Adamson Tannehill

Adamson Tannehill (May 23, 1750 – December 23, 1820) was an American military officer, politician, civic leader, and farmer. Born in Frederick County, Maryland, Tannehill was among the first volunteers to join the newly established Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, serving from June 1775 until 1781. He was promoted to captain and was commander of the Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment, the longest-serving Continental rifle unit of the war. He participated in several prominent engagements of the war, including the battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Saratoga. After the conflict, Tannehill settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his last military posting of the war. He was active in the Pennsylvania state militia, rising to the rank of major general in 1811. Tannehill also served as a brigadier general of United States Volunteers in the War of 1812.

Tannehill was an early citizen of Pittsburgh and a Pennsylvania politician who held several local, state, and national appointed and elected offices. These included one term as a Democratic-Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1813 to 1815 and president of the Pittsburgh branch of the Bank of the United States starting in 1817 until his death in 1820. He also served on the founding boards of several civic and state organizations. In late 1800, Tannehill, while a justice of the peace, was alleged to have charged more than was allowed by law for two probates and was convicted of extortion. He was reinstated to office shortly after by the governor of Pennsylvania.

Tannehill died in 1820 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was buried at his Grove Hill home outside Pittsburgh and reinterred in Allegheny Cemetery in 1849.