Joseph M. Tanner, chapter 1-3

Typescript early draft of the first three chapters of a planned book by George S. Tanner about Joseph Marion Tanner (1859-1927). Contents: Chapter 1, Ancestors, the move West, and a home in Provo (17 pages) -- Chapter 2: Marion grows up (12 pages) -- Chapter 3: Entering the world of education (7 pages).

CHAPTER I Ancestors, the Move West, and a Home, in ,Pr-ova, rI J. ~M. Tanner was born March 26, 1~39, on a ranch a few miles t I, ' A . west of Payson, Utah. He wasAthe second child in the family, but his brother / Myron, whcrwa l'two years older, had died eaving Marion as--t,e-wae //~' I / )(:r"11' Q J the oldest in a family of nine ~ Myron Tanner '/'-the father had built a snug" little four""'.room house down by the herd ground~ since he was1 art owner J - handy for the men who tended the cattle, but { in a cattle herd I This awkward for the wome~ folk who wanted to get to social and r e ligious affairs .J in town. # Mary Jane Mount Tanner, ' t_,~r where as a young worrian she W,.,a,S /'\ 7/ ~~ mother, was from Salt Lake City, ..A1- ' J,; / J accustomed to social a#airs whic she ' A missed in Payson, ':,~d}.'~tic~i:z~ the ranch. She was well educated fo~ ud~ ; ~ e in"4-l~~-~A,weic~cl the time and I , ' " • '~""'""LL.4A"-~, ,;t,I,.. This diaryA will be e1 e extensively in the early chapters of this biography. 7, ~ ~ -,- -r 'l -"'~ ron Tanner, in addition to owning an interest in the cattle herd~ ) /. · ~ gh ~ J etween Salt Lake City and San Bernardino, I away from home m'-,ch of the t i m e i kept him away w h e n ~ ,w_as born1and would no~ Jieffl~n home tn ttIHe to lffl.cciri-rlflslenred -~. a e & Mary Jane, who was determined to give( her infant the full blessings of the church, tells how she managed: "Mrs. McLellan, my neighbor, had a babe about the age /1 t , tt¢Q V . t: _ Chapter I, Page Two of mine; and when they were about two months old we deter mined to have our babies blessed. We accordingly prepared their daintiest robes and prepared to go to fast meeting at Payson. Myron being away from home and Mr. McLellan not very much interested, when the morning came there was no team for our use. another time. We were told that we must wait until (Mrs. McLellan said she had waited so long for another time that her second child was three months old and the first one not blessed.) hired boy said if we wo#er the steer\--{;;,::: :-~ 4D.g he would take us to town. yoked them on the waggon. We accepted his offer and he We started out in great glee, determined to make the best of a bad position. We felt some anxiety, however, in loading our precious freight to be drawn by wild steers. All went nicely, however, until we came to a narrow bridge over a deep creek. As we had not full confi - dence in our team we proposed getting out and walking across with our children to avoid any possible danger. --~ ccordingly stopped the team while we lifted out our three little ones, for she had two,_ the oldest just walking about. We walked across the bridge and watched the team go across all right, but after they were over they turned suddenly, almost upsetting the wagon and ran for some distance in the wrong direction. We were thankful to be on our feet with the little Chapter I, Page Three ones. -- ) 'We walked along the road until he got his cattle quieted a nd in a proper degree of subjection when he caught up with us and we got in. We had but little confidence, however., in our team, and when we got to the edge of town we got out and walked, sending our teamster back with word that we were safely in town and when we were wanted at home they could come for us. babies blessed. We got to meeting in season and had our Mr. McLellan came for us in the evening with a horse team and we were glad to get home safely after j our adventure. Joseph Marion Tanner's grandfather, John Tanner, was a man of some note in his native New York. His home at Bolton Landing on the shores of Lake George was one of the finest, and he was known throughout the region as a man of character and wealth. As a Baptist farmer-preacher, he had charge of the local congregation when the itinerant preacher was not he was reputed to be well versed in the there, "'7,,, 'ble. In 1832 two Mormon missio_n aries, Jared and Simeon Carte~ isited the town of Bolton :iPa.