entry point to Greycourt. Today it's one of the only remaining structures on the estate.
In 1951, the Tenney family gave 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) to the town for Tenney High School (now Tenney Grammar School) and sold the rest to the Basilian Salvatorian Order
. From 1977-1978 a series of fires eventually destroyed the mansion. The Gatehouse and the Stock House or Stables are all that remain standing.
Bank of the Manhattan Company
The Bank of the Manhattan Company is the earliest of the predecessor institutions that eventually formed the current JPMorgan Chase & Co.-History:...
and life trustee of the Bowery Savings Bank
Bowery Savings Bank
The Bowery Savings Bank of New York City was chartered in May 1834 and is now part of Capital One Bank.-History:Opened in 1834 on the Bowery in NYC. By 1980 it had over 35 branches located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. When bank deregulation was enacted the bank...
.
Biography
Born Charles Henry, in Salem, New HampshireSalem, New Hampshire
Salem is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 28,776 at the 2010 census. Salem is a marketing and distributing center north of Boston, with a major amusement attraction, Canobie Lake Park, and a large shopping mall, the Mall at Rockingham Park.- History :The...
, he was the youngest of four sons of John Ferguson Tenney, a well-to-do farmer, and Hannah Woodbury. He married Fannie H. Gleason on November 23, 1865, and they had two children: a son, Daniel Gleason, and a daughter, Adelaide, who died as an infant. His grandson and namesake Charles Henry Tenney
Charles Henry Tenney
Charles Henry Tenney was a United States federal judge.Born in New York, New York, Tenney received an A.B. from Yale University in 1933 and an LL.B. from Yale Law School in 1936. He was in private practice in New York City from 1936 to 1942. He was a U.S. Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander from...
, was, from 1955–1964, Commissioner, Corporate Counsel, City Administrator and Deputy Mayor of New York City and nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
in 1963.
C. H. Tenney was educated at the New Hampshire Conference Seminary in Tilton. In his youth he helped tend his family farm and was a clerk in a general store. The family later moved to Methuen, MA where his father opened a grocery and hardware store on Hampshire Street. His two older brothers, Daniel and George Washington established Tenney & Co. shoe manufacturers and were Methuen civic leaders. Charles and his brother John Milton established the hat manufacturing enterprise, in which Charles sold his interest to J. Milton in 1883.
In 1868, C. H. Tenney opened offices in New York and established himself as a wholesale commission agent, handling a very large part of the hat production in the U.S., and selling more than any similar concern in the world. He would live principally in New York and have offices headquartered at Washington Place & W. 4th Street. His hat business was located at 610-618 Broadway, with more than 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) of floor space. He was a member of the Union League Club of New York
Union League Club of New York
The Union League Club of New York is a private social club in New York City. Its fourth and current clubhouse, which opened on February 2, 1931, is a building designed by Benjamin Wistar Morris, III, located at 38 East 37th Street between Madison and Park Avenue in the Murray Hill section of...
, the Metropolitan Club
Metropolitan Club
The Metropolitan Club is a private social club in New York City. It was formed in 1891 by J.P. Morgan, who served as its first president. Other original members included William K. Vanderbilt and James Roosevelt. Its 1912 clubhouse, designed by Stanford White, stands at 1-11 East 60th Street, on...
, New York Yacht Club
New York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...
, Sleepy Hollow Club, New York Athletic Club, New York Chamber of Commerce and New England Society of New York
New England Society of New York
The New England Society of New York is one of several prestigious lineage organizations in the United States and one of the oldest charitable societies in the country. It was organized on May 6, 1805 to commemorate the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers on Plymouth Rock...
. He was also a sustaining member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
and the Museum of Natural History.
Although his principal residence was at 570 Park Ave., he died in his apartment at New York's Plaza Hotel
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
. Memorial or funeral services honoring Tenney were held in New York City, Salem and Methuen. Interment, alongside his wife who died December 15, 1905, was in the Tenney Mausoleum at the Walnut Grove Cemetery
Walnut Grove Cemetery
Walnut Grove Cemetery is a historic cemetery at Grove and Railroads Streets in Methuen, Massachusetts. The still active cemetery sits on and is privately funded with a Board of Directors....
in Methuen. The Tenney Memorial Chapel, designed by architect Grosvenor Atterbury
Grosvenor Atterbury
Grosvenor Atterbury was an American architect, urban planner and writer. He studied at Yale University and then travelled in Europe. He studied architecture at Columbia University and worked in the offices of McKim, Mead & White. Much of Atterbury’s early work consisted of weekend houses for...
, and located within the Walnut Grove Cemetery was dedicated (1927) by Daniel Gleason Tenney in memory of his parents. C. H. Tenney's estate was valued at more than $4.3 million and he left $1 million to his son and $250,000 to each grandchild. He had always been a generous benefactor to Methuen. He dedicated the Hannah Tenney United Methodist Church in Salem Center to honor his mother. His will designated a quarter of a million dollars to a collection of churches, hospitals and schools in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
"City Father" - Methuen, MA
Charles H. Tenney was one of the three "city fatherCity father
The term city fathers is used to mean two things: firstly , it denotes a member of a municipal council over a city. Secondly, it can signify the "Founding Fathers" of the city...
s" who grew rich in the city of Methuen, Massachusetts
Methuen, Massachusetts
Methuen is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 43,789 at the 2000 census.-History:Methuen was first settled in 1642 and was officially incorporated in 1726; it is named for the British diplomat Sir Paul Methuen. Methuen was originally part of Haverhill,...
