The Samuel Tenney House is an historic house at 65 High Street in
Exeter
Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
,
New Hampshire
New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
. This mansion was built circa 1800 as the primary residence of
Samuel Tenney, a noted scholar, scientist, physician,
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
surgeon, patriot, judge, and member of
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, and his wife
Tabitha Gilman Tenney, the noted early American author.
The master carpenter for the house was Ebenezer Clifford working with Bradbury Johnson. At the time, Clifford lived in the
Gilman Garrison House, now owned by
Historic New England
Historic New England, previously known as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA), is a charitable, non-profit, historic preservation organization headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is focused on New England a ...
. They also built the
First Church, Exeter; the second
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...
main building; and the
Atkinson Academy
Atkinson Academy is a public elementary school at 17 Academy Avenue in Atkinson, New Hampshire. It is a part of the Timberlane Regional School District. Built in 1803, it is claimed to be the oldest standing co-educational school in the United St ...
building.
Mrs. Tenney died in 1837, and the house was later occupied by
Tristram Shaw, who was a member of the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...
, representing New Hampshire from 1830 until his death in 1843. In January 1892, Dr. George W. Dearborn purchased the Samuel Tenney House from Frank H. Hervey.
Tenney Family
'. By Martha Jane Tenney, Jonathan Tenney. Page 87. Rumford Press, 1904. accessed 2010.07.06
Today the house is located at 65 High Street, having been relocated there in 1893 from its original location in the center of Exeter, next to and north of the First Church on Front Street, to accommodate construction of the Rockingham County Courthouse. On November 25, 1980, the building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.
See also
*
References
Sources
*
Postcards from Exeter' by Carol Walker Aten. Arcadia Publishing, 2003. Tenney House, Page 90.
*
New Hampshire Architecture: an illustrated guide' by Bryant Franklin Tolles, Carolyn K. Tolles. New Hampshire Historical Society. UPNE, 1979. Dr. Samuel Tenney House, Page 53.
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Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire
Houses completed in 1800
Houses in Rockingham County, New Hampshire
Buildings and structures in Exeter, New Hampshire
National Register of Historic Places in Rockingham County, New Hampshire