Solon Tenney
Agency patch
Warden

Solon Tenney

Felonious
End of Watch December 29, 1856
Age 32
Tour of Duty 12 yrs
The Vigil Panel 2 ›
Gender Male

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

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August 2, 2026
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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

Type Corrections
Location Milford, Worcester County, MA
Platform Identity mdc.worcester.ma.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch December 29, 1856
Tour of Duty 12 yrs
Age 32
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Felonious
Cause Detail Stabbed
Weapon Edged weapon; Knife

The Sacrifice · Felonious

Solon is one of 15,743 officers killed feloniously in the United States, 57.1% of the 27,551 remembered there.

34,117 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

  1. See the roll
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Compare against
I

Time

In 1856, 5 officers in the United States were killed feloniously, the 182nd heaviest of 213 years on record. The heaviest was 1921, with 248.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Solon was 32. Of the 14,220 killed feloniously in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 31 and 47; the middle age was 38. Solon had served 12 years; the middle length of service was 6 years.

Age at death
Where he stood among them
Age by years of service
III

When

December holds 9.4% of these deaths in the United States, more than any other month. Mondays: 13.8%.

By month
By day of the week
IV

How

Felonious deaths account for 57.1% of all 27,551 deaths in the United States, the most common cause. The weapon recorded was edged weapon; knife, in 0.8% of these deaths.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

Massachusetts Department of Correction has 15 officers remembered here, Solon among them.

VI

Where

Warden Solon Tenney

Massachusetts Department of Correction · End of Watch December 29, 1856

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 38-E

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