He moved to Madison, Wisconsin Territory, in 1846 and was co-owner of the Wisconsin Argus newspaper.[1][2] Tenney was the Wisconsin territorial printer in 1846 and 1847, and was the reporter of the two Wisconsin Constitutional Conventions. He was also the Wisconsin assistant state geologist. He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1857 as a Republican. Tenney served as president of the Village of Madison in 1853 and 1854. He was a regent of the University of Wisconsin.[1] During the American Civil War, Tenney was paymaster for the Union Army. He was in charge of the United States Mail for Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakota Territory. During the 1870s, he was involved with the editorial staff of some Chicago newspapers. In the United States election of 1878, Tenney ran for the United States House of Representatives in Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district on the Greenback Party ticket.[3][4][5] He died in Madison.[1][2]
^'Report of the Annual Meeting of the State Bar Association of Wisconsin', vol 7, Wisconsin State Bar Association: 1907, Biographical Sketch of Horace Addison Tenney, pg. 322-325