Thomas Hardester Tennant, 114 Years of Age?

The dates of Thomas Hardester Tennant’s birth and death are rather confusing. The book “The McClures, the Kennedys, the Tennants, the Gays”, compiled by Mabel B. McClure and printed in January of 1934, lists Thomas Hardester Tennant as being born the 10th of October, 1771 and dying the 13th of October 1885.209 United States Census records, however, for the years 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 show an age for Mr. Tennant that coincides with a 1793 date of birth.842 Currently US Census records for other years have been difficult to locate. He was first married to Christine Hacker (born 1800) circa 1821 and his first-born, Lina Harriett Tennant, was born in April of 1822. His last child, Alva White Tennant, by his second wife, Clarissa Isabel White (born 1812) was born circa 1853. Had Mr. Tennant been born in 1771, he would have been 50 years of age when his first child was born and 82 years of age when his last child was born. He would have been 29 and 41 years older than his two wives. This seems highly unlikely. The aforementioned book (1934) and a newspaper article, by Laurez Earley, printed in the Arkansas Gazette, Little Rock, Arkansas, April 11, 1937, refer to him as the oldest Methodist minister in history, living to an age of 114 years. This calls into consideration, “When did he actually die?” Again, we have two different years. There is October 13, 1885 as recorded in the book, and 1907 as seen elsewhere. The latter date likely an approximate based upon his estimated birth-year of 1793 and lifespan of 114 years. More records are needed to confirm the true dates. Possibly the earlier dates are of another Tennant man.
-Jonathan R. Dusek

NOTE: Please read the 2 accompanying stories below:

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THOMAS HARDESTER TENNANT
Christian Advocate, September 4, 1931.
(also printed in the book, “The McClures, the Kennedys, the Tennants, the Gays”, compiled by Mabel B. McClure, 1934.)

The Rev. Thomas Hardester Tennant was born in the State of Virginia in the year 1771. He died in Washington County, Arkansas, in October 1885, having reached the advanced age of one hundred and fourteen years.
Nothing is known of his early childhood and youth. He had a limited education, but nothing is now known of his schooling, as to where and when he obtained it.
A local history says he was a great hunter of deer, a man of great strength, and that his voice in the hills would carry seven miles.
He left Virginia when he was between seventeen and twenty years of age, and came to Kentucky, where he remained for some time, and then moved to Tennessee. It was there he was converted and joined the Methodist Episcopal church and was licensed to preach, and presumably he was received on trial in the Tennessee Conference.
He was transferred by Bishop George to the Missouri Conference and in the fall of 1818 was appointed to the Arkansas Circuit. The Arkansas Circuit lay on both sides of the Arkansas River from Arkansas Post to Fort Smith. In the fall of 1819 he was appointed to the Pecan Point Circuit, on the Mississippi River about fifty miles above Memphis; the circuit extended to Little Rock, Ark. This was in the Black River District, and W. Stevenson was the presiding elder. From here on, dates and definite facts are wanting to the writer. I think it was while Thomas Tennant was on this circuit that he was married to Miss Christine Hacker. She owned a few slaves. One of these, a negro man, was very stubborn and unruly. Brother Tennant could not control him. But he could not free him, because the law required one freeing a slave to give bond for his good behavior. This he could not afford to do. Neither could he afford to keep him, so he sold him. Here again dates and facts are confusing. But some time after this event, charges were preferred against Brother Tennant for selling a slave, and he was expelled from the ministry. He felt that great injustice was done him in this matter, and he never asked to be reinstated.
He retired to Washington County, Arkansas, where he secured a little farm, and lived there a quiet retired life. He held family prayers, regularly without variation, every night and morning as long as he was physically able to do so. He preached occasionally as opportunity presented and took an active part yearly in the Bethlehem Camp Meeting near his home.
By his first Wife he had eight children—three boys and five girls. His eldest (actually, second eldest) son, John A. Tennant, was graduated from Cane Hill College in 1858 or 1859 and immediately went out west to Washington Territory where he lived a desultory life for several years. He married an Indian and finally settled in Walla Walla [actually, Lynden]. He was converted in a camp meeting held near there, joining the Methodist Episcopal Church, was licensed to preach and received into their Annual Conference, and for several years filled important circuits and stations.
It was remarkable that all of Rev. Thomas Tennant's children were converted at an early age and all of them became devout Christians.
His fourth [actually third] child, Paulina, married William McClure of Washburn Mo., and became the mother of three children, Edna Byron, Lafayette and Walter Tennant; the latter for forty-nine years has been a member of the Southwest Missouri Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church South.
She was a devout, sincere Christian Woman. She had very meagre educational opportunities, but she was a great reader and an earnest, persistent student to the day of her death, and she wrote some fine things for the papers in her day and among them some poems.
After the death of Grandfather Tennantʼs first wife, he married Mrs. Clarisa Isabel Slover (or Clover, widow, maiden name, White). By her he had five children. One died in infancy, leaving two boys and two girls. The (second?) eldest of these is Mr. Addison C. Tennant, a farmer, in his eighty-sixth year, living at Farmington, Ark. He is a good man and true and strong in the faith of his father. To him the writer is indebted for most of the information in this sketch.
The foregoing is the final draft by Dr. Walter Tennant McClure, grandson of Thomas Tennant, of such items as he and the author have been able to secure. But something more should be said about the expulsion of Mr. Tennant.
From the beginning of organized Methodism in America the question of slavery gave the Church trouble. In the year 1800 the General Conference prohibited the traveling preachers from owning slaves when the State allowed emancipation. But there were many complications, and the agitation went on. In 1816 this law was so modified that no slaveholder could hold any official position in the Church if the State permitted him to free his slaves. But this did not set the matter at rest. In truth, we had to come to "irrepressible conflict." It was under this law that all ministers owning slaves were thereafter held responsible. The proceedings of the General Conference in 1844 in the case of Francis A. Hardin and in the case of Bishop James O. Andrew were based upon this law. So must have been the proceedings against Thomas Tennant, by this time a local preacher; for the record shows he located in 1823.
Now the facts surrounding each of these cases were substantially the same. Each had become a slave owner by marriage; each lived in a State whose statutes, in the judgment of each, made emancipation impracticable, if not impossible. In the General Conference of 1844 the delegates from the north felt that they could do no otherwise than uphold the sentence of the Baltimore Conference, which had expelled Francis Hardin and no otherwise than depose from his office Bishop Andrew. The delegates from the South regarded this as a violation of constitutional rights, also as an attitude on slavery which would at that time have ruined our prospects for carrying on in the South. On this issue the Church was divided, and really there was nothing else to do.
As respects Thomas Tennant, Jesse Haile, an uncompromising abolitionist, was at the time his presiding elder, 1825-1829; the only time the slavery issue was ever acute in Arkansas. It must have been during this quadriennium that he was expelled. But was he ever lawfully expelled at all? According to the view of the South, no; but was in law, as he continued to be in fact, a preacher to the end of his days. Taking this view, was he not the oldest Methodist preacher that ever lived? This question we have submitted to the Christian Advocate, Nashville; to the Christian Advocate, New York; and the Methodist Recorder, London. If any reader of either of these papers knows of an older preacher, let him write Rev. Jas A. Anderson at Jonesboro, Arkansas.


