William Tanner Lives Again: A Summary of the Tanner Genealogy in 2014

I confess that I have not done much work on the Tanner line past John and Joshua Tanner. I knew the recorded history contained dubious genealogy and fake royal lines, but felt that those who were more interested would spend time on it, and I would continue to do what I do best: 19th century family and community history.

Then a couple of years ago some friends invited my family to vacation with them in New England. We returned home through Rhode Island and as we drove a few of the highways and byways of our smallest state, I was surprised by feelings of deep connection to the place and people.

Despite these feelings of connection, my list of projects often falls prey to the demands of everyday life and I have not done much work on the Tanner genealogy, but there has been a recent surge of interest in the subject, so here is a brief summary of the research.

This is how the family currently looks on FamilySearch Family Tree. This shows John Tanner's entry KWJ1-K2F and Joshua Tanner's entry L7BX-YNF. [1]

This chart shows that John Tanner (1778-1850) is the son of Joshua Tanner (1757-1807), the son of Francis Tanner (1708-1777), the son of William Tanner (1660-1757). From what I've gathered of the current dispute, most people agree on the first three generations but disagree on the identity of William Tanner and his parents and wives.

The Current Status of the Family of William Tanner of Rhode Island

Prescott Farm, Middletown, Rhode Island. From susteph at Flickr.

The facts surrounding the birth and death of William Tanner of Rhode Island, the Great-grandfather or Great-great-grandfather of John Tanner (b. 1778, d. 1850) are only very scantily documented in the printed genealogies and undocumented entirely by the thousands of his descendants who have copied the records from the printed genealogies. I have begun the task of adequately documenting his life, to extent possible, from the original records in Rhode Island or wherever they may be found.

The absence of a death record for William Tanner has some recently compiled family group records showing a death date as late as the 1770s making him over 110 years old at death. This assumption is not impossible but is only a very remote possibility. The last record of William Tanner may date from 1735 although it is not clear, from the existing records, and certainly more likely, that references to “William Tanner” after 1712 refer to his son, William Tanner who was born in 1687. The lack of any further records makes it possible that the immigrant died in, or shortly after 1735.

Was Thomas Tanner of Connecticut related to William Tanner of Rhode Island?

There is a commonly digitized book concerning the descendants of Thomas Tanner of Connecticut.[1] This book is available on Google Books at Google.com, Archive.org and similar websites. Unfortunately, the book begins its discussion of the advent of the Tanner family in America by reporting the common genealogical myth concerning the arrival of three brothers from England. A variation on this myth, also reported, is that one of the brothers stayed in England because of his inheritance and the other two brothers were the immigrants. Aside from the fact that there are absolutely no source citations, other than “family tradition,” these speculations are not supported by the scant facts that do exist.

It is undisputed that there was a Tanner family based primarily in Connecticut and at the same time there is also a well-documented family with the same surname in Rhode Island to which I trace my family line. But there is no demonstrable evidence connecting the two families. The Tanner surname is common in England and there is no reason to suppose that all the Tanners found there are descendants from some common ancestor. Since the origin of the name clearly refers to a common occupation, there is no need to question the distinct possibility that use of the name arose in different areas and at different times as adopted by unrelated individuals. Subsequent surname books on the Rhode Island Tanner family refer to the multiple origins of the surname and even add in a Coat of Arms.[2]

William Tanner — The Immigrant

Historical marker in Westerly, Rhode Island. From Dougtone at Flickr.

William Tanner's arrival in America is still subject to controversy and lack of source records. If he was born abroad, his arrival in America is evidenced by scanty documentary sources. References to William Tanner subsequent to hie arrival by the Reverend Tanner locate him in Westerly, Rhode Island, and specifically, in the town of Hopkinton, which was formerly part of Westerly. [1]

William Tanner — The Immigrant to America

Fox Island, Rhode Island. Wikipedia.

At least six published genealogies, beginning in 1893,[1] refer to the ancestry of the Rhode Island/New York Tanner family. John Tanner, the most well known of the family, joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832. His descendants number in the tens of thousands, his son Sydney Tanner, alone, had 5073 descendants in 1982.[2] Despite John Tanner’s extensive family, little scholarly attention has been paid to his ancestry. The published genealogies repeat, without critical comment, the conclusions of the Reverend George C. Tanner, in his 1905 book, who admits having done little original research.[3] Many of the original source records that were previously difficult to obtain or even consult, have now been made available either on microfilm at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah or in on-line sources. Some of the books that are now out-of-print, are readily available online (See links below in footnotes). The newly available sources provide an incentive to re-examine the early conclusions about John Tanner’s progenitors beginning with the immigrant, William Tanner.