TANNER FAMILY
The following represents an account of my branch of the Tanner family descended from William Tanner of South Kingston, Rhode Island. For a thorough compilation of William Tanner's descendants, I recommend A Guide To The Descendants of William Tanner of South Kingston, Rhode Island. However, the information provided below represents information not presently in the Guide. Although I imagine some of the information may later be included in the Guide, I have not endeavored to duplicate Ms. McSweeney's material unnecessarily. Thus, I do not make any representation that this page reflects the history of THE Tanner family. Rather, this page reflects the history of my branch of the Tanner family tree to the point where it connects with the Guide. Moreover, I have included related source documents, pictures, and information related thereto.
For illustrative purposes, I begin as my research began - with Jane Tanner.
When I began my research into my maternal ancestry, prior research completed by my mother and grandmother revealed that a Jane Tanner (my great, great, great grandmother) married a William Chestney (my great, great, great grandfather). Moreover, the research indicated that Jane Tanner was the daughter of Samuel Tanner. For the longest time, I made no progress whatsoever on Samuel Tanner's ancestry. However, I did find substantiation for Jane Tanner and William Chestney's marriage.
William Chestney's father, James W. Chestney, dies quite young. William Chestney's mother had passed previously. In James W.'s will, he provided for his only child William to attend school for the deaf & dumb (sic) in New York City (school now known as New York School for the Deaf ("NY School")). I traced these school records and learned that William did, indeed, attend NY School. Moreover, Jane Tanner's tenure at the NY School coincided at certain parts with William's tenure. Consequently, these young adults must have met at the NY School. The NY School's records later reflect their marriage. The school records also confirm Jane Tanner's parents (census records had also done so previously).
Returning to Samuel, the 1850 Census lists Samuel and his wife Merinda (also elsewhere as Miranda) with the children Sherman Tanner age 15 male; Helena Tanner age 11 female (and likely with the same affliction as her sister Jane); Smith Tanner age 6 male; and Eunice Tanner age 3 female. Jane Tanner mentioned above is, more than likely, at the NY School.
The 1860 Census for Fulton, Schoharie County, New York reflects William and Jane Chestney living with Samuel and Merinda Tanner, as well as Eunice and Smith Tanner. William and Jane's son Sherman Chestney is also listed. With this information, I began to see the common use of Sherman (eg son of Samuel and son of William and Jane). Regardless, my search for Samuel's heritage remained a mystery for some time.
Some time later, I received from Lambert Martin the following information relating to the Tanner family:
ARGUSVILLE CEMETERY
Johannah Tanner, daughter of Sherman and Aceannath, Dec. 22, 1851, 46 years
GILBOA RURAL CEMETERY
Joshua Tanner, Aug. 1, 1811 - Nov. 12, 1903
BREAKABEEN CEMETERY
Smith Tanner, 1843 - 1912
Melissa R. Mattice, wife, 1858 -
Samuel Tanner, Oct. 13, 1868 68 ys. 20 ds.
W.S. Crawford, 1835 -
Eunice Tanner, wife, 1846 - 1917
And, most importantly:
Abstracts of wills by Gertrude Barber.
P. 144 Guardianship. Sherman Tanner, decd of Cobleskill
child: Johannah 18y
Guardian Samuel Tanner
Nov. 5, 1825
Thereafter, I obtained legal documents from 1825 in which Samuel Chestney is identified as a guardian for a Joshua and Johanna Tanner. These documents included the petition and bond for Johannah Tanner's guardianship that mentioned Sherman Tanner recently deceased of Cobleskill, New York. The documents also included the petition and bond for Joshua Tanner's guardianship. At this point, I made two intuitive presumptions based on these legal documents and the census records. First, Sherman Tanner must be the father of Joshua and Johannah Tanner (though not stated specifically, it seemed most logical). Second, Samuel Tanner must be the older brother or young uncle to Joshua and Johannah. At the time these documents were signed, Samuel was aged 25 or thereabouts (see 1850 and 1860 census). Joshua and Johannah were both younger than twenty-one (see guardianship documents). Consequently, any further search must focus on a Sherman Tanner.