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Rev. Thomas H. Tennant
Arkansas Gazette, Little Rock, Arkansas, April 11, 1937

ARKANSAS WAS HOME OF WORLD'S OLDEST METHODIST MINISTERS843

The Rev. Thomas Hardester Tennant lived to be 114 years old and the Rev. George Washington Brinsfield attained the age of, 107 years, and nine months.
By Laurez Earley.

Arkansas has the distinction of having been the home of the oldest Methodist preachers in history.

According to local history, the Rev. Mr. Tennant was a great hunter of deer and a man of exceptional strength. He was a great exhorter, not only in name, but litterally, for it is said that his voice in the surrounding hills would carry for a distance of seven miles.

He was a native of Virginia, but his boyhood was spent in Kentucky and Tennessee. In 1818, he was admitted on trial into the Missouri Conference and appointed to the Arkansas Circuit, which comprised the country on both sides of the Arkansas river from Arkansas Post to Fort Smith.

The circuit riders were men of strength and courage--qualities that were required for them to carry on their hazardous work. They were continually faced with the dangers of human foes and wild beasts. But nothing could stop them from preaching the Word. Through the wilderness they made their way; exhorting, condemning when necessary, and consoling the repentant and the sorrowing. They entered the work because the felt called to it, not with any thought of worldly gain. Their "quarterage", as fixed by the church law, was only $100 per year. Sometimes it was difficult to collect even that meager amount. One of the stewards of those days related a story of the effort to raise the sum covering the preacher's salary. Failing to obtain the money, he collected coon skins and rode to the quarterly conference. When he arrived, his horse was covered with the skins. This was by no means an uncommon occurrence, as pelts were often used to pay the salary of preachers.

Another quality possessed by the Rev. John Tennant and others of his calling was perseverance. An amusing story has been told of the man who moved to several states in turn because he had fallen out with a Methodist preacher in North Carolina. Finally he landed in Louisiana, down among the swamps. He selected a spot high enough to settle upon and commenced to unload his wagon. A man rode up, and finding out he was a circuit rider, the other almost pawed up the earth in his anger. He told how he had been moving to get away from circuit riders. "And now," he stormed, "here you are before I can get my wagon unloaded."
The preacher mildly replied, " My friend, you are pursing a forlorn hope. If you leave here and go somewhere else, it will not be long before one of us will be there; if you die and go to Heaven, you will find plenty of us there; if you die and go to hell, you will find some of us there. You might as well give up."

This incident illustrates the circuit rider's tenacity of purpose. He risked his life to preach to those who would listen, be they settlers in log cabins or savages in the forests.

He married Miss Christine Haek. She owned a few slaves, and one of these, a Negro man, was stubborn and unruly. He caused the Tennant family much trouble. In those days, when a slave was freed by his owner, it was necessary for the owner to give bond for his good behavior. The Rev. Mr. Tennant could not afford to do this; neither could he keep the troublesome man; therefore he sold him.

Some time after the sale, charges were preferred against the preacher for selling a slave. As a result, he was expelled from the ministry. He felt that a great injustice had been done him in the matter, and never asked to be reinstated. He retired to Washington County, where he lived a quiet life on his little farm. But he did not stop preaching. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, the mighty voice rang out and he always took an active and important role in the yearly Bethelehem camp meeting near his home.

Though history records that he was expelled from the ministry, in the eyes of the South his expulsion never was lawful. Already there were deep rumblings of the war to come. From 1825 to 1829 was a period when the slavery question was becoming acute in Arkansas, and Jesse Haile, an uncompromising Abolitionist, was the Rev. Mr. Tennant's presiding elder at the time. However, "Brother" Tennant continued to preach until his death and his right to do so was recognized by the people among whom he lived.

He was married twice and became the father of 13 children. His eldest son, John A. Tennant, was graduated from Cane Hill College. He went to Washington Territory, where he married an Indian woman, settling in Walla Walla. Later he was licensed to preach. All of the Tennant children were devout Christians.
NOTE:  John A Tennant did not settle in Walla Walla.   He settled in Lynden, Whatcom County, WA with his Lumi Indian wife.



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Posted on a column at Central United Methodist Church in Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas, is a historical plaque which reads:

"THOMAS HARDESTER TENNANT, 1772-1886, pioneer Methodist preacher in the area, is buried at Bethesda Cemetery. He began his ministry in 1818 and spent many years as a resident of Washington County. He died at the age of 114 years. Erected by the Historical Commission, North Arkansas Methodist Conference, 1958."


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Author: S. J. Clarke (Publisher, 1922)844

The Tennant family is of English origin and was founded in America at an early day. The grandfather was a native of Virginia and went west
at an early period, after which nothing was heard of him. His son, Thomas H.
Tennant, was born in Virginia and he cast in his lot with the early settlers of
Washington county, Arkansas. He was first married near Little Rock and there
were eight children born of that union, but only one is living, Mrs. Adeline
Pyeatt, who makes her home in the state of Washington. For his second wife Mr.
Tennant chose Mrs. Slover, a widow, whose maiden name was Clarissa White.
Shewas born in Murray county, Tennessee, and this marriage was celebrated in Washington county, Arkansas. The following children were born of the second
marriage: Addison C.; T. S., a farmer, living near Summers,
Arkansas; Mrs. Alva Black of Merkel, Texas. The father was always a consistent
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and his political support was
given to the democratic party. He was a successful farmer who took up land of
the government in pioneer times and in the early period of the state's
development and killed many deer and bears here. He was a man of notable
strength and had a marvelous voice which carried seven miles. He lived to the
notable age of one hundred and fifteen years.


Additional Comments:
Citation:
Centennial History of Arkansas
Volume II
Chicago-Little Rock: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company
1922


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ar/washington/bios/tennant74bs.txt


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Rev. Thomas Tennant came to Arkansas in 1819, and lived in Pulaski County until 1829, when he took up his residence in Washington County. He died near Evansville in 1885, at the extraordinary age of one hundred and fourteen years. He was a minister in the Methodist Church for ninety years.


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Although Dewees does not mention the ministers' names, very likely two of the three were William Stevenson and Thomas Tennant. Stevenson was the presiding elder of the Black River District of the Missouri Conference of the Methodist Church in 1820, and Thomas Tennant had been assigned to the Pecan Point circuit in the fall of 1819. Horace Jewell, History of Methodism in Arkansas, 47. Either James Lowry or Washington Orr would be a logical surmise for the third preacher; each served the Pecan Point circuit—Lowry preceded Tennant and Orr succeeded him.

