Luman H. Tenney Family Collection

Collection

Identifier: SC 340

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Typescript copy (154 p.) of Luman H. Tenney's diary, ranging from the dates July 13, 1865 to October 1865. The diary covers the months after his discharge from the army after the Civil War, and his return home to Oberlin, Ohio. The remaining pages were extracts from letters, 1860-1880 among various members of the Tenney and Andrews families. The majority of the letters are between Luman Tenney and his wife Fannie Andrews Tenney. They touch on various subjects including religion, child rearing, Mormanism, the Chicago Fire of 1871, travel, business, Temperance, politics, hunting, recreation, and daily life. They start off with a few prewar letters dealing with Mr. Tenney's time as a teacher in Sudbury, Vermont. After the war he taught at a Blind Asylum in St. Louis, Missouri. After a mission trip to the south, he went into the tool business in Sanduskey, Ohio. When that business ended he went to Duluth, Minnesota where he sold bonds with the Northern Pacific Railroad, and also dealt in real estate. Through the Northern Pacific he became associated with Jay Cooke and Charlemagne Tower, and was contracted by the Northern Pacific to create a Red River Colony. In 1871 he accompanied an expedition to Salt Lake City, Utah where he explored mining, and met Brigham Young. In 1874, he left Duluth and moved to Glyndon, Minnesota where he spent the remainder of his life, with the exception of a short time in Minneapolis, where he dealt in the safe and scales. Luman Tenney was instrumental in the settlement of Glyndon and the land surrounding it through his Northern Pacific connections.

Dates

1860-1914.

Creator

Tenney, Luman Harris, 1841-1880. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the NDSU Archives.

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection is held by the NDSU Archives.

Biography

Luman Harris Tenney was born on October 1, 1841 in Oberlin, Ohio to Dr. Luman Tenney and Emeline Charity Harris. Luman and three siblings Minerva (Minnie), Melissa (Mrs. A. B. Nettleton) and Theodore Tenney, who was killed in the Civil War. Luman studied at Oberlin before volunteering for the Army in the summer of 1861. Luman was mustered into the Ohio 2nd Cavalry where rose from Commissary Sargent to Captain. His Civil War Diary was later published. After her returned to Oberlin and married Francis Delia Andrews (Fannie) on April 16, 1867. The couple had four children; Barnard Frederic Tenney (b. 4 May 1868), Theodore Edward Tenney (b. 16 Feb 1870), Mary Emeline Tenney (b. 27 Aug 1872), and Luman Harris Tenney (b. 18 May 1877). Luman was a teacher, businessman, real estate developer and involved with the Northern Pacific Railroad in developing the Red River region near Glyndon, Minnesota. Luman Tenney died in Glyndon, Minnesota on February 10, 1880. After Luman's death Fannie returned to Oberlin, Ohio, and died there on February 6, 1926.

Extent

4 Items (4 items.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Typescript copy (154 p.) of Luman H. Tenney's diary and family letters, from 1860-1880. They touch on various subjects including religion, child rearing, Mormanism, the Chicago Fire of 1871, travel, business, Temperance, politics, hunting, recreation, and daily life. Luman Tenney was instrumental in the settlement of Glyndon, Minnesota and the land surrounding it through his Northern Pacific connections.