I first beheld the light of day...

Many years ago my family and I heard a story from a regional representative at a Stake Conference. I unfortunately can't remember his name but he was originally from Joseph City and met my dad before the conference and found out he was a great-grandson of Henry Tanner, so he told a story about him in the conference. About 25 years later I wrote down the story as I remembered it, and then did some looking around on the internet and found that the story is included in a published book, much as I remembered it.

It is a personal and sacred family story, so I will not include it here, but will point any descendants to Henry Tanner's entry on FamilySearch Family Tree, and note that I heard at least one additional similar story about Eliza Parkinson Tanner from her granddaughter Pearl Jacobson.

Instead of including the stories here, here's an autobiography written by Henry and recently added to Family Tree by Janice Salazar. I have added paragraphs for readability, although I preserved his spelling and punctuation. As a word of explanation, in the era when he was baptized and ordained, ordinances were normally performed by ward leadership, rather than the father, as is commonly done now.

I Henry Martin Tanner first beheld the light of day, in the old fort in Sanbernardino California, in the year of our Lord 1852. While my parents were filling a mission in this goodly land. My parents being released from the mission in 1858, returned to Utah, & resided in Cedar City for one year or there abouts. From thence to Beaver. 

At the age of eight years or in 1860 June 11, I was Baptized by Samuel White and Confirmed by John Robinson. My father followed freighting for a livelyhood and I remained on the farm at home. In the year 1867, I was Ordained a Deacon under the hands of John Robinson of Beaver. In the month of Janurary ^25^ 1877, in the St George Temple, I was promoted to the office of an Elder under the hands of Lorenzo Roundy & at the same time & place married my wife Eliza Ellen Parkinson. 

In the following Feb. 21st, I took all of my Earthly belongings & started upon a colonizing mission on the little Colorado River in the North Eastern part of Arizona traveling by the way of St. George, Lynx Springs, Pierce’s Ferry, Wallapai Valley, & Hackberry. [See the account of the journey here.] Then to the Sanfrancisco mountain & the Settlements on the little Colorado River and Settled in what was then known as William C. Allens Camp. Twenty-five miles South of East of Sunset.

We passed through all the trials incident to traveling & colonizing in a new country. Breadstuff was very high at that time we payed as high as eighteen dollars a hundred for flour, then were very fortunate if we got a first class article which we hauled with ox teams from New Mexico or Utah.

At that time the Navajo Indian’s were wild & would some times drive off some of our horses, but we followed the Counsel of President Young and fed them instead of fighting them.

I have followed the occupation of mixed farming. In the year 1878 I was called as second counselor to BP Joseph Richards of St. Joseph Arizona. I think in 1886 it was when our ward was reorganized Bp John Bushman BP. I was selected also as counselor to him and have remained in the Bishoprick until the present time. In 1886 I married my wife Emma Stapley in the St George Temple. In 1888 I was called to fill a mission in Great Britain returning in 1889 on account of Ill health. Have served as Superintendant of Sunay Schools twenty years in the St Joseph ward. My wife Eliza Ellen has born me eleven children all healthy and strong        of whom are married and have home and families of their own all in good standing in the church at present time.

Emma Ellen has born six children four of whom are living, one married. Two of my Sons have performed missions in the Southern States on under the Presidence of Ben E. Rich and the other under the Presidence of Charles A. Callous [Callis] one son is the Stake Clerk in the Snowflake Stake of Zion

Sources
Bushman, Edith Smith. Climbing Life's Mountains: Arizona Pioneer Stories and Faith-Promoting Experiences. A.E. Bishman Family Organization, 1993, 97-98.

Tanner, Henry Martin. "Autobiography of Henry Martin Tanner." Genealogical Surveys of LDS Members: Autobiographies and Ancestors. 34 Volumes. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1924–1929. (Family History Library book 289.3 G286g; films 1059454–63).