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The fourth session of the Missouri Conference met at
McKendree's Chapel, Cape Girardeau Circuit, September
14, 1819. Bishop George presided.

The appointments for Arkansas were : Black River Dis-
trict, William Stephenson, Presiding Elder; Spring River Cir-
cuit, William Medford ; Arkansas, Washington Orr ; Hot
Springs, William Harned ; Mount Prairie, William Stephen-
son ; Pecan Point, Thomas Tennant.

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"Ebenezer Prairie Circuit, September 6, 1822. j

" This brings the day appointed for the first sitting of the

Arkansas District Conference. Those who had attended,

agreeably to appointment, convened at a place near the

camp-ground, when the business of the Conference being



HISTORY OF METHODISM IN ARKANSAS. 53

opened by singing and prayer, it was found that the follow-
ing persons were members:

'■ Licensed Preachers — Benjamin Ogden, Joseph Reid, Gil-
bert Clark, Salmon Ruggles, Daniel Rawles, John ToUett,
Wm. Harned, Thos. Tennant, James Blackburn.

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The District Conference for 1823 was held at the same
plac?, Thursday, Sept. Ii, 1823.

" This brings the day appointed for the second sitting of
the Arkansas District Conference. The following persons
were present :

" Licensed Preachers — John Tollett, James Blackburn,
Henry Stephenson, Gilbert Clark, Wm. Harned, Benjamin
Ogden, John Sexton, John Henry, Joseph Reid, Salmon
Ruggles, Friend McMahan, Samuel Laird, Daniel Rawles,
Thos. Tennant."

The following item of business shows that the brethren,
at that early day, were troubled by the slavery agitations of
the day :

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1825 - 1829

"The Rev. Jesse Haile was a man of about 5 feet 11
inches in height; large, heavy-built muscular frame; fair
complexion, with light hair and eyes. He was a man of
great physical courage, and very resolute in carrying out his
purposes. He was violently opposed to all display in dress
and jewelry ; to dram-drinking, arid all irregularities of every



56 HISTORY OF METHODISM IN ARKANSAS.

kind. When he took a matter in hand he never ceased
until he had either effected a reformation or the expulsion
of the offender from the Church."

So violent was his opposition to slavery that he expelled
quite a number from the Church because of their refusal to
emancipate their slaves. One of his young preachers, Rev.
Thos. Tennant, was induced by him to emancipate his
slaves, a step which he afterward greatly regretted, when he
was reduced to a condition of want and suffering. Haile's
administration was a striking instance of well-meant but
mistaken zeal in a doubtful cause.

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traveling portion of the ministry
1818 Tennant, Thomas, dis. 1820.

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In 1818, the Missouri Conference sent four laborers to Arkansas, with William Stevenson as the presiding elder of the Territory. The circuits then had: John Shader, on Spring River; Thomas Tennant, Arkansas circuit; W. Orr. Hot Springs;
William Stevenson and James Lowrey, Mound Prairie. What was called the Arkansas circuit incluided the Arkansas River, from Pine Bluff to the mouth.

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Obit from Stevens Point Gazette, (Stevens Point, Wisconsin) Jan 2, 1886.845
“Rev. Thomas Tennant, a Methodist minister for ninety years, at Evansville, Ark. aged one hundred and fifteen years.


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According to the Arkansas Historian; Vol 43 No. 1; Nov. 2005:846

One of Bethlehem’s most notable
members was lay preacher Thomas Tennant,
who joined the church in 1829. He had the
distinction of being one of the oldest men
ever to live in Washington County. Also,
according to Methodist Church records, he
was the oldest Methodist Preacher to ever
live, reaching the age of one hundred and
fourteen years. He was also on the board of
directors that built Bethesda Academy,
which later became Bethesda School. When
Thomas Tennant died October 9, 1885, his
funeral was held in the Bethlehem Church,
and he was buried in the Bethlehem
Cemetery. His services were conducted by
Reverend George Morrow, who founded the
town of Morrow, Arkansas.

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Bethesda Academy (later Bethesda School), in Washington County, was incorporated January 5, 1843, with Allen M. Scott, John Campbell, Thomas H. Tennant, Benjamin F. Johnson, Michael Linebarger, Thomas Leach, Sr., and Jacob Funkhouser as trustees. This academy erected its building before applying for the act of its incorporation.835

Josiah Hazen Shinn, History of Education in Arkansas, Govt. Print. Off., 1900, pg. 25.847

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According to Abstracts of records from Bethlehem Church in Washington County, Arkansas listed in the Arkansas Historian Vol. 43 No1; 2005:
Marriage Record: Thomas H. Tennant to Mrs. Clarissa I. Slover, by Samuel Allen, 1844.
Death Record: Thomas H. Tennant, 9 October 1885.846

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According to:
Outline of Executive and Legislative History of Arkansas by Dallas Tabor Herndon, Ft. Smith, Calvert-McBride Printing Co., circa 1922.848

Thomas H. Tennant was a member of the ninth and last General Assembly of the Territory of Arkansas and was elected 3 Aug 1835 for Washington Co.

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LETTER FROM THOMAS H. TENNANT TO THE EDITOR OF “THE ARKANSAS GAZETTE” – May 19, 1835849
 
Transcription by Candace Wellman, November 4, 2001
  
To the Honorable A.H. Sevier:
 
Dear and much respected Sir –Permit an old acquaintance, and a long-tried friend, who has ever been found faithful to you, to address you in a spirit of candid plainness, upon a subject of the highest importance to the community in general; and perhaps, not wholly unimportant to yourself in particular – a subject, at least, affecting extensively your political standing, in the eyes of a large portion of respectable citizens in this part of our Territory.  I allude not to your enemies.  No, sir:  I speak of friends who never deserted you in a perilous hour – who stood by you, firm as unyielding mountains of adamant, on many a hard-fought field – who defied the hottest fire of your adversaries – who assisted you to gain the victory, and who gloried in the laurels which you won.  But sir, it must not be concealed, that these are the very men who have not deserted you, to be sure, but who are very much surprised at a remarkable passage in your recent Address ‘to the People of Arkansas,’ dated Little Rock, March 31, 1835; and who are exceedingly fearful that you have injured yourself seriously in the estimation of your fellow citizens.  And, finally, who, should you avow one construction which may be put on the passage referred to, will never give their suffrages to the man who can repay their kindness with palpable insult.
 
