WILLIAM T. TENNIS, the son of John Arthur Tennis and Isabelle Dawson, was born May 4, 1855 in Marion County, Iowa. The Tennis family came from York County, Virginia to Marion county about 1848 with one son. Five more children were added to the family in Iowa. The family lineage has been traced back to St Mary’s county, Maryland where Joshua Tennison (later Tennis) was born in 1735. It is believed that a John Tennis/Tennison who settled there in the early 1650’s is the immigrant ancestor. William married ALORA MAY MULLINS on March 14, 1874 in Red Rock, Iowa. She was born December 8, 1857, near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to Gordon L Mullins and Nancy Jane Courson. William’s children were: Delbert W, Arthur E, Eliza, Maude, Arminta, and Percy C Tennis. In early 1880, William and Alora and their first three children came to Nebraska and settled near Newman Grove. Shortly they moved to near Oakdale where Maude was born and lived there for about three years, then to Clinton, Nebraska for about 14 years, before returning to the Oakdale area. Arminta and Percy C were born at Clinton. They now lived in the Star Community south of Oakdale. In 1914 William, Alora and sons, Delbert and Percy and their families moved to Scottsbluff county, Nebraska near Minitare. Later William and Alora moved to Crestwell, Oregon where their son Arthur and family lived. William died there in 1925. Alora returned to Oakdale and died there in 1938. Delbert W married Della Carnahan in Iowa, two children, Doris and Kenneth, Dell married Millie Gray, three children, Murry, Leta and Lena; Arthur E married Rose Morgareidge in Moscow, Idaho, seven children, Leo, Chester, Laura, Donald, Carrol, Otto died young and Eugene died young. Eliza and Maude married but never lived in the Oakdale area. Arminta married Frank Hawks in 1907, she died in 1913 in Idaho. Percy Clifford Tennis, born 1885, died 1964, spent many years in the Oakdale community. He married Ora Burkhead in 1911. She was the daughter of Joseph Burkhead and Elnora Austin, early settlers. They were parents of one son, Joseph W Tennis. Percy farmed and raised cattle south of Neligh. Ora died in Oakdale in 1974. Joe Tennis (1912-1981) attended college and mortuary science school and worked in the funeral business. He married Marian Rethwisch of Tilden in 1939. They have one daughter, Sharon.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in Dec 2007