-., and began proselyting some of the Baptists belonging to the John Tanner congregation. Noticefof their va-1:ious meetings were posted in public places and John Tanne1/\.w ith ible in hand., decided to attend the meetings and t. learn what ~Mormons of ill repute had to say and what they were up to. To his surprise they were using the same ible he about -a1well informed and enthusiastic. and they seemed Something about their message Chapter I, Page Four impressed hi and he became convinced that their claims were true. the course of a few months he joined the Mormon In hurch, bringing with him most of his numerous family. t/,e,~ John Tanner had a large family even for his day. A..e,orn August 15, 1778, in Hopkinton, Rhode ~ land; the fami York, and still later to Bolton. moved to Greenwich, New John was married successively to three women and sired a total of twenty-one children. Seven of the children did (k" not 06 -ft, i;.e G-h maturity, butAfourteenf id anGI ten eHb~ oined the church and moved west with the Mormons. /) Myron- »=.J. tll€n: e :Jeseph Marion Tann ch-ildl e~ of the third wife, Elizab~th,1Beswick. as the oldest..QI--Efl-,e- '- was - orn in Bolton on ~··· . June 7, 1826 and was six years of age when t e, family joined the Latter-day Saints. The Tanner family was with the rn..&in body of the church in Ohio, ~ ~Z;. Missouri, a.wJ Illinois during th y~~s\irufrn.;iL from 1833 until 1846, when tB<33/"" Were finally dn Y\ rf / n from the settled states of the nion into the i western country. After spending two winters at Winter Quarters in Nebraska, J- / most of themi nigrated to Utah in 1848. Myron remained on the Missouri River one year longer and came to Utah i ~ 9 , where he joined the familyj"-- • 1 '- u. who ere settled at Cottonwood, between the Big and Little Cottonwood creeks. N0\¥ a yottHg w;;io. Myro~ twenty-three years old~ had grown up / ? 4c in the midst of mobbings and persecution incident to the early experience - Chapter I, Page Five "--- of the Mormon church. One year later, following the death of his father I 'I:,~ I Co2 Jolm anner}- he borrowed a yoke of oxen from George A. Smith, and with (/ILL.'-I.A V his brother, Seth headed for the gold fields in California. ~ ~ ~-ac th met with fair success the two years they were there, after which they joined i}-;/,r.A. members of the family in the newly-formed colony of San Bernardino. In San Bernardino, My-i:-on in association with three of his brothers, /Ji Seth, Freema and Joseph, formed a partnership ~., ~..,,.. raisin A. nd trading u if. / ,f I J ey prospered modestly. -+- . w Fk was -tRe>--rounding up One of 13hases f their wild range horses, breaking them to saddle and bridle1 and selling them as riding horses. C In 1855 Myron and Seth drove a band of these newly broken horses to Salt Lake where they had been told there was a lively market. W-hile here he met Mary Jane Mount, who would become his wife aoo- tbe-mothe 0 ·Al'--+-.- M-:-Tanner. I Mary Jane Mount , as born in Toledo, Ohio, February 27, 1837. .tl. Her parents were Joseph Mount and Elizabeth Bessac. They too joined the Mormon church and moved to Nauvoo city and temple. /\ assisteQ,;,ith the building of the They left Nauvoo in 1846, crossed the Missouri to St. Joseplkwhere they spent the winte~ and then~ igrated to Utah in the fall of > l~k 1847 ane:~ttled at I I\ e old fort. Joseph Mount, an enterprising man, joined in the building of a sawmill in Millcreek Canyon. His partners were Wesley Willis and Samuel Thompson. They prospered reasonably well, but Joseph, anxious to increase Chapter I, Page Six his fortune faster, contracted the gold fever and went to California. He LJ. expected to be gone only a year or two but time passed and e stilf remained "'.3 there. He finally dispatched his brother, who was with him in California, with a team and wagon to bring his wife and family to the west coast. But Elizabeth Mount, imbued with the idea of building up the Kingdom in the Rocky Mountains, refused to return with him. their separation.. . ._f..Q.llGwe ~1 /J/ and Elizabeth finally secured a divorce and 'T -tt married a Mr. Pond. Misunderstandin~ \ which led to I '_, j /._ Mary Ja -e Mount, ~ daughter, ~ ttlre ~ mother of J. M. Tanner, was badly shaken by all the family trouble and felt herself to be the most unhappy gir 1 in the world. I It was i:H-1:~-J:,-kind,,of atmosphere that Myron, w-ho-wa a bachelor , of twenty-nine met /\ aoo looking for I) a wife to take to his ranch in San Bernardino, <- eighteen:;yea old Mary Jane Metttrt at the Henry Lawrence home. We do not have the particulars of this meeting, but an old friend, George A. Smith, may have introduced them. (, ,,.