        The objectionable sentence is found in the third column, on the second side of the Address, and presents to every eye that reads, the following remarkable words, which are deeply engraven on many a memory, not soon to be forgotten:  ‘When we reflect that we have a battle to fight with fanaticism, on the subject of slavery,’ &c. Now, sir, let us pause a moment to collect our thoughts, after this astounding shock – so unexpected—so very severe –and then let us inquire: are all fanatics who are opposed to slavery?  I think, certainly I am not so far mistaken in you, as to hazard any thing in asserting, surely the honorable, the high-minded Sevier, will never answer in the affirmative.  No, never!  His generous soul would kindle with indignation, to hear any man make such an assertion.  This is what I have thought; this is what I have said.  But this is not what the public mind thinks; this is not what the general voice says.  And when I turn again to the stern, uncompromising sentence: after having exhausted my store of logic in your defence, there is nothing to be seen in its features that can give me consolation – there is no smile near it, to soften its excessive vigor.  It stands in naked majesty alone, like a tree stripped of its green leaves by the wintry blast, and around which all is the gloom of desolation.  But I will suppose, for a moment, that you mean what you seem to say without qualification.  What a train of absurdities and contradictions are connected with your affirmation!  Who, then, I would ask, are fanatics?—Every philosopher that ever lived?  Every true republican on the surface of the globe?  The people?  The free enlightened people of the free States – a majority of this vast republic?  The Methodists –the Quakers, whom you eulogize, and elevate to the highest pinacle [sp] of piety, morality and strict Christian propriety – the entire population of civilized Europe?  A Brougham, a Webster, a Wilberforce, a Finley, a Bascom , a Chalmers, a Jefferson, a Franklin, a Washington?  If all these are fanatics, let me be a fanatic also.  Let me be identified with them in time and in eternity; and the highest earthly ambition I could have, would be, while those deathless words are flaming in capitals of gold in the imperishable scroll that carries the memory of the great and the good down to future time, to have my humble name printed in almost illegible type, at the bottom of the scroll.
 
        Do you not know, sir –why all the world knows---that slavery is wrong?  Morally, religiously, politically wrong; and the only argument now to be offered in its justification, is expediency, arising from peculiar circumstances.  But I need not fight the wind; there is none who have the daring to say slavery is right, except those who have lost all sense with all feeling; you, I am sure dear sir, will not say it; you may say that we cannot rid ourselves of the evil, and you may wish this to be a slave state owing to circumstances, but you are too much of a republican to say tyranny is right in ___shape.
 
        And in conclusion, let me request you to give an explanation to your friends, and state how you come to pen the passage alluded to; and whether you had any reference to the friends of equal and universal liberty in this Territory; and remember that this request comes from one, who you will immediately perceive, by reading his name, to be an old and well-tried friend.  I say so, because you know so; you know I have sustained you in the hour of trial; and only come out and give a lucid explanation of your meaning, which I hope will be satisfactory, and I will sustain you again, with all the zeal of friendship and decided partiality, and all the humble influence I can wield.
        Thomas H. Tennant
        Fayetteville, May 6, 1835

Southern Claims Commission Questionnaire / Application
THOMAS H. TENNANT / Washington Co., Arkansas
Transcribed from original by Jonathan Dusek850

No. 4160
CLAIM of Tho. H. Tennant of Washington Co., Arkansas,
Summary Report.
Amount Allowed $307.50
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No. 4160
The Claim of Thomas H. Tennant of Washington Co.
[The following are items claimed to have been taken during the war, their values, and the amount allowed or refunded.]
1. 150 bushels of corn $300 / $100
2. 10 bushels of wheat $30 / $12.50
3. 15 gallons of molasses $15 / $10
4. 500 pounds of pork $50 / $30
5. 200 pounds of tobacco $100 / $0
6. 10 bushels of potatoes $10 / $5
7. clothing $150 / $150
8. 300 pounds of flour $30 / $0
9. 3 bushels of meal $6 / $0
10. 6 sacks of meal $6 / $0
11. 1 saddle $20 / $0
12. 1 stable horse $300 / $0
13. 30 bushels of rye $30 / $0
Total Amount Claimed $1047.
Total Amount Allowed $307.50
Total Amount Disallowed $739.50

We allow $307.50.
Mr. Tennant was much molested by the rebels. They hunted for him to arrest him. He was obliged to lie out in the woods & hide from them. They threatened to kill him unless he left the country. He finally was obliged to leave with his family & seek safety in a Union Colony. His property was taken by the rebels - 3 horses, a yoke of oxen, hogs & his crops for two years. He was an outspoken Union man. He gave information to the Federal Army. Several of his neighbors testify fully to his loyalty. He took the Oath to the U.S. in Feb. '63 & had a safeguard. We find him loyal.
The first 7 items been taken by Col. Benteen's command & Col. Jennison commanding the Kansas forces who took the property gave his wife a receipt which is attached to the petition. The claimant asks for much more than is in the receipt, but we allow only for the amount receipted and at the current prices.
The other articles charged from 8 to 13 inclusive were taken lawlessly & without authority. The evidence shows it was all mere pillage's & is therefore rejected.
We allow in all $307.50.

[signed] / Commiss. of Claims

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PETITION
To the Honorable Commissioner of Claims
Under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1871, Washington, D.C.:
The Petition of Thomas H Tenant
respectfully represents:
That he a citizen of the United States and resides at present in Washington County in the State of Arkansas
That he has a claim against the Unites States for Items taken by Col. Jenison - Kansas Cav. Vol. under Gen. Blunt, No. 12th, in the year 1864 while stationed at Cane Hill, Arkansas.
as follows:
150 bu corn worth $2.00 pr bushel $300.00
10 ten bushels wheat at $3.00 per bu $30.00
15 fifteen gallons molasses @ $1.00 $15.00
500 five hundred pounds pork @ $10.00 pr C $50.00
200 two hundred lbs tobacco @ 50 c. $100.00
10 ten bushels potatoes @ $1.00 $10.00
clothing to the amount of $150.00
Taken by Indians under Col. Phillipps
300 three hundred lbs flour @ 10.00 $30.00
3 bushels meal @ $2.00 $6.00
6 sacks at $1.00 Each $6.00
One saddle worth $20.00
Capt. Galaway 1st Ark Cav. Vol.; One Stable Horse $300.00
(30) Thirty bu ry @ $1.00 $30.00
Total value of property...$1047.00

That all the items in the above schedule were of the full value therein set forth and were [blank] your petitioner for the use of and were used by the United States army: Col Jenison while his Army was on the march.
Capt. Galaway at Dutch town in Washington Co., Ark,
Col. Phillipps commanding Indian troops under General Blunt.
That no voucher, but one receipt & other writing has been given therefore.
That your petitioner resided at the time said claim accrued in Washington County, State of Arkansas.
That I Thomas H. Tenant was owner of said claim, and that he is still the present owner of the same.
That your petitioner remained loyal adherent to the cause and the Government of the United States during the war, and was so loyal before and at the time of the taking of property for which this claim is made.
That said claim has never before been presented to any department of the government for collection
That George W. M. Reed, of Fayetteville, Ark., is hereby authorized and empowered to act as my Attorney for the prosecution of this claim.
Wherefore your petitioner pray for such action of your Honorable Commission in the premises, as may be deemed just and proper.
Whitnesses:
J. Q. Benbrok, Thomas H. Tennant, A. J. Norris

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I Thomas H. Tennant
being duly sworn deposes and says that he is the petitioner named in the foregoing petition, and who signed the same; that the matters therein stated are true of the deponent's own knowledge, except as to those matters which are stated on information and belief, and as to those matters he believes them to be true; and deponent further says that he did not voluntarily serve in the Confederate army or navy, either as an officer, soldier, or sailor, or in any other capacity, at any time during the late rebellion; that he never voluntarily furnished any stores, supplies, or other material aid to said Confederate army or navy, or to the Confederate govenrment, or to any officer, department or adherent of the same in support thereof, and that he never voluntarily accepted or exercised the functions of any office whatsoever under, or yielded voluntary support to, the said Confederate government.

