Soon after his birth the family relocated to Texas with Stephen F Austin's third colony. He and his wife Mary Jane had five children. He became an essential member of the Taylor faction of the Sutton-Taylor feud, though he was almost twice the age of most of the young feudists. He was a good friend of the famed killer John Wesley Hardin and considered leaving Texas with Hardin when he fled the country. On July 8, 1874, Gonzales County Sheriff Green Dewitt led a 20 man posse to a neighboring ranch to arrest Tennille. Believing that the posse would either shoot him or lynch him while "attempting to escape," he choose to go down fighting. After exchanging a number of shots with the posse his rifle jammed on a defective cartridge. He managed to eject it and was ready to fire again when he was fatally wounded. His grave was originally marked only by a stone. It has since been marked with a home-made marker that reads George C Tenille(sic), Jr. 1825 - 1874.
Soon after his birth the family relocated to Texas with Stephen F Austin's third colony. He and his wife Mary Jane had five children. He became an essential member of the Taylor faction of the Sutton-Taylor feud, though he was almost twice the age of most of the young feudists. He was a good friend of the famed killer John Wesley Hardin and considered leaving Texas with Hardin when he fled the country. On July 8, 1874, Gonzales County Sheriff Green Dewitt led a 20 man posse to a neighboring ranch to arrest Tennille. Believing that the posse would either shoot him or lynch him while "attempting to escape," he choose to go down fighting. After exchanging a number of shots with the posse his rifle jammed on a defective cartridge. He managed to eject it and was ready to fire again when he was fatally wounded. His grave was originally marked only by a stone. It has since been marked with a home-made marker that reads George C Tenille(sic), Jr. 1825 - 1874.
Family Members
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