Graduating from Yale University in 1832 he studied medicine, but abandoned it for the law and, on being admitted to the bar, opened an office in New York. He then tried journalism on the editorial staff of the Journal of Commerce, and contributed editorially to the Evening Post, during 1841-43 and 1847-48.

In 1853 he entered the service of D. Appleton & Company, publishers, as editor, and, in addition to a large amount of literary and critical work, began for them, in 1861, the compilation of the Annual Cyclopædia which he continued till his death.

During a long residence at Elizabeth, New Jersey, he held several local public offices including that of collector of the port during James Buchanan's presidential administration. He became a convert to the Catholic faith and married, as his second wife, Sarah Brownson, daughter of Orestes A. Brownson.

He indexed T. H. Benton's "Abridgment of the Debates of Congress" and added a sixteenth volume to the series (New York 1857-60). He edited the "Queens of England" (1852); and wrote a "Military and Naval History of the Rebellion in the U. S." (1865), and a "Grammatical Analysis" (1866).

•   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "William Jewett Tenney". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry cites:
  • Wilson, J. G.; Fiske, J., eds. (1900). "Tenney, William Jewett" . Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. New York: D. Appleton.
  • Lamb, James H. (1903). Biographical Dictionary of the United States. Boston. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Freeman's Journal. New York. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)