Henry Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer

My dad sent a link to a digitized copy of George S. Tanner's Henry Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer. You can download it here:

Henry Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer

Here's the first page:

And a random page with the end of one interesting story (found here), and two others in their entirety:

Pioneer Day: Celebrations in Joseph City, Arizona

St. Joseph, Arizona

Salute of guns, serenades, parades and programs made our Pioneer Day complete. Orations were the order of the day. The comical side of life was enjoyed as Alex Walbeck responded to the demand that he perform. He bounded onto the stage with great gusto and wild gestures and loud exclamations. Suddenly, with modest embarrassment, he clutched his pants, and in a side line would say, "Oh! a suspender button." Then he renewed his "oration" only to interrupt himself at the opportune time with another outburst of "another suspender button." This usually brought down the house. 

A dear old Sister Neilson, very large in stature, dressed in a red flannel petticoat, beautifully embroidered in black mohair, and wearing a lovely shawl over her plump shoulders, walked on the stage and seated herself. Nearby was a gentleman who represented the U.S. Census Bureau. He opened his very large book and began asking questions. She answered the best she could, in her very broken English. "Husband?.... Nine." "Daughters?.... Nine." "Sons?': "Nine." "Nine sons, nine daughters, nine husbands! Incredible!" She sprang to her feet and in wild array screamed "no! no!" as she ran off stage. 

Samuel Greenleaf Ladd, called to Arizona in the first company of settlers, gave the most impressive prayers at our meetings and celebrations.

All the old favorite songs were burlesqued and thoroughly enjoyed. It didn't matter what kind of voice the performer had, the idea was the ability to act it out. Such songs as "The Cork Leg" could be fully enjoyed only if Brother Ladd gave them. Johann Westover was always called on to sing "Valley Tan." Susan Heward's favorite was "Tommy, Make Room for Your Uncle." No one could sing "Tap-Tap-Tapping at the Garden Gate" quite like Eliza Tanner.

Henry Tanner and the Edmunds-Tucker Act

I've read that Henry Martin Tanner was never prosecuted for u.c. (unlawful cohabitation, or polygamy) under the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act 1882, or the Edmunds-Tucker Act of 1887, but I just found a copy of the Joseph Fish Journal online that says otherwise.

Fish, a resident of Snowflake, Arizona, noted that in 1905:

Senator DeBoise from Idaho has been working up a move against the Mormons and he had brought strong pressure on the officials in northern Arizona to prosecute the polygamists in this action. The officers were compelled to do something and a vast number of witnesses were procured from this section and St. Johns, my wife Adelaide being among the number. So we knew that something was being done and we all that were liable were looking for the office to come and arrest us, but there was but one from this district that left on this account, the others all decided to stay and meet the case, be it what it may. The result of this effort of Senator DeBoise was that there were ten of us arrested in this district.

A Biography of Eliza Ellen Parkinson Tanner by Loy Despain

Many thanks to Loy Despain who sent this lovely history of Eliza Ellen Parkinson Tanner. He also sent a better copy of the picture of Emma Stapley Tanner, and I have added it to the index for the Tanner Family.

Henry and Eliza Tanner.

HISTORY OF ELIZA PARKINSON TANNER

by

Loy Despain

Eliza Parkinson Tanner was born 8 September 1857 in San Bernardino, California to Thomas Parkinson and Mary Ann Bryant. She married Henry M. Tanner on January 25, 1887 in the St. George Temple. He was 24 and she was 19.

A month following their marriage they responded to a call to help settle the Little Colorado Colonies in Northern Arizona. On May first they arrived at Allen’s Camp which is now known as Joseph City, Arizona. They only stayed in Allen’s Camp a few days before leaving to travel with John Hunt and family to one of the New Mexico settlements. Three days on the dry, dusty road following the Rio Puerco wash towards New Mexico persuaded them to return Allen’s Camp and cast their lot with the saints in that location. During those trying periods of conquering a resistant land, bonds of friendship were forged that lasted a lifetime. Ida Hunt Udall was with her father John Hunt during the travels from Utah to Arizona and into New Mexico. She and Eliza became good friends as she reports one of her trips from Utah back to Eastern Arizona. She stated that she stopped to visit with her good friends, Eliza and Henry Tanner in the little town that is now known as Joseph City.

