Tanner Family Members on Nauvoo Seventies’ Records

During a recent visit to Nauvoo, Illinois, I reviewed a list of the Seventies who served during the time the Seventies Hall was built. The hall was completed and dedicated in December 1844.

In 1996, Harvey B. Black, Professor Emeritus of Brigham Young University, compiled a Nauvoo Seventy Membership, Annotated Index covering Quorums 1 through 35 and the years 1835 to 1846.

Quoting from the Website of Historic Nauvoo,

The Seventies were the missionaries sent out from Nauvoo, patterned after those “seventy” that Jesus called to carry the Gospel to every city and place (See Luke 10:1). In this hall, the Seventies learned gospel principles and missionary skills. They went forth from Nauvoo to carry the gospel to every state in the Union, to the American Indians, to Canada, Europe, and the Pacific Isles.

Among those listed in the Index were several Tanner ancestors and John Shepherd. The Tanners were all sons of John Tanner (b. 1778, d. 1850). The list included:

• John Joshua Tanner (b. 1811, d. 1896, son of John Tanner and Lydia Stewart)
• Myron Tanner (b. 1826, d. 1903, son of John Tanner and Elizabeth Beswick)
• Nathan Tanner (b. 1815, d. 1910, son of John Tanner and Lydia Stewart)
• Sidney Tanner (b. 1809, d. 1895, son of John Tanne and Lydia Stewart)

Three other Tanners were included, but are not relatives:

• William Tanner (shows birth date of 1811, however although the Index shows John Tanner as his father, he is not the son of John Tanner)
• Marcus Tanner (no parents listed)
• Thomas Tanner (son of William Tanner and Julia Dyer)

John Tanner had a son named William by his second wife, Lydia Stewart, but William Stuart Tanner (b. 1802, d. 1875) never joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and never lived in Nauvoo, Illinois.

The mission of the Seventies is set forth in the Bible, see Luke 10:1–17; Exodus 24:1, 9; Numbers 11:16. The Seventies were established in the restored Church in 1835. See Doctrine & Covenants 107:25, 34. As set forth in an Ensign article by S. Dilworth Young:

On February 28, 1835, seven presidents were chosen to preside over the quorum. In order of their choosing, they were: Hazen Aldrich, Joseph Young, Levi Ward Hancock, Leonard Rich, Zebedee Coltrin, Lyman Royal Sherman, and Sylvester Smith. 

The Prophet also organized 2 1/2 more quorums of seventy, making a total of 3 1/2 quorums. They were presided over by the presidents of the First Quorum. 

It was understood that the seventy were to be generally free of local responsibility so that they could preach the gospel under direction of the Twelve to the ends of the earth. Many of them did just that.

Sources

Baumgarten, James N., The role and function of the Seventies in L.D.S. Church history, Thesis (M. A.), Brigham Young University, Department of History, 1960. [Online.]

"Quinn Dombroski," [pseud.], "Seventies Hall," [digital image], Flickr. Creative Commons license.

Young, S. Dilworth, "The Seventies: A Historical Perspective," Ensign, July 1976.