death_date birth_date residence term_end alma_mater death_place imagesize order term_start spouse image name occupation predecessor birth_place party successor religion article_title
06 february 1816 27 november 1748 exeter , new hampshire march 3 , 1807 harvard college exeter , new hampshire 250px member hampshire 's at-large district of the u.s. house of representatives from new december 8 , 1800 tabitha gilman tenney -lrb- 1788-1816 -rrb- hon samuel tenney mc - from history of byfield.jpg samuel tenney physician , statesman , scholar , scientist , judge , politician william gordon byfield , massachusetts federalist francis gardner congregationalist samuel tenney

samuel tenney

samuel tenney -lrb- november 27 , 1748 -- february 6 , 1816 -rrb- was a united states representative from new hampshire .
born in byfield , massachusetts , he attended dummer academy there and graduated from harvard college in 1772 .
he taught school at andover and studied medicine , beginning practice in exeter , new hampshire .
he was a surgeon in the revolutionary war .
he tended the wounded patriots following the battle of bunker hill then for the next year served as surgeon 's mate alongside massachusetts troops .
for the balance of the war he was a surgeon attached primarily to the 1st rhode island regiment .
he was present at the surrenders of burgoyne and cornwallis ; encamped at valley forge , pa , during that fierce winter 1777/78 ; was designated acting surgeon general of the army upon general orders of general george washington ; and then returned to exeter at the close of the war where he took up politics and other scholarly pursuits .
he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1788 and a judge of probate for rockingham county from 1793 to 1800 .
he was secretary of the new hampshire medical society and commissioned paul revere to produce the first engraving of that organization 's seal .
used the pseudonym `` alfredus '' to publish commentary as part of public debate over the design and ratification of the u.s. constitution .
he was elected a fellow of the american academy of arts and sciences in 1791 , and was elected a member of the american antiquarian society in 1815 .
circa 1800 he commissioned a home which was built in the center of exeter on front street next to the first church , now part of the front street historic district .
it would be his primary residence in new hampshire .
in 1893 , long after samuel 's death , the home was relocated to 65 high street to make way for construction of a new county courthouse .
on november 25 , 1980 the samuel tenney house was placed on the national register of historic places listings in rockingham county , new hampshire .
tenney was elected as a federalist to the 6th u.s. congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of william gordon ; he was reelected to the 7th , 8th , and 9th congresses and served from december 8 , 1800 , to march 3 , 1807 .
while in the house , he was chairman of the committee on revisal and unfinished business -lrb- eighth and ninth congresses -rrb- .
upon retiring from congress , he continued to pursue literary , historical , and scientific studies and died in exeter in 1816 ; interment was at the winter street burial ground .
in 1788 , tenney married tabitha gilman -lrb- 1762 -- 1837 -rrb- .
tabitha , born in exeter , was descended from one of new england 's mainline families .
tabitha 's father samuel gilman died in 1778 and it is believed she stayed at home helping to raise her six younger siblings .
tabitha gilman tenney is a notable author in early american literature .
in 1801 , while living with samuel in washington d.c. , tabitha wrote and published her most recognized work , `` female quixotism : exhibited in the romantic opinions and extravagant adventure of dorcasina sheldon . ''
samuel and tabitha tenney had no children .
upon her 1837 death in exeter , she too was buried at the winter street burial ground .