Guest Post: The Big Table

After reading a post on Keepapitchinin: The Mormon History Blog yesterday about a sketch for a United Order community, I wrote a guest post on the experience of the Little Colorado Settlers with the United Order and, in particular, the communal meals.

You can read it here.

The Tanner ancestors involved with these settlements were Henry and Eliza Tanner (Joseph City) and Ove Oveson and his family (Brigham City).

Henry and Eliza Tanner's Trip to Arizona, Part 7

The Bushman diary records the following: "We all arrived at President Lot Smith's camp on April 29th, Sunday at 10:00 a.m. We all took dinner at the U.O. [United Order] Long Table and in the evening all attended meeting, where nearly all spoke. President Smith was pleased to see us return."...

The little group left Sunset and proceeded on to Joseph City. Date of arrival here is confused but probably not too important. About half of the sources say May 1st and the other half say May 2nd. After eating dinner with the Bushmans, the Hunts and Tanners started on to New Mexico where they had decided to locate. Presumably, Sunset and Joseph City did not look good to them. But after travelling up the Rio Puerco and seeing the sand blowing across the road, the Tanners decided that Joseph City was at least preferable to this.

Lewis Hunt, at the funeral service of Henry Tanner, related the incident of the decision to return to Joseph City. He said that when the Hunts were ready to start after a stop for noon they noted that the Tanners had not made preparation to go. John Hunt came to the Tanner wagon and noticed that Eliza had been crying and he was not sure but that Henry had been also. They then announced their intention of returning to Joseph City which they did.

This was probably one of the most important decisions in their life and one plenty hard to make. They were close friends of the Hunts. Eliza was about the age of the oldest girl. The Bushmans and Westovers were new friends they had made on the trip. One would like to know the thoughts which went on in the minds of this young man of twenty-five and his nineteen year old wife as they sat in the covered wagon that noon with the sand being blown across the road by an Arizona wind storm. That they returned to Joseph City is high tribute to the new friends they had found on the trip. That these friendships were to endure was to be proved during the next half century. May Hunt Larson notes the day of the turning around as May 5th. She said, "It was a very sad parting for us all. We had been like one family for three months and we children had been school mates with them all our lives."

John Bushman noted the event in his diary. "The first of May John Hunt and family, also Henry M. Tanner came to St. Joseph and all took dinner with the Bushman family. After traveling for two months together under great difficulties, they had become very much attached to each other. In the evening the Hunts and Tanners started for New Mexico. After traveling for three days, Henry M. Tanner and wife turned around and came back to Allen's Camp and joined."

At a later date, John Bushman inserted the following in his diary. "They little knew that here they were to do their life's best work. Here they raised an honorable family of eleven children. Brother Tanner was counselor in the bishopric for more than thirty years. He was superintendent of the Sunday School for over twenty years and was one of the strong pillars in building up the little, but progressive town. And his wife Eliza was one of the leaders in the community. They were a very earnest and prompt family. Henry was counselor to Bishop John Bushman over twenty-eight years, always faithful to duty."

Excerpt from George S. Tanner, Henry Martin Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer, 1964, pp 17-18. Some minor editing corrections made to the text.

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The picture of Henry and Eliza Tanner is from Elizabeth DeBrouwer, Sidney Tanner: His Ancestors and Descendants. Sidney Tanner Family Organization: Salt Lake City, 1982, p 434.

Henry and Eliza Tanner's Trip to Arizona, Part 6

[The missionaries to the Arizona settlements had split up to travel through the arid areas of northern Arizona.]