- , er<s- is Both Myron and Mary Jane tell the story. Myron's account: "-'In '55 I came through to Salt Lake where I became acquainted with Jane Mount who was living at the time with Henry Lawrence. Most of my boyhood days my life was separate and apart from girls in whose society I was both bashful and awkward. She was rather delicate, a very refined and intelligent woman of literary tastes and poetic instincts. Her make-up seemed just the opposite of my ' own rugged, untempered and uncultivated nature. However surprised others appeared by reason of her attention to M,,1fo¼, Chapter I, Page Seven me, we nevertheless became engaged." ~ n, p. 16) / Mary Jane's account is found in her wel~ ritten journal as follows: "About this time I made the acquaintance of Myron Tanner, a young man from San Bernardino. He was a j Latter-day Saint, and resided in that stake or Branch of the church. He and his brother, Seth had brought through a band of horses for sale. He had disposed of the horses and was preparing to return home when I met him. e seemed to be mutally attracted, and as his time was limited he did not wait for a long acquaintance, but soon asked me to be his wife. I accepted the proposal, and as he wished to take me to his home in San Bernardino, I made preparations to go with him. When nearly ready to start circumstances occurred which caused him to de- cide on settling in Salt Lake. He thought best to spare me the tedious journay across the desert and we post- - - poned our marriage until the following spring. " Mary Jane doesn't explain what the circumstances were ~ caused the postponement of the marriage, but Myron fills in: ~ eh ( ose days, the Saints who wandered off to, and remained in California were somewhat under the Church ban; and President Young, whose great anxiety it was to keep the Latter-day Saints within the Rocky Mountains where Chapter I, Page Eight they might cooperatively build up exemplary communities , was often severe towards those who disregarded the counsels of the Church in that matter. " c9'tt/\. ecounting his experience, Myron says that he called on President Young and spoke to him about his engagement to Miss Moun~ hom he desired to marry according to the rules of the church: c ic::( ,,) "Pres ident Young became very angry and raked me over the coals in a lively manner and explained to me the unfortunate circumstances of marrying a girl and taking her off to California to live. This rebuff was too much for me and I saw that President Young was not at all likely to yield, or to be in the least indulgent. " After the rebuff by Brigham, Myron turned to George A. Smith-1'whom he knew particularly well. -h {. Geer-ge A. , one of the senior apostles~ an later to become First Counselor to President Young, soon set the young man straight. If he married this Salt Lake girl and took her off to California he would indeed be under the church ban. But if he was willing to give up California and move to Utah he could marry the girl with the blessings of the church. // / This was the course Myron chose. He left Mary Jane in Utah while he returned to San Bernardino to dispose of his holdings there. The next spring he returned to Utah to rriarry his Chapter I, Page Nine sweetheart r.e-mar:rie~ n May 22, 1856. Myron knew very little about Utah; he had spent only a few months c_4A there. In California he in partnership with his three brothers/\had a large I ,. -' acreage well stocked with horses and cattle} r- The brothers also managed a store. Now that he had given this up he began looking for something to a:n to in Utah. J I I Since his past experience · LtJ with stock raisin it was natural that this would be the first thing he would look for.,.. and he soon found what looked like a good opportunity~iH-Payson./ A three-day trip with team and wagon \!) i brought the young couple to Payson, where Myron had a frien ~ nd they moved into a vacant cabin whose owner, had generously },,d...., fl~ them. AMary Jane"-o os&Fires it: /' offered it to ,I~ J- '"lt was a low, dark, dirty place, part of the floor being taken up to fasten the window up with, a large fire place in one corner with the jamb broken down and filled with dirt and ashes. The prospect was not inviting and it was no wonder that I sighed as I looked in and thought it would do for a few days. The floor was of wide boards laid down without planeing, but the slivers were pretty well scoured off by previous occupants. The walls were of logs so un-.J even in size that, had they been square they would have served for shelves. The roof was of small poles or Chapter I, Page Ten willows with straw and a great depth of dirt laid on it, which had been replenished from time to time until it was packed hard and did not leak, but made a fine home for the mice which made themselves merry at our expense. " (MJ p. 56) Myron commented, "I don't think in all my life I ever saw as crooked logs and as poor workmanship as were in that house with its dirt roof. " ~Myron, p. 17) Mary Jane wrote extensively about this, their first home because she .J wanted her children and grandchildren who would read her journal to know what the early pioneers endured to make settlements in Utah. items taken from her journal: Here are a few ( "The door was of boards nailed together, a wooden latch which opened with a string, similar, I suppose to grandmother's in Little Red Riding Hood. and the latch will fly up. ' • .. • 'Pull the bob l -_ The window was a hole