Representative Samuel Tenney

Samuel Tenney (November 27, 1748 – February 6, 1816) was a United States representative from New Hampshire, a Revolutionary War surgeon, and a prominent New England man of letters and science. He was born in Byfield, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and received his early education at Governor Dummer Academy (later Governor Dummer Academy, now The Governor’s Academy), one of the oldest preparatory schools in the colonies. He subsequently attended Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1772. After graduation he taught school at Andover, Massachusetts, and at the same time pursued the study of medicine. He later removed to Exeter, in the Province of New Hampshire, where he began the practice of medicine on the eve of the American Revolution.

With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Tenney entered the Continental service as a surgeon and devoted himself to the medical care of American troops. He tended wounded patriots following the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775 and, for the next year, served as surgeon’s mate with Massachusetts troops. For the balance of the war he was attached primarily as a surgeon to the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, one of the notable units in the Continental Army. During his years in service he was present at several pivotal moments of the conflict, including the surrender of British General John Burgoyne at Saratoga in 1777 and the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781. He encamped with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the severe winter of 1777–1778, sharing in the hardships that marked that encampment. By general orders of General George Washington he was at one point designated acting surgeon general of the Army, reflecting the confidence placed in his medical skill and judgment. At the close of the war he returned to Exeter, resumed medical practice, and increasingly turned to politics, scholarship, and public affairs.

In the postwar period, Tenney emerged as an influential Federalist voice in New Hampshire’s political and intellectual life. He served as a delegate to the New Hampshire state constitutional convention in 1788, participating in the debates surrounding the adoption of the federal Constitution. During the broader public discussion over the design and ratification of the Constitution, he contributed essays under the pseudonym “Alfredus,” adding to the body of Federalist-leaning commentary that sought to shape public opinion in favor of the new frame of government. Professionally, he remained active in medicine and was secretary of the New Hampshire Medical Society, for which he commissioned Paul Revere to produce the first engraving of the society’s official seal, a notable intersection of early American art, science, and professional organization. From 1793 to 1800 he served as judge of probate for Rockingham County, New Hampshire, administering estates and guardianships in one of the state’s most important judicial offices.

Tenney’s intellectual interests extended beyond politics and medicine into the broader world of arts and letters. In 1791 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the earliest and most prestigious learned societies in the United States, recognizing his contributions to science, medicine, and public life. Late in his career, in 1815, he was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society, reflecting his engagement with historical and antiquarian studies. These affiliations underscored his reputation as a man of wide-ranging scholarly curiosity who remained active in literary, historical, and scientific pursuits throughout his life.

In his personal life, Tenney married Tabitha Gilman of Exeter in 1788. Born in 1762 and descended from one of New England’s established families, Tabitha Gilman had assumed significant family responsibilities after the death of her father, Samuel Gilman, in 1778, when she is believed to have remained at home to help raise her six younger siblings. As Tabitha Gilman Tenney, she became a notable early American author. While living with her husband in Washington, D.C., during his congressional service, she wrote and in 1801 published her best-known work, “Female Quixotism: Exhibited in the Romantic Opinions and Extravagant Adventure of Dorcasina Sheldon,” a satirical novel that enjoyed wide readership in the early republic. Samuel and Tabitha Tenney had no children, but their household was a center of literary and intellectual activity.

Around 1800, as his public standing grew, Tenney commissioned the construction of a substantial residence in the center of Exeter. The house was built on Front Street, next to the First Church, in what is now recognized as part of the Front Street Historic District, and it served as his primary residence in New Hampshire. Long after his death, in 1893, the structure was moved from its original site to 65 High Street to accommodate the construction of a new county courthouse. In recognition of its architectural and historical significance, the Samuel Tenney House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 25, 1980, as part of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

Tenney entered national politics at the turn of the nineteenth century. A member of the Federalist Party, he was elected to the Sixth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative William Gordon of New Hampshire. He took his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on December 8, 1800, and was subsequently reelected to the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Congresses, serving continuously until March 3, 1807. During his tenure in the House, he was appointed chairman of the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business in both the Eighth and Ninth Congresses, a position that placed him at the center of efforts to organize and complete the legislative work carried over from prior sessions. His service coincided with the transition from Federalist to Jeffersonian Republican dominance in national politics, and he represented New Hampshire’s Federalist interests during a period of significant partisan realignment.

After retiring from Congress in 1807, Tenney returned to Exeter and did not again seek elective office. He continued to practice medicine to some extent but devoted increasing time to literary, historical, and scientific studies, corresponding with other men of learning and contributing to the intellectual life of New England. His later years were marked by his involvement in learned societies and by his support of his wife’s literary endeavors. He remained in Exeter until his death on February 6, 1816. He was buried there, leaving a legacy as a Revolutionary War physician, jurist, legislator, and scholar whose career linked the formative years of the American republic in war, politics, and letters.