Eliphalet "Life" Tenney (1851–1933) & His Enormous Oxen

(As seen in Boston Globe for 13 May 1923.)

A PAIR THAT IS
ALMOST A FULL HOUSE

Stow's Oxen Eat and Sleep ---
Then Sleep and Eat

STOW — “Life Tenney has the biggest yoke of oxen in the State. They are so big he can’t get them out of the barn,” said Lem Cambert.

This seemed a bit like home town pride on parade until the story of the big yoke of oxen was repeated by every farmer in this section who have seen the pair.

Life himself, a typical old New Englander, descendant of a family that dates back to the old colonial days, Salem in 1638, and whose great-grandfather settled in Stow in 1789, didn't excite at all when asked about the oxen. “They’re pretty good size,” he said, “been standing in the barn since last Summer, but I guess I can get them out of the barn all right.”

Life was a little off at that, for when he yoked them up and backed them out of the barn the big pair took a door post along with them. As the two big heads appeared in the door followed by the great bodies the door post at first wiggled and as the oxen, eager to set out, pushed ahead the door post brushed aside as though it was on hinges and swung to the least pressure.

The pair of Holstein breed stand so high that their backs touched the rafters over their stall. They are estimated to weigh 4600 pounds. They have stood so long without work that their hoofs have grown. The hind hoofs have grown from 10 inches to a foot and the new growth has extended to a point and curls up in front like a hook.

Eat and Sleep

All the oxen have done for nearly a year is feed and sleep.

When Life was asked to have a picture taken of the pair he said “Don't know, unless you can take it where they stand. They’re apt to be pretty lively if they get out. If they get away it will be hard to herd them back in again."

The barn stands a little to the rear of an old red farmhouse where Life has lived for 72 years and where his great grandfather, Eliphalet Tenney, settled on a 90-acre farm in October, 1779. Life is named Eliphalet after his grandfather but “folks call me Life” he said as he led the way to the barn.

When he opened the barn door all that could be seen was oxen. The big bodies filled up the stall, backs touched the rafters, and sides rub against the walls. Gleaming out of the mass were the rolling eyes of the oxen, who were restless and eager with considerable fire in their eyes. No gentle eyed ox were these.

“Guess we'll have to take them out to get a picture,” said Life, as he walked into the stall with the yoke over his shoulder. (Into the valley of death, thought the timid reporter, scared to go past the door.)

“Gee Haw” and a crack of the whip and the mountains of ox flesh start to move, down goes the door post and Life and the oxen are in the narrow yard. And “Speed,” the fat boy with the camera, is on his back on the other side of the manure pile, where he fell as he hurdled out of the way in his fright as he saw the big fretting heads come dashing through the door. “Speed” said after he snapped a picture of the animals that he wasn’t afraid, but that there was not room enough in the narrow yard for him and the oxen and his camera.”

First Time Out

It was the first time since last Summer the oxen had been out of the barn and they pawed and moved and broke away and ran and did the same thing over and over again for a full hour before Life could get them back into the stall.

It was a miracle to see the thin, bent little Life herd the pair out of the meadows after a wild run and drive them back to the barn door. Then they would break again and down through the meadows they lumbered yoked together. And it was only when the barnyard was obstructed with planks and poles that Life succeeded in driving them back into the barn.

Life says he will have the oxen at work on his farm soon. The over-grown hoofs will be cut and with the grind of daily work the hoofs will harden to natural size. Life has had the oxen six years, purchasing them from a farmer in Charlton.

For 40 years Life Tenney has lived on the old home farm all alone. This past Winter he had a few days illness, otherwise he has never known sickness. During this Winter he has had as a companion John Penny of this town.

Mr Tenney never married.

The history of the Tenney family shows that Life is a descendant of Thomas Tenney, who was of the Rev Ezekiel Rogers company who arrived in Salem in 1638 and who settled in Rowley in 1639. Eliphalet Tenney, his great-grandfather, settled on a 90-acre farm in Stow in October, 1779, and the old farm has been in the family since. Life has clung to the old farm alone, leading a sort of hermit's life since 1880, the year his mother died. He has a brother in Folsom, Minn, whom he has not seen in years.

The Tenney family has been prominent in the civil and military life of New England. The history of the family shows branches in several of the New England States, with men of prominence in the communities in which they settled.