Rowley Manor is a Georgian Country House set in some 34 acres of lawns, rose gardens and parklands and was once the rectory to St. Peter’s Church, located within its grounds.
The Church was founded in 1150 and the rectory is said to have been built in 1621 by Reverend Ezekiel Rogers, who later sailed from England to Salem, Massachusetts (1638), and who settled in 1639 in what is now known as Rowley, Massachusetts.
St. Peters Church
Artist Depiction of the "John of London"
Note: Make sure to read the fictional story of John Tenney by using the link to Archives to the right!
Tenney Family Association History
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 to catch up on family news, to hold our business meeting, to have an enjoyable weekend full of activities, 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", four times a year, full of interesting articles about Tenney places, people and news. We maintain a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/TenneyFamily, and a message board on Rootsweb. The association has in its archives old photographs, letters, books, newspaper articles along with hundreds of genealogical charts and manuscripts dating back over 80 years, written by and about Tenneys.
The Tenney Family Association is committed to sustaining the Tenney family name and heritage.
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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.
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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?
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Tenney Family Crest
Tenney, Salsbury per Chevron sable and Argent, three Griffin’s heads erased and countercharged.
Being translated signifies the following:
Chevron means slanting from the middle each way. Sable means black. Argent means white. Griffin, a fabled animal, a mixture of Lion and Eagle, denotes power. The head, talons, wings and claws were those of the Eagle; neck, body, legs and tail, of the Lion. Erased means torn off. Countercharged means white heads on black ground and black heads on white ground.
Crest, Griffins’ head, couped gules.
Couped means cut off as by one stroke of the sword. Gules means Red; the crest must be red.
According to the WORLD BOOK OF TENNEYS; published by Halberts, 1996; “there are often a number of different Coats of Arms recorded for specific surnames”. Below is detailed (in their opinion) a Coat of Arms most representative of the TENNEY surname. (A copy is included in the original documentation). The TENNEY Coat of Arms hereby illustrated is officially documented in Rietstap Armorial General. The original description of the Arms (Shield) is as follows:
“De Gu. Au Chev.D’Or Ch. De Trois Annelets du Champ Et Acc. De Trois Fleurs-De-Lis Du Sec”
When translated the Blazon also describes the original colors of the TENNEY Arms as follows:
“Red; a gold Chevron charged with three red rings and accompanied by three gold Fleurs-De-Lis”. Above the shield and helmet is the crest which is described as: “A silver castle surmounted by two silver towers, each tower surmounted by a red banner, floating to the right”.
The TENNEY FAMILY Book written by M.J. Tenney; 1891 details the family crest including drawings and explanation. Assistant credit is given to Professor Jonathan Tenney of Albany , New York; Lt. E.A. Tenney of La Crosse, Wisconsin for the Coat of Arms; and Mr. L. Tenney Peck.
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
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