Roll of Honor
Incident
Warden Solon Tenney was stabbed to death by a prisoner at the Charlestown State Prison.
The prisoner, a 20-year-old male, who was serving time in prison for assaulting a jail guard, was unhappy about the amount of meat he had been receiving at meal time. The man had made the knife in the prison shop. As Warden Tenney was making his rounds of the prison at approximately 3:30 pm the prisoenr ran up behind him and stabbed him in the neck. Warden Tenney was able to draw his revolver as he fell to the floor, but fired no shots. The guard on duty in the shop and two other prisoners restrained the inmate and placed him in irons.
Warden Tenney was taken to the prison hospital where he died from his wound.
The inmate later told an investigating coroner that he got the idea to stab Warden Tenney in the neck after another prisoner had stabbed Deputy Warden Galen Walker in the neck two weeks earlier.
The inmate was convicted of Warden Tenney's murder and sentenced to death. While awaiting his execution he died in prison on January 12th, 1858.
Warden Tenney had served in several correctional institutions over a 12-year period.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife of three weeks.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MA-11F43739- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 tribute.
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Tributes
170 years is a long time for a name to go unread. Not today.
Warden Tenney gave the Massachusetts Department of Correction 12 years.
Thank you for your service to the Milford community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Warden Solon Tenney is one of 1 officers killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.
In MA, 199 of 469 officers were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 42.4% of this state's fallen. That is 42.4 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At Massachusetts Department of Correction, 13 of 15 officers on record were killed feloniously — deliberately targeted and murdered in the line of duty — 86.7% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Felonious compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Solon Tenney's cause is highlighted.
How Solon Tenney Compares
When Felonious Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Felonious deaths across the full memorial record. Solon Tenney is highlighted in Dec.
Weapons Used Against Officers
Most common weapons in felonious officer deaths. Solon Tenney was killed by edged weapon; knife.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
14 officers from Massachusetts Department of Correction are honored on badge.nw.
