Dr. John W. Tenny, Ponchatoula Dentist, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Feb. 2007
Special thanks to Jim Perrin for donating it to the archives.

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DR. JOHN W. TENNY, PONCHATOULA DENTIST

BY JIM PERRIN, Local Historian

A century ago when Ponchatoula residents needed dental treatment they often turned 
to the community's first dentist Dr. John Watson Tenny.  Born about 1854 in Chapel 
Hill, North Carolina, John Tenny was the son of Nathaniel Brooks Tenny and Jane 
Beasley Tenny.  As a young man John entered the University of North Carolina at 
Chapel Hill and received a solid education.

John Tenny moved to Louisiana and lived for a time in New Orleans.  He married 22 
Jan. 1885 in the Crescent City to Lucie Mel de Fontenay.  Their marriage was brief 
for Lucie died in New Orleans about three months after their marriage.  Soon after 
this tragedy John decided to move from New Orleans to Ponchatoula. 

Arriving in Ponchatoula later in 1885, John established his practice in the piney 
woods town of about 300 persons.  Regular dental check-ups were not the common 
practice in those days and many of John's patients came to his office in distress 
and needed teeth extracted.

John married for the second time about 1896 to Ada Rebecca Nesom Overdier, the 
widow of prominent Ponchatoula resident John Warren Overdier, who had died in Oct. 
1895.  Ada was born 10 May 1859 in Clinton, LA, and was the daughter of Frank 
Nesom and Lenora Jane Durbin.  Ada and John did not have any children.

When the census was taken 1900 John and Ada were living in Ponchatoula, probably 
on the corner of East Pine and Third streets on land that Ada's former husband 
John Overdier had purchased in 1877.  Listed as living near the Tenny family was 
Ada's sister Iva L. Nesom Young, her husband local barber John E. Young, and their 
family.

Dr. John Tenny was one of the charter members of the Louisiana State Dental 
Society, and in Feb. 1907 was elected president of the society at their annual 
convention in New Orleans. 

John practiced dentistry in Ponchatoula for over forty years until advancing years 
forced his retirement.  In his later years he had practiced from his home on Pine 
Street.

Ada Tenny died 13 Jan. 1931 at her home in Ponchatoula after a short illness and 
was buried in Springfield Cemetery. 

John Tenny was hit by an automobile on October 9, 1934, and died on the 22nd of 
that month from the injuries he received.  He was buried beside Ada in the 
Springfield Cemetery.  Dr. John Tenny, Ponchatoula's first dentist, and his loving 
wife Ada were fondly remembered by the generations of area residents that knew and 
admired them.

Anyone with questions, comments, or suggestions for future articles, may contact 
Jim Perrin at 386-4476.