After a bit more time, a search on the Internet for Sherman Tanner revealed the Drake/Tanner family record (available through the Durham Center Museum). This record (which happened to be from the Diary of Priscilla A. Frost) reflected a Sherman and Lucena Tanner who had children Samuel, Charlotte, Hannah (sic), and Joshua. I then believed this to be my Tanner family.
Though need not be stated, the Johannah in Argusville is the Johannah of the guardianship papers and in the Drake/Tanner family record. The dates and years obviously make this quite clear. The Joshua Tanner in Gilboa is Johannah and Samuel's brother. Smith Tanner and Eunice Tanner Crawford are the children of Samuel Tanner.
I then sought additional verification. Having access to online legal databases (being an attorney), I searched for the Tanner surname in New York. Behold, I found an appellate case, Tanner v. Crawford, 101 N.Y.S. 1146 (1906). The case heading states, "Action by William Warren Tanner, as administrator de bonis non of Warren W. Tanner, deceased, against Eunice Crawford, as administratrix of Joshua Tanner, deceased." The holding dated November 13, 1906 from the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, New York simply reads, "Judgment unanimously affirmed, with costs." Having found the appellate opinion, I then sought information relating to the trial court proceedings of Tanner v. Crawford. I obtained some of the trial opinions and briefs (available via jpg or Trial Documents in pdf [Note: pdf file is greater than 7 MB]) relating to the dispute between Eunice Crawford Tanner (see above) and a William Tanner. Thereafter, I hired an individual to search the records for the actual documents relating to the estate case. I found many. These documents (including a family tree submitted to the court and a list of all known living relatives of Joshua Tanner) proved that Jane Tanner Chestney was in fact the niece of Joshua Tanner, brother of Samuel Tanner, both sons of Sherman Tanner.
I then continued my research back from Sherman. The books by Terri McSweeney provide much information, but no children of Sherman Tanner. Yet, the Diary of Priscilla Frost does. These connections took me back to Job Tanner and Annie Sherman, parents of Sherman Tanner (interestingly, this tradition of using the maternal maiden name as a son's first name continued throughout my Chestney family). Job Tanner was the son of John Tanner and Susannah West (of whom we will hear more later). John Tanner is the son of William Tanner and Mary Babcock.
As an update:
Sherman Tanner and Lucena Aceannath Dean had the following children:
1. Samuel Tanner m. Merinda Johnson
2. Charlotte Tanner m. Mr. _______ Sawyer
(3). Johannah Tanner (died without known issue)
(4). Joshua Tanner (died without known issue)
[5]. Smith Tanner [disputed half-brother/brother of Joshua Tanner]
1. Samuel Tanner (Sherman) and Merinda Johnson had the following children:
6. Ann Tanner m. Amos Pratt
(7) . Sherman Tanner (moved to Arkanas and at time of estate proceedings presumed dead)
8. Jane Tanner m. William Chestney
9 . Helena Tanner m. __________ Gardner
10 . Smith Tanner m. Melissa R. Mattice
11. Eunice Tanner m. Warren Crawford
2. Charlotte Tanner (Sherman)
12. John Sawyer
13. Mary Sawyer m. ____________ Ferguson
14. Emma Sawyer m. ____________Van Tuyle
