THE  ROBBERY  OF  JOHN  FROST  TENER

In April 2006 I posted a short story about John.  First, John was born in Co. Tyrone, Ireland in 1868. He immigrated to America with his family as a youth, and went to work in the steel industry.  Most of the young boys at that time, if they had connections like John, went to work in offices and were often office boys. His tasks could have been running documents between offices, or buildings. He would have been sent on a number of errands, and there is evidence he accompanied executive's wife's on shopping trips to carry their purchases.

John worked his way up and became the secretary to George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh. He may have grown weary of inside jobs, or he was merely selected by Mr. Westinghouse to go to Arizona in order to investigate copper properties there. He left the employ of Westinghouse and opened a mining supply business in Nogales, Arizona Territory.  

John married Nora Boyd Simpson 7 October 1896 in Wheeling, WVA.  They lived in Pittsburgh before he went West.  In March 1897 their first child was born, Virginia Simpson Tener; and in December 1899 their son John Frost Tener Jr. was born in Pittsburgh. He was naturalized a U S Citizen in August 1899 in the Western District Court.

Nora died at the family home in Pittsburgh on 2 January 1900 following a brief illness.  By March, John was in Nogales, AZ.  I believe the children were sent to Wheeling, WVA, to be cared for by the doting grandparents.  Nora was an only child whose father was a successful insurance businessman.

In the June 1900 U S Census John was enumerated as residing in Santa Cruz County and working as a Mine Manager.  In October 1900 he was listed as a Republican candidate for supervisor of Washington County. Although he received the endorsement of the local newspaper, he did not win the election.

On 14 Dec 1901 a newspaper article reported he was in partnership with his brother Norman Tener in some mining properties in the Magdelana district near Sonora, Mexico.  Two weeks later, on 28 December the Oasis newspaper in Nogales listed John as a Director of the International Bank of Nogales.  IN Jun 1902 he was selected to serve on a Civil Grand Jury for a one year term.

 In November 1903 a news article reported that John's sister Alice Tener, a single woman, moved to Nogales and brought John's son John Jr.  She lived with her brother and continued to help with John Jr.  I understand that Virginia was being raised by her Simpson grandparents in West Virginia.

Now, it is somewhat important to me to relate to the reader that this was still The Wild West! In the Utah-Wyoming areas there were a pair of outlaws gaining much notoriety- 'Butch' Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  They were active from the late 1880's and into the early 1900's.  In the Southwest there was another pair who were making quite the name for themselves -   Albert Alvord and William Stiles.  This notice appeared in a 14 January 1904 edition of the Bisbee Daily Review:

That was not the last that we would hear of these two. Why they were in jail that time I do not recall. They had amassed quite a record by that time that included murder, bank robbery, train robbery, assaults and breaking out of jails and prison.  Why do I mention these fellows?  Read on!

In early February 1904, John F. Tener was bringing a load of gold from the mine in Mexico up to the bank in Nogales.  He was accompanied by a Mr. Morris an employee of the mine and riding shotgun to help protect the gold shipment.

The 13 February 1904 edition of the Border Vidette carried a full descriptive article of the interaction between John F. Tener, Mr. Morris and the two outlaws - Bert Alvord and Billy Stiles:

Yes, John was robbed of the gold bullion, his sidearm, his horses and buggy, and if I recall correctly from another news article - they also stole their boots.  Mr. Morris recognized the two as the notorious pair and warned Mr. Tener who initially was unwilling to cede his gold.

The Nogales newspaper, The Oasis, also ran an article on the robbery -

By 16 February the posse was hard on the trail of the outlaws. The Bisbee Daily Review ran this article: 

John F. Tener had actually joined the posse and stayed with the chase. By 20 February 1904 there had been created a $10,000 reward for the capture Dead or Alive by a millionaire businessman who's life had been threatened by the pair of outlaws! In the following news article it was reported as many as 500 Americans joined the search for the pair of outlaws:

The chase continued into March 1904.  On 5 March 1904 the Flagstaff newspaper, The Coconino Sun reported the following:

I do not know when it was that John left Nogales, but he did not leave mining.  His next stop was the minefields of Goldfield, Nevada.  He was there for certain in March 1907, but I do not know when he arrived.  If he was much earlier, like in 1905 the sheriff was one of the brothers of Wyatt Earp (Virgil Earp I think).

In the Canada 1921 Census it was reported that John F. Tener arrived in Canada in 1909.  On 5 March 1912 John married Kathleen "Kay" Isabella JOY in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. On 4 December 1920 he was granted Canadian Citizenship.  In 1921 he settled down to farming in Okanagan, Yale, British Columbia.  He published a book of poetry in 1941.

On 10 April 1948, at 769 years of age, John passed away in New Westminster, British Columbia.