Biography & Emigration: John Kinley Tener from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland to Washington County, Pennsylvania
"20th Century History of the City of Washington and Washington County, Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens"
(Chicago, Ill., Richmond: Arnold Pub. Co., 1910), by Joseph F. McFarland
Submitted by Annie Crenshaw
crenshawannie@gmail.com
This file of the Biography & Emigration: John Kinley Tener from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland to Washington County, Pennsylvania forms part of the vast archive of 4,000+ pages of genealogical records relating to COUNTIES TYRONE, DONEGAL, LONDONDERRY & FERMANAGH provided without charge or subscription by CoTyroneIreland Welcome to the Premier Website & Research Tool for Cos. Tyrone, Donegal, Londonderry & Fermanagh Genealogy (cotyroneireland.com) A complete list of records pertaining to Biographies and Emigration, County Tyrone on this website can be found at the foot of this file.
pages 1248-1249
HON. JOHN KINLEY TENER. One of the most interesting figures in public life in Pennsylvania at the present time is Hon. John Kinley Tener, member of Congress, representing the Twenty-fourth Congressional District, in the Sixty-first Congress of the United States, and a favorite candidate of the Republican party for nomination for governor of this great commonwealth. He is a man of education, public experience, financial stability and social standing. His home is at Charleroi, Pa., where his business interests are very numerous, but his name is known all over the land and its mention still arouses enthusiasm when whispered in connection with the great American game of baseball, for there are many who easily recall his triumphs on the diamond, and the days when Pitcher Tener had royal honors accorded him.
John Kinley Tener was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, July 25, 1863, and is a son of George Evans and Susan (Wallis) Tener. The father was a small farmer in Ireland and after his death, the mother and her ten children emigrated to America, reaching Pittsburg, Pa., in May, 1873. Her death occurred in that city three months later and thus, when a child of nine years, John K. Tener was left an orphan. His education was obtained in the public schools of Pittsburg and before accepting a clerical position with a large business house of that city, he took a commercial course. It was while in the employ of the above firm that he first became interested in athletics as a means of recreation and soon identified himself with a baseball team, in which he soon developed the particular qualities which made him the chosen pitcher of that amateur team of players. Shortly afterward he was offered and accepted the position of pitcher for the Pittsburg baseball organization, and during the season enjoyed considerable local reputation for his expertness and technical knowledge of the game. The exercise had proved very beneficial to him physically and he returned to office work in the best of health, accepting a clerkship with the Chartiers Valley Gas Company, of which he was later elected secretary. This concern was absorbed one year later by the Philadelphia Gas Company. In the meanwhile, Mr. Tener's enthusiasm for and interest in baseball had never weakened, nor had the confidence in his powers been forgotten by the magnates then more or less managing the game as a business proposition. He frequently was called to act as pitcher in important games in different parts of the country, and in 1888 he was prevailed on and ultimately signed articles with the Chicago National League team and was pitcher until the close of the season of 1889. It was during this season that the Chicagos and a team of players from other league clubs, made baseball familiar to nearly every part of the civilized world. Under the management of A. G. Spaulding and the leadershrip of Captain Anson, the All-American baseball players left Chicago in the fall of 1888 and completed the circuit of the world before they returned. At Sydney, Australia, this organization played the first game of baseball ever witnessed there; it played in front of the Pyramids of Egypt; in the island of Ceylon; then on through Italy, France, England, Ireland and Scotland, nobility as well as the common people growing enthusiastic over the game. To Pitcher Tener much of the attraction of these remarkable performances was due and he found himself a hero both abroad and at home. Whatever commercial, political and social triumphs have later come to him, his supremacy and recognition in the field of athletics can never be questioned or forgotten.
In 1890 Mr. Tener severed his professional relations with baseball; and in 1891 he came to Charleroi, Pa., and became first cashier of the First National Bank of this place and in February, 1898, was elected president of this institution, at the head of which he has continued ever since. His financial interests have increased year by year and he is officially identified with other important business organizations of this section. He is secretary and treasurer of the Charleroi Savings and Trust Company; vice-president of the Webster, Monesseu, Belle Vernon and Fayette City Railway, and president of the Mercantile Bridge Company, controlling the connection between Charleroi and Monessen. Mr. Tener is a thorough master of every detail of his many business interests, but he has also found time to make a study of public questions and in the performance of duties attached to the responsible offices to which he has been elected, has shown a wisdom and ripe judgment that has made his fellow citizens eager to advance him to still more exalted position.
In October, 1889, Mr. Tener was married to Miss Harriet Jeanette Day, of Haverhill, Mass. They enjoy a beautiful home at Charleroi. Personally, Mr. Tener is a man to win friends. He has all the engaging qualities which mark the Irish race, together with the quick mind and the contemplative faculties with which that people are also endowed. Mr. Tener is a charter member of Charleroi Lodge, B. P. O. E., No. 494, and is a prominent member of this organization. In July, 1907, he was elected grand exalted ruler at the National Convention of Elks, held at Philadelphia, and served in that office until July, 1908. He has been a member of the United States Congress since the fall of 1908.
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