Ammon Meshach Tenney, Sr.

Wikipedia Biographical Summary:

"...Ammon Meshach Tenney (November 16, 1844 – October 28, 1925) was an American Mormon missionary and colonizer in Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico, who taught the message of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) to such peoples as the Zunis and the Isleta Pueblos, baptizing hundreds. He also was the first president of the Mexican Mission when it was reorganized in 1901..."

"...Tenney was born in 1844 in Lee County, Iowa. He came to Utah in 1848 and later moved with his parents to San Bernardino County, California. It was in San Bernardino that Tenney first learned Spanish..."

"...In 1876 Tenney was among the first seven LDS missionaries called to go to Mexico..."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Ammon M. Tenney', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 October 2011, 16:05 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ammon_M._Tenney&oldid=456...> [accessed 18 December 2011]

From FindAGrave.com:

Ammon was born to Nathan Cram Tenney and Olive Strong. His mother, and then his father, joined the Mormon church in the early 1840s, when Ammon was a very young child.

The family had been living in Nauvoo, Illinois, but then moved to Lee County, Iowa, across the Mississippi river from Nauvoo, about 1844.

Ammon's family left with the main body of Mormons when they left Nauvoo to go to Winter Quarters (Florence), Nebraska in 1846. In 1848, the family left Winter Quarters and traveled by wagon train to Utah, where they settled in Cottonwood, Grand County, Utah. The family later lived in San Bernardino, California, southern Utah, and Arizona.

Ammon learned to speak Spanish in California and used that skill to act as a Mormon missionary and scout in the Southwest United States. He spent most of his life as a Mormon missionary in Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico.

Ammon was a polygamist; by 1872 he had two wives. In 1884, he was arrested and convicted of polygamy; he was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in the Detroit House of Corrections. He had served over two years of his sentence when he was pardoned by President Cleveland.

In 1890, Ammon wanted to take a third polygamous wife; to do so he had to go to Mexico, because the Mormon church had promised the federal government they would not continue practicing polygamy, although they did to some extent. Polygamy was also illegal in Mexico, but the Mexican government did not spend much time proscecuting people who practiced it.

After bringing all his wives to Mexico, in 1890, his first wife, Anna, separated from him.

Anna and her children continued to live in Colonia Diaz, while Ammon and his other two wives moved to Colonia Dublan and other places in Mexico. In 1912, Mexican revolutionaries drove all foreigners out of Mexico, including Ammon's families.

Ammon married:

(1) Anna Sariah Eagar November 9, 1867 in Salt Lake City, Utah. They had ten children together. She separated from him.

(2) Eliza Ann Udall on December 12, 1872 in Salt Lake City, Utah. They had two children together. She separated from him.

(3) Hettie Millicent Adams on March 24, 1890 in Colonia Diaz, Chihuahua, Mexico. They had ten children together. She separated from him.

Ammon lived alone in El Paso, Texas and other locations in the South and Southwest, until he died in Thatcher, Arizona.

Parents:

Nathan Cram Tenney (1817 - 1882)

Olive Strong Tenney (1818 - 1881)

Spouses:

Anna Sariah Eagar Tenney (1850 - 1934)

Eliza Ann Udall Tenney (1855 - 1913)

Hettie Millicent Adams Tenney (1872 - 1957)

Children:

Anna Sariah Tenney Coleman (1870 - 1944)

Nathan Cram Tenney (1871 - 1957)

Olive Eliza Tenney Curtis (1874 - 1928)

Phoebe Relief Tenney Gardner (1876 - 1966)

Abbey Celestia Tenney (1876 - 1883)

Lois Jeannette Tenney Lemmon (1879 - 1940)

Luella Maude Tenney (1882 - 1883)

Rosalia Tenney Payne (1884 - 1967)

John Eagar Tenney (1887 - 1896)*

Millicent Tenney McKellar (1890 - 1977)

Lurline Tenney Whiting (1891 - 1965)

Eugene Adams Tenney (1892 - 1952)

Heleman Pratt Tenney (1895 - 1978)

Paul Frost Tenney (1897 - 1921)

Anthony Ivins Tenney (1899 - 1955)

Udall Adams Tenney (1901 - 1965)

Ezra Strong Tenney (1903 - 1963)

Allen Dwight Tenney (1905 - 1971)

Meshach Adams Tenney (1907 - 1993)

Sarah Tenney (1910 - 1911)

Maintained by: For Emma

Originally Created by: Raymond McGrath

Record added: Apr 02, 2006

Find A Grave Memorial# 13831491