On April 20th when they started they had not gone far when they discovered the animals of the Bushman party. They caught them and put two of them into their team which was badly needed. The rest of the animals were rounded up and driven loose by Henry Tanner while his wife drove the team.

Before night they reached the mountain and found all the members of the two parties who had preceded them.

"While in this valley our Brin ox died from eating some poisonous week, we thought. We now found it impossible to take the ox team farther as we only had one ox out of four left." [Quote from the Bushman diary?]

At this point, John Hunt exchanged five horned animals and his light wagon for a fresh team of horses. He also exchanged another span of weary horses for a fresh team and a saddle horse. It was later learned that this latter exchange of horses was made possible because the owner had slain his partner and wanted to get rid of the horses which might be used as evidence against him. "We now had fairly good teams and we left the San Francisco Valley [the Flagstaff area]."


Excerpt from George S. Tanner, Henry Martin Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer, 1964, p 17. Some minor editing corrections made to the text.

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Photo of the San Francisco Peaks from www.flickr.com/photos/7202153@N03/2640138819/.

Henry and Eliza Tanner's Trip to Arizona, Part 5

[Ed.—In this excerpt, the travelers are back in the Hualapai Valley, with some contradictory information. The book about Henry Martin Tanner is an unedited manuscript that was never formally published, so there are some inconsistencies that might have been edited out of a published book.]


Several of the Hunt girls have left accounts of the journey, based on diaries kept on the trip. It seems that the company was divided into three groups on account of the scarcity of water. Bushmans and Manasseh Blackburn [1852-1878] were in the lead, followed by the Westovers and their company and last were Hunts and Tanners.

The diary of May Hunt Larsen [1860-1943; she is mentioned in John Morgan's diary] gives a day by day account of the movements of the latter group.

In the Walaipi [Hualapai] Valley they rested their animals as the water and grass were fairly good. [Didn't he just say in the last post that there was no water in the Hualapai Valley?] "Here one of Henry's mares died of distemper."

At Fortoon Spring [can't find anything under this name or under "Fortune Spring"] an ox in the Hunt team gave out and had to be left. "There was very little grass here so we did not expect to see him again."

On April 7th they came to Young Springs where they noted "a great many Indians but very little water. There being only two little springs, had it not been for a ranch (Peach Springs) three miles off the road on the left, the animals would have suffered greatly for water. We unloaded our light wagon and took the barrels and everything that would hold water up to be filled. Here our old Broad, our trusty near wheel ox, got down on a rocky hill and could not get up so we sold him to the Indians to eat. This left only two oxen in the team and we had to work cows in the place of the dead oxen."


Excerpt from George S. Tanner, Henry Martin Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer, 1964, pp 16-17. Some minor editing corrections made to the text.

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Photo of "Lower Mesa near Young Springs" from the Wheeler Survey (1871) of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The collection is in the Smithsonian and is made available to the public by the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. Series: Geographic Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian. There are some very interesting photos in this collection of the arid borderlands in the Utah-Colorado-Arizona-New Mexico-Nevada area.

Henry and Eliza Tanner's Trip to Arizona, Part 4

On March 21, 1877, they left the river and started on their way. The trip from here to the San Francisco Peaks proved to be the most trying of the trip. Roads were bad and heavy and the animals grew weary. Water was scarce and uncertain.


View Larger Map
Hualapai Valley (approximately) to Hackberry to Fort Valley (Flagstaff)

To quote the Bushman diary, "From the river south, the roads were sandy and hard to go along. We had to make considerable roads which delayed us some. Water being so scarce, we divided the company. Came to Walaipi [Hualapai] Valley thirty miles long and ten miles wide, but no water.

"On Monday, April 2nd, came to Hackberry, a little mining camp. On the 3rd came to the old Beal[e] road that was used in 1852.* This road will take us past the San Francisco Mountains to the little settlements on the Little Colorado River. On April 13th, the first part of the company arrived at Fort Valley by the San Francisco Mountain. They remained there until April 20th when all the company came. All rested here until the 24th when they started for the Little Colorado."