, during the industrial boom of the late 19th century. His surname (as well as that of fellow "Methuen city fathers" Edward F. Searles and David C. Nevins, Sr.) appears in the name of many things in Methuen. Including the "Searles Tenney Nevins Historic District" established by the City of Methuen in 1992 to preserve the "distinctive architecture and rich character of one of Massachusetts’ most unique neighborhoods".
The trio’s collective vision and fantastic architectural rivalry can still be seen in the industrial and civic buildings, as well as churches, mansions and monuments. The historic district boundaries were established to include properties and buildings constructed or used by the Searles, Tenney and Nevins families and the people who worked for them.
On July 24, 1888, the benefactor unveiled a Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Memorial on Charles Street in Methuen, MA, created by sculptor Thomas Ball and honoring among others, those who had served in the Sixth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.
Grey Court
Grey CourtGreycourt State Park
Greycourt State Park is a 24 acre Massachusetts state park located in Methuen, built atop the restored ruins of the Charles H. Tenney estate. The park is a satellite of Lawrence Heritage State Park...
(aka Tenney Castle) designed by Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings
Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings , located in New York City, was one of the outstanding Beaux-Arts architecture firms in the United States. The partnership operated from 1885 until 1911, when Carrère was killed in an automobile accident...
, prominent New York architects, was the centerpiece of the Charles Tenney's 75 acres (303,514.5 m²) rolling estate Fair View Park. Begun in 1890 and completed two years later, the mansion was modeled after Château d'Yquem
Château d'Yquem
Château d'Yquem is a Premier Cru Supérieur wine from the Sauternes, Gironde region in the southern part of the Bordeaux vineyards known as Graves. In the Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, Château d'Yquem was the only Sauternes given this rating, indicating its perceived superiority...
, the ancestral seat of Montaigne, and served as the Tenney family's summer home. Ernest W. Bowditch, designed the grounds. He had laid out several estates in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, including Marble House
Marble House
Marble House is one of the Gilded Age mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, now open to the public as a museum. It was designed by the architect Richard Morris Hunt, and said to be inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles . Grounds were designed by noted landscape architect Ernest W...
, W. K. Vanderbilt
William Kissam Vanderbilt
William Kissam Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. He managed railroads and was a horse breeder.-Biography:...
's estate; designed Tuxedo Park
Tuxedo, New York
Tuxedo is a town located in Orange County, New York. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 3,334. The town is in the southeastern part of the county. NY Route 17 and the New York State Thruway pass through the town...
in New York; and landscaped Colgate University
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
. His designs for Greycourt's surrounds won a prestigious horticultural prize in 1902. The remains are now a Massachusetts State Park.
From New England families, genealogical and memorial a record of the achievements of her people in the making of commonwealths and the founding of a nation by William Richard Cutter (1913)
Tenney Gatehouse
Now home to the Methuen Historical Society and listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, the Tenney Gatehouse (aka Tenney Gate House) was originally a rough stone farmhouse built by Richard Whittier in 1830. Tenney purchased it in 1882 and remodeled to become the entry point to Greycourt. Today it's one of the only remaining structures on the estate.
In 1951, the Tenney family gave 26 acres (105,218.4 m²) to the town for Tenney High School (now Tenney Grammar School) and sold the rest to the Basilian Salvatorian Order
Basilian Salvatorian Order
The Basilian Salvatorian Order is a religious order of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. The Latin name of this order is Ordo Basilianus Sanctissimi Salvatoris, the French name is Ordre Basilien Salvatorien. The name cames from its motherhouse, the Holy Saviour monastery, The Basilian Salvatorian...
. From 1977-1978 a series of fires eventually destroyed the mansion. The Gatehouse and the Stock House or Stables are all that remain standing.
Other Sources
- King, Moses. Notable New Yorker of 1896-1899: a companion volume to King’s handbook of New York City (1899), Page 510. M. King, New York, NY. accessed 2010.07.09
- Tenney, Jonathan and Tenney, M.J. The Tenney Family or the Descendants of Thomas Tenney, of Rowley, Mass, 1638-1890. Rumford Press, 1904. accessed 2010.07.09
- New York Times. "Mr. C.H. Tenney's Friends See Him Off." Page 16. June 23, 1889. accessed 2010.07.10
- Tenney, Charles Henry, "Dedication exercises fo the Soldier's and Sailor's Monument: presented to Methuen, Mass" (Methuen, Mass, Fred A. Lowell & Co., printers, 1888).
- Wallace, Glen. FindAGrave.com, 2008. Charles Henry Tenney, Walnut Grove Cemetery, Methuen, MA. accessed 2010.07.13