Daniel I. Tenney (1800-1881), a native of Newburyport, was a successful jeweler and generous benefactor to his beloved hometown. He is memorialized as a figurehead from his namesake ship, constructed in 1875 in Newburyport. The figurehead was acquired by the Custom House Maritime Museum in 2026.
The Daniel I. Tenney ship was 212 feet long and 1,686 tons. French artist Edouard Adam (1847-1929) painted the Daniel I. Tenney nearing Le Havre, France, in 1880. The painting is in the collection of the Custom House Maritime Museum. Note the figurehead at the bow of the brig.
The full-length wood carving of Daniel I. Tenney was the work of Herbert Gleason (1830-1893), a member of a distinguished family of ship carvers in Boston and New York. The Currier Family Papers, 1736-1913, preserved at the Peabody Essex Museum Collections in Rowley, Massachusetts, document that Herbert Gleason carved several figureheads for John Currier, Jr.’s ships, including the Daniel I. Tenney. Currier kept detailed records of expenses incurred in constructing his ships, particularly the cost of “extras.” His record of “Extras on Ship 91” [Daniel I. Tenney] shows $175.00 spent on the ship’s figurehead.
Through research conducted by CHMM volunteer and historian Clarisse A. Poirier, Ph.D., we found reported in Newburyport Daily News, September 23, 1875, p. 2, “Mr. Tenney now takes an eighth interest in this new ship, only to keep alive his love for the birthplace of his ancestors as well as himself, and to be associated with her industries and history. He will decorate the vessel with a handsome set of flags and signal letters in appreciation of the compliment that the vessel is to bear his name, and she will be further ornamented by a full-length figure of Mr. Tenney on her bow.”
Tenney’s generous support of the city is still on display today. In 1863, he contributed to a fund to purchase and remodel the old Tracy House for use as a public library. Then, in 1877, he paid for the installation of bronze lamp posts that once stood on Pleasant Street in front of City Hall, at the very site where his father had died. His largest gift was the statue of George Washington that still graces the Bartlett Mall. Mayor John J. Currier (1834-1912), the son of the Tenney’s builder, attended the unveiling ceremony for the statue on February 22, 1879 (source: Newburyport Daily News, July 5, 1893, p. 2).
