Who the Teners Are
A linen family of Tyrone, an American story
The Teners were a Protestant family of the Ulster linen country, settled by the eighteenth century in County Tyrone, Ireland — near Cookstown, Castlecaulfield, and the house at Moree.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, as the linen trade declined and the Land War reshaped Ireland, the family emigrated. Most went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, into the age of iron and steel; others reached California, Arizona, Australia, and Canada. The documented family descends from Thomas Tener I of County Tyrone, born about 1739.
Notable Teners
A governor, a poet, and a wide diaspora
- Governor John Kinley Tener (1863–1946) — born in County Tyrone; a major-league baseball pitcher, President of baseball's National League, a member of Congress, and Governor of Pennsylvania (1911–1915).
- Frances Milne (1846–1910) — a Tener daughter who became a published poet and reformer in California, and the first librarian of San Luis Obispo.
- The Pittsburgh Teners — who rose from the mills into engineering, industry, and banking within a single generation.
The 2026 Family-History Project
Testing the family's story against the record
In 1949 the family privately printed a proud history, Tener: A History of the Family in France, Ireland and America. In 2026 that book was laid against the primary record — parliamentary papers, land registers, the census of two nations, and surviving letters.
Most of it held. Some cherished stories turned out to be more complicated than the family knew — which, as any genealogist will tell you, is what makes a family history worth reading. The result is a corrected edition, a companion volume, and a growing, sourced family tree.
Are You a Tener?
Connect with the family
If your family name is Tener — or the name appears in your ancestry — we would love to hear from you. Whether you have old letters, photographs, a family bible, or simply a story, you may be a cousin, and your piece may complete a branch.
Get in touch