Whitnesses: J. Q. Benbrok, Thomas H. Tennant, A. J. Norris

Sworn and subscribed in my presence, the 7th day of July 1871
G. W. M. Reed, Clerk of County Court

Names and residences of witnesses who will be relied upon to prove loyalty:
John Shannon, Cane Hill, Arkansas
Ira Williams, " " "

Names and residences of witnesses who will be relied upon to prove the other facts alleged in the foregoing petition.
Clara C. Tenant Cane Hill Arkansas
Henrietta J. Tennant " " "
Adison C. Tenant " " "
Tho. S. Tenant " " "
Post office address of claimant, Cane Hill Ark.

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[Oath of Allegiance]

Provost Marshall Office
Fayetteville Ark., Feb. 23 1863
This is to certify that Thomas H. Tennant has taken the Oath of Allegiance to support The Constitution and Government of the United States, and will be considered a loyal citizen so long as he keeps his oath inviolate.
W. Y. Pentarr
Lt & Ast. Pro. Marshal

[reverse - Personal Description]

Name: Thomas H. Tennant
Res’d: Wash Co. Ark
Age: 69
Height: 5’10”
Hair: Gray
Eyes: Blue
Comp: Fair

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No. 183.
SAFEGUARD
This is to certify that Thomas H. Tennant of Washington County, Arkansas is entitled from henceforth to the full protection and support of the government of the United States, and which is hereby pledged to him. All persons, military as well as civil are hereby commanded to respect him as a loyal citizen, and entitled to the full enjoyment of his property, both real and personal. All foraging is hereby forbidden upon his premises or of his property, unless actually necessary for the support and maintenance of the Federal armies, in which case all possible care shall be exercised and full receipt given by the officer in charge, which shall be duly recognized and the property paid for by the Government. All officers and soldiers belonging to the army of the United States, and especially all officers in command of foraging expeditions, will be held to the strictest accountability for the protection herein guaranteed.
By order of T.A. Suitzler
Lt. Col & Pro Marshall Army of the Frontier
A.W. Bishop
Lt. Col. & Pro Marshall, Fayetteville, Ark.

“Whoever belonging to the armies of the United States, in foreign parts, or at any place within the United States, or their Territories, during rebellion against the supreme authority of the United States, shall force a Safeguard, shall suffer death.”
Fayetteville, Ark.
February 23, 1863

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[Receipt from C. R. Jennison for items taken]

Cane Hill Arkansas
Nov. 12, 1864

The following named property was taken by Lt. Col. Benteen’s command from Mrs. Thos. H. Tennant:
One Hundred & Fifty Bushels of Corn
Ten Bushels of Wheat, Fifteen Gallons Molasses
Five Hundred pounds Pork
Two Hundred pounds Tobacco
Ten Bushels Potatoes
One hundred and fifty Dollars worth clothing
C.R. Jennison
Col, 15th KVC Comp Kans Troops

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No. 4160
BEFORE THE COMMISSIONERS OF CLAIMS,
Under Act of Congress of March 3, 1871.
In the matter o f the Claim of Thomas H Tennant in the County of Washington and State of Arkansas,
Comes now the claimant, before E.B. Harrisen, Esq., Special Commissioner for the State of Arkansas, and represents that he has heretofore filed with the above-named Commissioners a Petition for the allowance of a claim for property taken for the use of the army of the United States, which claim, as stated below, does not exceed the sum of three thousand dollars.
That said claim, stated by items, and excluding therefrom all such items as refer to the DAMAGE, DESTRUCTION, and LOSS, and not the USE, of property; to unauthorized or unnecessary DEPREDATIONS of troops and other persons upon the property, or to RENT or compensation for the occupation of buildings, grounds, or other real estate, is as follows:

1. (150) One hundred & fifty bu corn @ $2.00 $300.00
2. (10) Ten bu wheat @ $3.00 $30.00
3. (15) fifteen gal molasses @ $1.00 $15.00
4. (500) five hundred lbs pork @ $10.00 $50.00
5. (200) two hundred lbs tobacco @ 50 c. $100.00
6. (10) ten bu potatoes @ $1.00 $10.00
7. clothing to the amount of $150.00
Taken by Indians under Col. Phillipps
8. (300) three hundred lbs flour @ $10.00 $30.00
9. (3) Three bushels meal @ $2.00 $6.00
10. (6) six sacks at $1.00 $6.00
11. (1) One saddle @ $20.00
12. (1) One stallion (taken by Capt. Galaway, Cavalry 1st Ark) $300.00
13. (30) Thirty bu rye @ $1.00 $30.00

Total $1047.00


[reverse]

That, as stated in the Petition referred to, the property in question was taken from or furnished by Thomas H Tennant of Washington County, in the State of Arkansas, for the use of a portion of the army of the United States, known as Army of the Frontier, and commanded by Gen'l Blunt and that the persons who took or received the property, or who authorized or directed it to be taken or furnished, were the following:

Jennison, Col. Kansas Vol. Cav.
Blunt, Gen'l Army Frontier
Galaway Capt. 1st Arkansas Cav.

That the property removed to Cane Hill and used for or by U.S. Army as Stated in schedule; all this in the year 1864 as appears by the petition presented to the Commissioners.
That the Claimant is unable to produce the witnesses hereafter to be named before the Commissioners at the City of Washington for and because of the following reasons, to wit:
The smallness of the am't claimed in the petition and the great expense to produce the witnesses before the Commis. at Washington City at so great a distance from our homes.
That by the following named persons, the claimant expects to prove that from the beginning of hostilities against the United States to the end thereof, his sympathies were constantly with the cause of the United States; that he never, of his own free will and accord, did anything, or offered, or sought, or attempted to do anything, by word or deed, to injure said cause or retard its success, and that he was at all times ready and willing, when called upon, or if called upon, to aid and assist the cause of the Union, or its supporters, so far as his means and power, and the circumstances of the case, permitted.
John Shannon of Cane Hill Ark
Ira Williams of " " "

That, by the following-named persons, the claimant expects to prove the taking or furnishing of the property for the use of the army of the United States:
Clara C. Tennant of Cane Hill Ark
Henrietta J. Tennant of " " "
Adison C. Tennant of " " "
Thomas S. Tennant of " " "
The claimant now prays that the testimony of the witnesses just designated be taken and recorded, at such place and at such time as the Special Commissioner may designate, at the reasonable cost of the said claimant; and that due notice of the time and place of the taking thereof be given to the claimant, or to his counsel.
Submitted on this 7th day of July 1871
Thomas H Tennant Claimant
G. W. M. Reed Attorney.
P.O. Address of Attorney: Fayetteville, Ark.