15. Caroline Sawyer m. _____________ Whyland
16. Ann Sawyer (died without known issue - no further entry)
17. Julia Sawyer m. ____________ Whyland
18. James W. Sawyer
19. Sabrina Sawyer m. _______________Rifenburg
(3). Johannah Tanner (Sherman)
(4). Joshua Tanner (Sherman)
5. Smith Tanner (Sherman) [disputed half-brother/brother, found to be brother by court]
20. Elizabeth Tanner m. ______________ Kelderhouse
(21). Levi Tanner (died without known issue - no further entry)
(22). Harlan Tanner (died without known issue - no further entry)
23. Warren Tanner
(24). Charles M. Tanner (died without known issue - no further entry)
6. Ann Tanner (Sherman, Samuel1) m. Amos Pratt
25. Amelia Pratt m. _______ Disbrow NEED INFORMATION
26. Eunice Pratt m. __________ Malbone NEED INFORMATION
27. Jennie Pratt m. ___________ Landry NEED INFORMATION
28. Charles Pratt NEED INFORMATION
29. William Pratt NEED INFORMATION
(7). Sherman Tanner (Sherman, Samuel1) (died without known issue - no further entry)
8. Jane Tanner (Sherman, Samuel1) m. William Chestney
30. Sherman Veeder Chestney
31. Charles J. Chestney
32. Eunice Ann Chestney
9. Helena Tanner (Sherman, Samuel1) m. __________ Gardner
10. Smith Tanner (Sherman, Samuel1) m. Melissa R. Mattice
11. Eunice Tanner (Sherman, Samuel1) m. Warren Crawford
12. John Sawyer (Charlotte2)
33. Ella Sawyer m. __________ Zeh
13. Mary Sawyer (Charlotte2) m. ____________ Ferguson
34. Frank Ferguson
35. F. Grant Ferguson
36. Aletta Ferguson m. __________ Wayman
37. Emma Ferguson m. __________ Minor
38. Laura W. Ferguson m. ____________ Raymond
14. Emma Sawyer (Charlotte2) m. ____________Van Tuyle
39. Estalla Van Tuyle
40. Charles Van Tuyle
41. Charlotte Van Tuyle m. __________ Shaver
42. Le Grand Van Tuyle
15. Caroline Sawyer (Charlotte2) m. _____________ Whyland
43. Madelyn Whyland NEED INFORMATION
17. Julia Sawyer (Charlotte2) m. ____________ Whyland
44. Paul Whyland NEED INFORMATION
45. George Whyland NEED INFORMATION
46. Charlotte Whyland NEED INFORMATION
47. Gertrude Whyland NEED INFORMATION
18. James W. Sawyer (Charlotte2) NEED INFORMATION
19. Sabrina Sawyer m. _______________Rifenburg NEED INFORMATION
20. Elizabeth Tanner (Smith5) m. ______________ Kelderhouse
48. Elmer Kelderhouse NEED INFORMATION
23. Warren Tanner (Smith5)
49. John Henry Tanner NEED INFORMATION
50. William Warren Tanner NEED INFORMATION
30. Sherman Veeder Chestney (Samuel1, Jane2)
51. Agnes Chestney m. Perry Rush Cobb
52. Melven Lawrence Chestney m. Laurel Belle Ferguson
53. Charles William Chestney m. Wanda Louise Bohlman
54. Sherman Veeder Chestney (2) [Died as Infant] (died without known issue - no further entry)
55. Della Mae Chestney
56. Wilson Horace Chestney m1. Fedelia Adelaide Bard, m2 Inez Alita Pratt
57. Otto J. Chestney m1. Elva Mae Mowers, m2. Lottie Maire Otten
58. Lloyd William Chestney [Died as Infant] (died without known issue - no further entry)
59. Lennie Eliza Chestney
60. Almond Sherman Chestney [Died as Infant] (died without known issue - no further entry)
61. Perry Edwin Chestney
62. Gerald Hubert Chestney
31. Charles J. Chestney (Samuel1, Jane2) b. 1861, d. 1891
32. Eunice Ann Chestney (Samuel1, Jane2) m. William D. Shaver
63. Victor Shaver NEED INFORMATION
64. Rebecca Shaver m. Earl H. Tiffany NEED INFORMATION
[IN PROGRESS]
Please submit all additional information via email at cmudd@mudd.org.