*If you read the link about the Beale Road, it mentions that Lt. Edward Beale brought camels into Arizona to aid in the construction of this road. Syrian Hadji Ali (Hi Jolly) and the 77 camels of the U.S. Camel Corps are remembered to this day. The road was constructed in the late 1850s, though, not 1852.

Excerpt from George S. Tanner, Henry Martin Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer, 1964, p 16. Some minor editing corrections made to the text.

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Henry and Eliza Tanner's Trip to Arizona, Part 3

Another highlight of the crossing was the swimming of Mag, one of the white mares of the Tanner team. She was a marvelous swimmer and carried herself high in the water. One could ride her across a stream and scarcely get wet. [Ed.—Although that may have been the case with most streams in Arizona, whether or not you were riding Mag!] She was hitched to the boat which carried the supplies and furnished much of the motive power. She is reported to have made seven round trips in one day for this purpose.

A near tragedy occurred during the crossing when [Edwin] Lycurgus Westover [1845-1877] who was not as experienced a horseman as Henry and some of the others was swept from his horse into the fast moving waters. But being a fairly strong swimmer, he managed to cheat the river and make it to shore.

After the successful crossing, Mr. Pearce offered to take them for a moonlight ride in the ferry. One of the Hunt girls had a guitar and played very well. It was reported that Mr. Pearce was so carried away by the feminine company and the entrancing music that he almost let the boat go into the rapids which would have resulted in serious consequences.


Excerpts from George S. Tanner, Henry Martin Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer, 1964, pp 15-16. Some minor editing corrections made to the text.

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Photo of the Colorado River downstream from the Hoover Dam from www.flickr.com/photos/sovietuk/28236646/.

Henry and Eliza Tanner's trip to Arizona, Part 2

Some distance out from St. George, the company was joined by John Bushman and his second wife, Mary Peterson, and daughter Lois. They had previously arranged to travel together to Arizona. They were also joined by Edwin Lycurgus Westover and wife Joanna and two small children and Joanna Westover's father.

Speaking of the road to the river, John Bushman in his diary says, "This road was very bad, dugways for miles, very hilly and water scarce. This is a new road from St. George to the Pearce Ferry on the Big Colorado River. On Monday, March 19th, we reached the Ferry and found Father Pearce very glad to see us."

What is a dugway?
A road or trail carved into a cliff or steep slope. The Dictionary of the American West defines "dugway" as "a road or trail going through a high land form which is dug out of the land form or excavated into the land form or excavated into the land form to provide a path for transport." It is also described as a path scraped out of a steep hillside allowing cattle and wagons to travel the hillside. (www.frankstehno.com; Outdoor Terminology)

Two days were used in getting the wagons and animals across the river. The wagons were ferried across without mishap but the livestock presented a difficult problem. The animals refused to swim the broad river and there was no other way to get them across. Henry was a skilled horseman and used to handling stock and it was his job to get the animals across.

After scores of attempts which met with failure, the company was about to despair. He related that on the second day after many failures, an old Indian came into camp and asked for food. While he was being fed, he noticed the men trying to get the animals to swim the river.

One of the women noticed that the Indian showed a great deal of interest in the ferry operation. It came to her that this Indian had had experience in crossing the river with animals and she mentioned the fact to one of the men. By the use of sign language, he was asked if he knew how to get the animals across. He said that he did and was asked to help. But he wanted to be paid. After some bargaining, he settled for a small sack of flour which he tied on the saddle of his horse. He then went down to the river and motioned for the men to drive all the animals into the edge of the water. At the right moment when all the animals were up to their bellies in the water, the Indian, who by this time had taken off what few clothes he had and was covered only with an Indian blanket, seized the top corners of the blanket in his hands and began flapping the blanket and letting out war whoops.