large enough to hold a sash of six, eight by ten panes of glass, which we soon filled accordingly. " C 7 The furniture matched the house in quality: People sawed poles and fastened them together for bedsteads by boring holes and lacing them each way with ropes. May gave me a bedstead which my father Chapter I, Page Eleven had made. It was planed and mortised and nicely put to gether, and had a head and foot board, but it had been taken apart so much for the purpose of scalding bed bugs that it was getting delapidated. There will be those, no doubt, who read this who never saw a bedstead laced up so I will say that it was done by passing a rope through sidebars, and across the end bars by means of holes bored for the purpose, and were more comfortable to lie on the slats in present use. Some boxes with our clothing and a stove completed our furniture. I used one box to put my dishes and victuals on and another to set the milk on, for we had a cow. A trunk with a flat top we used alternately for a table and chair as the case demanded. I am thus particular in describing my first house ; keeping outfit, for the interest of my children, that they may see how little is really necessary for happiness. It may benefit them sometimes when they feel to complain. We soon found that we were better off than our neighbors, for we had plenty to eat. Myron bought some lumber after a few days and made me a table, but it did not look like my father's work, for Myron was not a carpenter; but it held many a good dinner for all that.. He made some benches, and put pegs in the wall and laid shelves on, for a cupboard, and I Chapter I, Page Twelve hung curtains around it and put newspapers behind a small looking glass that Freeman had brought me, and soon had our home looking clean and cheerful. AndJ think passed some of the happiest hours of my life in that old log cabin. ' (MJ p. 57) Payson was only a little more than six years old at this time and , people~ still l-i-vf-0.g in or near the fort w-lricH from the Indians. ey had built as protection Mary Jane describes _tile-feeling of the settlers about the Indians when they first moved there. e Indians had been hostile; and the people were obliged to make temporary homes in a fort hastily construe, ted as possible • . , " "The Indians seldom came to open warfare, but would steal up unawares and pick off the fore from some safe place. accordingly. The brethren understanding this took measures They did not go out to fight unless forced to, for they wished to make peace, but defended themselves when attacked. In this manner they lost few men, and the Indians were made to understand that they did not wish to fight them. After several years of desultary warfare peace was finally restored and the settlers were beginning to tear down their unsightly cabins and make themselves pleasanter homes. (MJ p. 58) Chapter I, Page Thirteen Living in periods of danger ha; its advantages as well as its disadvantages. People tend to be more neighborly and to look out for one another more. fl- -" Our supply of flour did service for most of the neighborhood, being borrowed and returned so many times that I often wondered if so small a quantity of flour ever went so far before. We had some cows and to have plenty of milk and butter and cream to cook with was quite a treat, but I missed our daily fresh stead as there were no butcher shops. A man would occasionally kill a beef or mutton and sell or loan a portion to his neighbors. The 24th of July came a few days after our arrival. In the morning as I was preparing breakfast, I heard some music and went to the door. Some men were in a wagon serenading us with what I suppose they called a martial band. They had a clarinet, a snare drum and a violin. o •• In the afternoon there was a picnic under the bowery .....I I cooked some cakes and went with Myron and joined the festivities. After the dinner was cleared away there was dancing, and the belles and beaux were out in full force. I felt I was a mark of curiosity for they were dressed in the styles I had seen six years previous and I must have looked very odd to them in my plain skirt and short belt waist with low neck and flowing sleeves. cnapter r, Page Fourteen However the day came to an end as all days must, and in the retirement of my home I was contented and happy; for happiness does not depend on rank or station, but buds and blossoms in the heart. " (MJ p. 59) Myron and Jane decided to build a home and not finding any location / / 1 I which suited them better they bought the cabin there were in and began making adob·e. But more pressing matters took Myron's attentio~ and the sun -dried bricks did not get madeo In the meantime he purchased land I down by the herd grounds where he kept the cattle and decided to build there. I Thek first