[reverse]

No. 4160
CLAIM of T.H. Tennant of Washington County, Arkansas $1047.00 application to have Testimony Taken by Special Commission.
Filed May 13th 1872
E.B. Morrison,
Special Comm.
G.W.M. Reed, Attorney, Fayetteville, Ark. Lock Box No. 108.

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Before the Commissioners of Claims,
Act of Congress, March 3, 1871

Case of Thomas H. Tennant
No. 4160

It is hereby certified, that on the 26 day of J 1872, at Fayetteville, in the County of Washington and State of Arkansas, personally came before me the following persons, viz:
Thomas H. Tennant, Claimant,
George W. M. Reed Counsel, or Attorney,
and Preston Chandler, Weston D. Burrough, Clarissa I Tennant, and Henrietta Tennant, Claimant's Witnesses,
for the purpose of a hearing in the above entitled cause.
Each and every deponent, previous to his or her examination, was properly and duly sworn or affirmed by me to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, concerning the matters under examination; and the testimony of each deponent was written out by me, or in my presence, and as given before me and subsequently read over to said deponent, by whom it was also subscribed in my presence.
Witness my hand and seal this 26th day of June 1872,.
E.B. Harrison
Deposition of Thomas H. Tennant

In answer to the First General Interrogatory, the Deponent says:
My name is Thomas H. Tennant, my age 70 years, my residence Washington Co., in the State of Arkansas, and my occupation a Farmer; I am the claimant and have a beneficial interest in the claim.

2. My residence was in Washington Co. Ark. from April 1 of 1861 to June 1st , 1865. I remained with my family on my farm 25 miles South West of Fayetteville until 1862 when I took to living out about the woods and mountains near home through fear of the Rebels. (They were after me particular). I lived that way until May 1865 when I took my family and went to a Union Colony near Prairie Grove in this county where I remained until Oct. 1865. My farm consisted of 280 acres, 40 or 50 of which was in cultivation.
3. - 23. No [questions mostly relating to aiding the Confederacy]
24. [Were you ever arrested by the Confederate government?] The Rebels hunted for me time and again to arrest me but though they came near getting me I escaped. I was never arrested by the Federal Gov’t.
25. [Was any property ever taken by the Confederate authorities?] The Rebels took from me 3 horses, 1 yoke oxen, any amount of hay and all my crops for two years, on a few occasions individual soldiers paid me small amounts in Confederate money (which I was afraid to refuse) when getting provisions etc. With this exception I never got any pay for anything taken by the Rebels.
26. [Were you ever threatened on account of your Union sentiments?] Rebel Bushwhackers threatened on several occasions to my face to kill me if I did not leave the country or keep my mouth shet. And my neighbors warned me repeatedly that my life was threatened. I would have been killed if it had not been for warning given by my friends.
27. [Were you ever molested or injured on account of your Union sentiments?] Only by having to lie out to save my life and in being robbed which was done because I was a Union man.
28. [Did you ever contribute anything to the aid of the United States Army] No
29. [Did you ever do anything for the U.S. Gov't or Army during the war?] I carried information to Federal Officers, fed Union soldiers when they came to my house and did all that I could for the Union cause.
30. [Any relatives in the Confederate Army?] I had no relations that I know of in the Rebel Army.
31. [Owned any Confederate bonds?] No
32. [Have you ever given aid or comfort to the rebellion?] None upon the face of the Earth. I hated it as I hated the D----.
33 - 39. No
40. [At the beginning of the rebellion, did you sympathize with the Union cause?] At the beginning of the rebellion if understand the matter, I was as sentimentally in favor of the Union Cause as any man in the world for I hated the Rebellion as much as anything in the World and I told them so time and again in Speeches. I exerted all the
influence I had on the Union side. I voted against the Secession Convention. And after the State seceded I remained a Union Man and expect to die that way.
41. [Do you declare that your sympathies were constantly with the United States?] That is the fact, Sir.
 