The animals, now more frightened of the Indian than the river, quickly took to the water and headed for the other side. The last animal to take to the water was an old, lazy mule. As he was getting out of his depth, the Indian threw his blanket to one of the men, seized the tail of the old mule and let him pull him across the river. When the mule saw the Indian on his tail he was so frightened that it is reported he made a new record in crossing the river.



Excerpts from George S. Tanner, Henry Martin Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer, 1964, pp 14-15. Some minor editing corrections made to the text.

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Photo of the Colorado River from www.flickr.com/photos/7202153@N03/483251259/. Picture of the Mokee Dugway from www.flickr.com/photos/jeroen020/73315908/.

Henry and Eliza Tanner's trip to Arizona, Part 1

Henry M. Tanner and Eliza Ellen Parkinson were married January 25, 1877, in the St. George Temple. He was twenty-four and she nineteen. Henry had already received his call to go to Arizona as one of the colonists. They had little more than a month after their marriage to get ready for the journey....

At the time of their marriage, [her father] Thomas Parkinson gave Eliza a milch cow named Red. She was taken to Arizona with other cattle but she was always a little special. George Parkinson, Eliza's brother, says that Eliza included in the news from Arizona items about Red and her calves along with information about the birth of children....

In preparation for their departure, [Henry's father] Sidney Tanner gave a reception and farewell for the young couple in the upstairs of his ample home. In addition to the friends in Beaver who attended were the members of the Hunt family who were also going to Arizona. For the past year the Hunts had been living on Cove Creek two and a half miles from Joseph City, Sevier County, Utah. The Hunts had eight children, the oldest of whom was but one year younger than Eliza Tanner. They had three wagons of their own, one drawn by two yoke of oxen, one by two span of horses and a light wagon with one span of horses. The oxen were driven by a young man anxious for a bit of adventure by the name of Isadore Wilson. He was a neighbor of the Hunts. John Hunt drove the four horse team and two of the girls drove the light wagon. Also in the Hunt company was a four mule team owned by Manasseh Blackburn, also anxious for the adventure of the trip. His wagon carried mostly heavy supplies belonging to the Hunts.

Before leaving Beaver, Thomas Parkinson had mixed a large quantity of flour with soda and probably cream of tarter so that all that was necessary in making bread [biscuits?] was to add salt and water. The company left Beaver February 21, 1877, accompanied by Father Sidney Tanner who went one day's journey with them and hauled feed for their animals. Enroute to St. George, Henry and Eliza went by way of Toquerville for a few days visit with relatives. Emma Ellen Stapley, cousin of Eliza, was at that time a girl of fifteen. Perhaps she little dreamed that ten years later she would be going to Arizona too....

This party of pioneers did not go by way of Lee's Ferry as the earlier settlers had done. John Hunt and Henry Tanner had been asked to explore a better crossing of the Big Colorado River at Pearce's Ferry below the Grand Canyon. As early as 1862, this crossing had been used by Jacob Hamblin, but not until December, 1876, was regular service established by Harrison Pearce, father of James Pearce, later a pioneer in Taylor, Arizona. The ferry was located at Grand Wash, just a few miles east of the Nevada line. The location is now submerged in Lake Mead. Whatever advantage this crossing was thought to have, evidently did not prove to be and it was not used again by the Arizona settlers.


Excerpts from George S. Tanner, Henry Martin Tanner: Joseph City Arizona Pioneer, 1964, pp 13-14. Some minor editing corrections made to the text.


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Picture of Lake Mead from www.flickr.com/photos/wouterkiel/3442561279/.

Henry Tanner to Ammon Tenney, July 13, 1885

I've been meaning to put up a scan of two letters written by Henry Martin Tanner to Ammon M. Tenney, and after the mention of Ammon Tenney the other day, here's one of them. It was written in 1885 when Tenney was serving time in the penitentiary for polygamy. Mentioned in the letter is the death of Sister Mary Bushman, a particularly close friend of Henry's wife Eliza Parkinson Tanner. Please contact me if you would like a copy of the other letter.

