Constance Trevor TENER

In early 2003 when I was trying to track down some family genealogyu papers, I located Connie tener living in Cape May, New Jersey. Getting to her was something of a story in and of itself! Quite by accident, I locatred that there was a depository of Tener Papers housed in the Heinz History Center, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We made a trip there in order to go through their holdings in a slow paced manner. What was evident going through these papers, listed in the catalogue as .75 linear feet, was that a major contributor of these items was one Roberta Tener Johns. Roberta T Johns was very much a genealogist and family historian who must have spent untold hours with family history. For example, she and her mother, Maude Tener Johns, went through hundreds of the Mary Frances Evans Tener letters, spanning te period 1846 to her death in 1864. The placed them in chronological order as well as they could, and then Roberta transcribed them into about 570 typewritten pages! Using this as a basis, another Tener descendant, who was living in Pittsburgh area at the time, provided me with the probate file for Roberta T. Johns. From the details in those papers, I was able to determine that she left her family history papers to her first cousin - who was about 25 years her junior, Edward Harrison Tener Jr (TBB page 75). But by the time Iwas trying to locate the papers, and him, he had passed away. However, he was last residing in Cape May, New Jersey - and I located a C. Tener living in Cape May. I mailed a letter, and in late March 2003 Connie replied to my letter, and we began a positive communication. There were many long, late evening telephone calls which allowed us to keep up with each other, and share family history stories. We were able to meet her in person on one of our East Coast trips. Connie will be missed by her family and by us! Below is her obituary: TENER, CONSTANCE TREVOR, 64, of Cape May Court House, NJ died quietly in her sleep on Saturday, August 25, 2012. Ms. Tener was born in Pittsburgh, PA. A graduate of the Ellis School, she earned a BA from Emory & Henry College, VA as a French major. She taught French in Virginia and Delaware. In 1980, Constance earned her Associate of Nursing Degree from Atlantic Community College, and worked in several facilities in New Jersey and at Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center in New York as a Registered Nurse. Connie was predeceased by her parents, Edward Harrison Tener, Jr. and Barbara McCormick Tener. In 1996, she made her debut at the Cinderella Ball in Pittsburgh. She was a descendant of John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and General James Ewing, who served with George Washington at Valley Forge. Connie was a great niece of John Kinley Tener, Governor of Pennsylvania and President of the National League of Baseball in the early 20th century. Connie is survived by her sister Kathleen Tener Smith (Mrs. Roger D.); her nephews Silas W. Smith, MD (and wife Helen), and Luke E. T. Smith; niece, Jocelyn T. Smith; grandniece Addison K. Smith; and grandnephew Alston H. Smith, all of New York. She also leaves one aunt, Margaret M. Reynolds of Ligonier, PA, and many cousins. Connie’s cremated remains were mixed with those of her dear friend and companion, Joseph R. Sernicola, Sr. and scattered at sea off Cape May as they wished.