Part 2 [page 5 - 10] Deposition of Thomas H. Tennant
[Give a full account of all you saw and heard in connection with the taking of the articles of property specified.]
All the property charged in my claim as items No 1 to No. 6 in claims were taken in November 1864 by a large Federal Unit under Cols. Bentine and Jennison as they were returning from the pursuit of Price’s Army to the Arkansas River. That Army came into my neighborhood about sun up and camped that day and next night 1 mile from my house. I left home in the morning just before they came. I was taking care of one of my Union neighbors who had been shot by the Bushwhackers, and I did not go home until after night, when everything I had was gone. The next morning I went over to camp and enquired for Bentine. He had gone on and I then went to Col. Jennison, who treated me pleasantly and told me that if I would come on to camp (he was moving but told me he would go into camp 2 1/2 miles on North) he would give me a receipt for the property. I would not go for I did not believe they would stop so soon, but my wife went with some of the neighbor women to their camp (for they did go into camp as they said they would) and Col. Jennison gave her a receipt for these articles. The receipt calls for 150 bushels corn, 10 bushels wheat, 15 gallons molasses, 500 lbs pork, 200 lbs tobacco and 10 bushels potatoes. (This receipt I gave to Mr. Reed my attorney to send with the petitions in this case). The receipt mentioned does not cover half what they got. Jennison told her not to mention small things, just what they really need was all he would write for, and my wife was confused and scared so she could not think of half they got and she did not know the quantity anyway.
I had on hand between 200 & 300 bushels corn and they got every ear. They got full 30 bushels of threshed wheat. The molasses is just about right and they took all the tin buckets on the place to carry it in.
I had three large dressed hogs in the house (one cut up) and from 5 to 10 large fat hogs in the pen and 75 head of stock hogs outside and they got the entire lot, clean.
The tobacco was a crop I had raised there, was over 200 lbs of it. I am certain about half of it was twist and the rest leaf. They took it all. I had two good patches of potatoes, between 1/2 & 3/4 of an acre in both. The soldiers took every potato. I suppose they actually got 20 bushels. No price was named in this receipt for this property.
I paid $2.00 per bushel in Siloam (and hauled it 12 miles) for corn to live on after this was taken. It could not be had for less in the country. I paid $3.00 per bushel for wheat when I bought the corn to replace that taken. $1.00 per gallon was the customary price for molasses in my neighborhood at the time.
Tobacco was selling at 50 cents per lb at the time this was taken. Pork was scarce and could not be got at that time for less than 10 cents per lb.
Potatoes were scarce in the country. They were worth $1.00 per bushel.
Clothing valued by Jennison at $150.00 was included in the receipt mentioned. This clothing consists of bedding and men's & women's wearing apparel. My wife told Jennison that his men had taken everything we had and he asked her if $150.00 would pay her and gave her a receipt for that much. What they took was worth fully that much.
Jennison’s Army was just about starved to death and were destitute of everything, they had been on a long march and the country was nearly stripped of supplies of every kind.
Items No. 8 to 11 inclusive were taken in July 1863 by a squad of Col. Philips Indian Brigade. There was about 75 of the Indians under a half breed captain (I knew his name but have forgotten it) out on a stealing expedition. They had several women with them loaded down with plunder. When they rode up I was in the house. They called me out and as I went to them they cocked 12 guns on me and threatened to shoot me. I showed them my protection papers when they took down their guns and let in to robbing me. The captain said they should not rob me but they paid no attention to him and took every bit of flour, meal, chickens, & sacks I had just come from mill with the flour from 10 bushels wheat. I brought home at the same time just 3 bushels meal. They took six good sacks and a saddle that I paid $21.00 in gold for less than 1 year before.
The flour was worth $10.00 per 100 lbs. the meal $2.00 per bushel, and the sacks $1.00 each.
Item no. 12 (1 stallion) was taken in June 1864 by soldiers of the 1st Ark. Cavalry.
Capt. Galloway of that Regiment was camped at Dutch Mills 2 miles from my house with a Scout and 25 of his men came to my house and got this horse. I knew one of the men and begged him not to let them take the horse. He said that if I would go to camp I could get a receipt, but the Bushwhackers had sent me word that if I went to Galloway's camp they would kill me and I was afraid to go. So I never got a receipt. They took the horse and I have witnesses to prove that he was rode in the service and that they sent me word that if I would come to camp they would give me a receipt.
The horse was a young fine stallion full 15 hands high & sound as a dollar in fine fix. Worth $300.00, he was a blooded horse. None of your scrubs.
Item no. 13 (30 bushels rye) was taken in the last of 1863 I think, by Maj. Willet of a Kansas Cavalry Regiment. He had been camped a while on Kane Hill. Willet with 120 men was out on a scout and stopped to rest and feed at my place. This rye was in stacks in the field. They turned their horses (they were all mounted men) in the field and scattered out the rye to the horses. I estimate the quantity, it was the crop of 3 or 4 acres, and was as fine a yield as I ever saw. There was certainly 30 bushels. I was present but Willet had a bad character. I was afraid of him and did not ask him for any receipt.
All this property was taken from my farm. I never received a cent for any of it, and have never before made any claim against the government for it.
Thomas H. Tennant
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of June 1872
E.B. Harrison
Special Commissioner


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DEPOSITION OF PRESTON CHANDLER

The said witness being first duly sworn to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth relative to the above claim testifies as follows:
My age is 51 years. My residence is in Washington Co. Ark occupation a farmer. I am not related to the claimant and have no interest in this claim.
I have known claimant full 40 years, all the time in this county I lived about 2 miles from him at the commencement of the war and until March 1865 when I moved to the Union colony near Prairie Grove (about the same time he went to another colony about 4 miles from the one I joined) and remained until the war was over.
I met him very frequently throughout the entire war and I talked often and freely with him on that subject. I was a Union man and he knew it and talked with me because I was loyal. He expressed himself without qualification as a Union man under ever circumstance and on every occasions. Our conversations were always of a private character. After the war got under way, at the time of the election on Convention in 1861 I was at the voting precinct with him and he was very earnest in his opposition to convention and was about the most outspoken in his opposition to it of any man there. He opposed secession earnestly and up to the close of the war he remained loyal to the U.S. Government. His public reputation was that of a union man. He was so regarded by his loyal neighbors. I know he was often threatened with violence by the Rebels and from early in 1863 until he joined the colony he hid out and dodged about most of the time. I lay out with him a great deal for fear of the Rebels a good many of them were active in agitating public sentiment against him to get him killed because he was a Union man, and I believe he would have been killed if he had not kept out of their way.
I never knew or heard of his rendering any assistance to the Rebel cause and I do not believe he ever did voluntarily. He was [ aly] regarded and denounced by the Rebels as a Loyal Man. That was his general character among the soldiers and citizens of both sides then and for the entire war.
I know he could not have proved his loyalty to the Confederacy he was well known as a Union Man to all of them.
Preston Chandler
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26the day of June, 1872.
E.B. Harrison
Special Comm.

_____


DEPOSITION OF WESLEY D. BURROUGH

The said witness being first duly sworn to tel the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth relative to the above claim testifies as follows.
My age is 45 years. My occupation a farmer. My residence in Washington County, Ark.
I have known claimant ever since I was a little boy. I was raised near him. I lived about 1 1/2 miles from him when the War came up, and until 1863 when I moved about 6 miles from him and remained until the Fall of 1864 when I moved to the Federal Post of Fayetteville where I remained until the close of the War.
Before I moved I met him frequently, and quite often after I went to Fayetteville. I talked with him and heard him talk many times about the War. He always talked against Secession and in favor of the Union. I was a Union man. I believe he always regarded me so for he talked to me like he did. There was a good little squad of Union men near me (a Dutch settlement called Dutch Mills) and he used to talk with them a great deal and always as a strong uncompromising Union man. I heard the Rebels talk about him a great deal and they always called him a Union man. I never heard him called anything else. That was his reputation with all parties clear to the close of the War.
I do not think he could have proved his loyalty to the Confederacy. I do not believe hey could have had much confidence in him.
Wesley D. Burroughs
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of June, 1872.
E.B. Harrison
Special Commissioner