Eliza Ellen Parkinson Tanner

b. 8 September 1857 San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California

m. 25 January 1877 St. George, Washington, Utah
d. 17 August 1930 Joseph City, Navajo, Arizona
b. 18 August 1930 Joseph City, Navajo, Arizona
Husband: Henry Martin Tanner
Father: Thomas Parkinson; Mother: Mary Ann Bryant

Mrs. Mary Ann Bryant Parkinson, wife of Thomas Parkinson of Beaver City, passed over the dark river after a lingering illness on Wednesday, September 6, 1905. Sister Parkinson was born in 1826 in Kent, England. Went to Australia in 1838 where she received the gospel. In 1853 emigrated to America and was married the same year in San Bernardino, California. She and her husband remained in San Bernardino until 1857 when they moved to Beaver where they resided until 1890 when they moved to Toquerville on account of their health, coming back some time ago. Deceased is the mother of eleven children, seven boys and four girls, sixty-two grandchildren and forty-nine great-grandchildren.

Eliza Ellen Parkinson Tanner born September 8, 1857, San Bernardino, California, daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann Bryant Parkinson. My parents were English, went from England to Australia in 1838, emigrated to America 1853 and married the same year in Beaver City, Utah.

My early childhood days were spent in attending school and helping my parents to make a livelihood. We were very poor thus the necessity of all giving a helping hand.

In the year 1877, 25th January was married to Henry Martin Tanner in the St. George Temple. We made Beaver our home until the 21st February, 1877, we left for Arizona in company with John Hunt and family. We went a new route and encountered many hardships on the way such as being short of water and feed and lost several animals during the journey of eleven weeks arriving at Allen Camp (now St. Joseph) 2nd day of May 1877 and decided to make St. Joseph our home.

We have had a great deal of experience since we came here and have had many trials and hardships such as building dams and seeing floods wash them away only to have to build them again but at last succeeded in building a high dry dam which has stood the test since 1893, since which time things have gone along better and all have been more satisfied with their lot and began to prosper in the land. I am a mother of eleven children, seven boys and four girls, forty-three grandchildren.

Two of my sons Arthur and Roy were on the Mexican borders 1916. And also two Roy and George in the world war. One went to France, Roy, and was called to go to the front the night the Armistice was signed 11 November.

September 7, 1877 the St. Joseph Relief Society was organized and I was sustained secretary. (Released Dec. 3, 1885) December 3, 1885, was sustained as counselor in Relief Society to Sister Lois Bushman, released March 2, 1902. Sustained first counselor to Nina M. Porter in Relief Society January 7, 1909, released May 20, 1919.


Eliza Ellen Parkinson Tanner. Genealogical Record Sheet.

The picture of Eliza and Henry with Martin, Thomas, and Julia is from 1883 and was found in Diane and John Parkinson. James Parkinson of Ramsey: His Roots and His Branches, England—Australia—America. Austin, Texas: The James Parkinson Family Association, 1987.

Henry Martin Tanner

b. 11 June 1852 San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California
m. 25 January 1877 St. George, Washington, Utah
d. 21 March 1935 Gilbert, Maricopa, Arizona
b. 24 March 1935 Joseph City, Navajo, Arizona
Wives: (1) Eliza Ellen Parkinson, (2) Emma Stapley
Father: Sydney Tanner; Mother: Julia Ann Shepherd

Since Henry Tanner took the opportunity to write his own life story, I'll include it in its entirety. He notes that his hearing is poor; how many of us inherited that gene? After this post, I will do a few posts on Henry and Eliza Tanner.


So here is Henry Tanner in his own words...

My grandfather, John Tanner, was born August 15, 1778, Hopkinton, Rhode Island. Was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Previous to his baptism into the Church he was a cripple and at the time of his baptism he was healed by the power of the Lord. He was very well fixed financially and during the early days of the Church he donated freely to the Church.