_____

 
DEPOSITION OF CLARISSA I. TENNANT

She said whereas being first duly sworn to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth relative to the above claim testifies as follows:
My age is 49 years. I am the wife of claimant.
I was present and saw all the property charged in my husband’s claim taken. After the Price raid a large force of Federal soldiers under Cols. Bentine and Jennison returning from the pursuit of Price camped one morning about 1 mile from our house. Their soldiers were at our place the whole day long. The house and yard was full of soldiers. They took everything we had. I did not think we could live after they were gone, there was anything scarcely left on the place. My husband was away that day waiting on a neighbor that had been shot by the bushwhackers. He came home that night and the next morning he went to their camp. After he came home I went to their camp (they had moved a piece up the road) and Col. Jennison gave me a receipt for such things as I named over to him. That receipt did not cover near as much as the soldiers got for when I went to camp I did not know how much all the soldiers had taken.
They got our whole crop of corn. We had a great deal and they took every bushel. They took all our wheat but a bushel or two. I don’t know how much but 15 or 20 bushels to the best of my recollection. They took a half (or over) barrel of molasses and all the potatoes we had. The potatoes had not been dug, there was 1/2 acre or over.
They took three fresh killed hogs and five good pork hogs from the pen and a large number of stock hogs. They took a good big lot of tobacco part twisted and part leaf. I don’t know how much there was of the tobacco. They also took nearly all our bed clothes and wearing apparel. I think they got $150.00 worth of the clothing. I told Col. Jennison so and he put that in the receipt. I do not know what this property was worth. They got at the same time a great many other things not on the receipt.
Same time in the War a party of about 100 Indian soldiers under a half breed captain belonging to Philips Indian Brigade (Loyal Cherokees) came to our house and took all our flour meal sacks and a fine saddle. The flour was from 10 bushels of wheat that Mr. Tennant had just brought from mill. They got 3 or 4 bushels of meal to the best of my recollection and either 6 or 8 sacks, the sacks were good ones. The saddle was a very good one and not worn much.
Towards the close of the war several soldiers belonging to the 1st Ark Cavalry came to our house and got the last horse we had. I understand that Capt. Galloway was camped at the time with a scout down at Dutch Mills about a mile from our house these men took this horse and I never saw him afterwards. The horse was a fine one. Worth $200.00 or $300.00 he was a valuable young horse.
A spell before the Indians robbed us Maj. Willet with a scout of Kansas soldiers came to our house and stripped and put the horses in our field (there was a large scout of them all mounted.) and fed out our rye which was in two stacks in the field. They fed it all out. I don’t know how many bushels but there was two good sized stacks. I do not know what the rye was worth. but I know we paid as high as $18.00 per 100 for flour afterwards to bread the family.
C.I. Tennant
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of June, 1872.
E.B. Harrison
Special Commissioner


_____



PRESTION CHANDLER BEING RECALLED SAYS:
That in 1863 Capt. Galloway with a scout of the 1st Ark Cavalry was camped about a week at Dutch Mills near claimants residence. I was acquainted with a number of the soldiers and was at their camp twice. Some of the soldiers told me that they had Mr. Tennant’s horse and for me to tell him that if he would come to camp that they would pay or receipt him for the horse. I told Claimant but he said he was afraid to go, that the Bushwhackers had sent him word that they would kill him if he went to Galloway's camp. I knew the horse. He was a good young horse 3 years old fast, large. He was a very fine horse. I don’t know his value.
Preston Chandler
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 26th day of June, 1872.
E.B. Harrison
Special Commissioner


_____

 
DEPOSITON OF HENRIETTA TENNANT

The said witness being first duly sworn to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth relative to the above claim testifies as follows:
My age is 21 years. I am the daughter of claimant and live with him. I was at home when all the property charged in his claim was taken and I saw it all taken.
Sometime after the Price raid a large force of Federals camped near our house. They were going north, they had been chasing Price out of Missouri. Col. Jennison was in command of the Army I understand. A great many of Jennisons’s men came to our house and they took pretty much everything we had. I remember that they got all our corn. We had a good deal in a crib, a lot in the house and a lot hid under the floor and they took all of it. They got a lot of wheat but I don’t know how much.
They took a lot of molasses (I don’t remember how much) they carried it off in buckets and jugs.
(They carried the corn off both in wagons and on their horses)
We had considerable pork in house, Father had killed several hogs just before they came and they got it all and killed several fat hogs from the pen, and a good many young hogs that were running out.
They got a good big lot of tobacco but I can’t say how much.
They dug up and took all our potatoes. We had a good patch not yet dug. They took most of our clothing and some of our bedclothes. I don’t know how much the clothing was worth.
Before Jennisons men came (I can’t give the dates) a party of union Indians came to our house and threatened to shoot my Father, and took all our flour and meal sacks and a fine saddle. I don’t know how much of these things they got.
During the War (I can’t tell what time) a small party of Union soldiers (belonging they said to a scout under Cpt. Galloway who was camped at Dutch Mills near our house) came to our house one day and got a fine horse from Father. I was at the fence when they got the horse but can’t remember what they said.
Some time in the War a good large scout of Cavalry men (Federals) stopped at our place to feed. They put their horses in our field and fed out all Father’s rye. I don’t remember how much rye there was. I remember their stopping and the soldiers scattering the rye around to their horses. but that is all.
I don’t know the value of any of this property.
Henrietta Tennant
Subscribed and sworn before me the 26th day of June, 1872
E.B. Harrison, Special Commissioner

_____


REMARKS BY THE SPECIAL COMMISSIONER:
I have no former acquaintance with Claimant, but I have understood that he was an active outspoken Union man. His witness are intelligent and from their appearance and manner I give their statements full credit.
E.B. Harrison

The following is an extract of a letter from Rev. Thomas H. Tennant, of Washington county, to a friend in this vicinity, respecting the death of his wife, which we publish by request, for the satisfaction of the numorous relatives and acquaintances of the deceased, in different parts of this State.--[Eds. Star.

Washington, Ark., October 7, 1840.
Dear Sir:--With feelings that beggar description, and a heart riven into a thousand scattered fragments, and bleeding at every pore, while my eyes are blinded with gushing tears, I have seized on this moment, to inform you of a loss which I have sustained, which time, nor circumstances can never repair. Yes! it is fearfully true. I must tell it. My dearest friend, by beloved wife is no more! She is gone to a world of spirits; a land of deepest shade. After a voyage of one and twenty summers, over life’s tempestuous ocean, and on board the “good old ship,” she, on the evening of last Monday week, cast anchor safe and secure, in the harbor of endless rest.
It is a matter of pure consolation to me, that though, my companion was summoned home, when far away from relatives, here on the western verge of civilized life, yet her bed-side was crowded with friends, and that a thousand affectionate tears were shed at her grave. She has gotten safely home to that good world, towards which we have travelled, hand in hand, for more than twenty years. Many have been the tears we have shed; and many the prayers we have offered. But now her tears are all wiped away, and her prayers changed to songs of everlasting joy. She has changed the domestic circle for the paradise of God, and the society of husband and her seven children, for the society of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect. Her voice has ere this, melted into the most delicious tones, as it mingled with the notes of the harpers on their harps, to swell the song of the redeemed.
Sorrows may come, but they come not to her; dangers may surround us; temptations may beset us on every hand; the cold and wintry winds of penury and want may hover around us; our sin-polluted world may writhe and groan beneath the giant tread of earthquake; nature may commingle her elements and dissolve; and the fountains of the great deep may be broken up, but she is safe; harm can never reach her. For she is in that blessed world, whose inhabitants shall go out no more for ever. Of her I must say, I have not seen so great faith, so much patience, and resignation, no not in Israel. She was modest, diffident, and unassuming; an affectionate wife; a kind mother, an exemplary christian. So say all, in a word, I do not expect to look upon her like again.
THOMAS H. TENNANT

[”Extract of a letter from Rev. Thomas H. Tennant,” Arkansas Star, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA, 29 Oct 1840, pg. 3.]822