child was born in the cabin described above~ 1on th 0th I of May, ot 1857. He was named for his father and was called Myron, Jr. "We were very proud ofuim and thought our happiness complete." The home they had intended to build on the site of the old fort was now constructed near the herd grounds three miles from town. It consisted of "two rooms on the ground floor and two above, this made us very comfortable." A number of weighty events occurred during the first few years Myron and Jane were together. There was the grasshopper famine of 1855, the year they first met, when the people were as near starvation as they had ever been or were likely to be. Then two years later, 1857, there occurred the Mountain Meadows Massacre, an event which shook Utah to its very foundations. This was also the year their first child was born. And the coming of Johnston's army kept the J aints in a state ~f alarm for most of two years, not a very pleasant climate for a young couple just 1 teen starting out. These events were all punctuated by events in their own lives. Mary Jane's journal dwells upon them all. They were married and set up housekeepi ng in the wake of the grasshoppe r famine; their first child was born in the early part of the year of the Mountain Meadows tragedy, and his death occurred in August following the occupation of Utah by Johnston's army. Myron's family, which included his mother, three bachelor bro- thers, an aunt, a hired girl, and hired men moved in the couple in early 1858 and turned the peaceful little home into an over-crowd ed hotel. Myron, himself was away much of the time, pa: ivi assisting in moving people south just rmy. f-which had to do with his part fore the entrance of Johnston's Speaking of Myron's family moving in, Mary Jane commented · ( '' ..•. it made the family so large that I was only a poor little unit among them. They were very good people and were all kind to me, but were so different to those I was accustomed to that I seemed to lose my individualit y (identity). " In July of -1858 Myron left Payson to go to San Bernardino to finalize the sale of the farm. One month later his son died, leaving a brokenhear ted mother and grandmoth er as -he was the only child in the family / But on March 26, 1859 the second child was born and was given the name of ~:. Joseph Marion, Joseph for his maternal grandfathe r, Joseph Mount, and Marion for his cousin, Fmcis Marion Lyman. His close friends would call him Marion, but most people would speak of him as J. M. With the sad chapter I, Page Sixteen memory of the boy they had lost, his mother ww te regarding her ( , 11(,W son Joseph Marion, ''with the blessings of God we raised him to manhood. " af the various deals on their San Bernardino property, Myron arranged for a swap for some property in Provo. Mary Jane described this property as follows: fr'"---- '-'It consisted of a house with five rooms, an . orchard just commenced bearing., a gristmill and some farm land. It was pleasantly situated on the suburbs of the city. The farm was adjoining the city lot where our home was, which made everything convenient, a nice pasture opening out of the corral with a stream of water running through it, and a grove of cottonwood trees in the pasture just a few rods from the house. The mill being close by made Myron's work all in a convenient position. The house was shaded by large cottonwoods on one side, and an orchard on the other. The yard was shaded with wild rose bushes which bloomed in June and hung with scarlet berries the rest of the season. The city stretched away on the south of us and was just a short walk to the business part. ' {This home was situated at what is now 5th North and 5th West. Mary Jane, who had grown up in Salt Lake and was never quite satisfied with rural Payson, was elatedo She could now get away from the f' cnapter r, Page seventeen herd grounds and be iB-pOs.itien where she could meet people and where things were happening. Mary Jane enjoyed society: "I felt more at home than I had done since leaving Salt Lake. " Myron had little to say about the move except that the new business venture proved to be a very successful Soon after tak-m.g over the grist mill there was a mining boom in Montana and Myron was in a position to take advantage of the high prices paid for flour - $25. 00 a sack - and other mill products. Said Myron, / "During the days of the Montana boom I did better financially than any si milar period in my life. " Henceforth Provo would be tR€ home Myron and Mary Jane. The move to Provo was made in August of 1860; Joseph Marion was about seven teen months old. He would probably have enjoyed remaining in Payson at the herd grounds where there were more horses and other livestock, but Provo would be his home until professional work would take him away. In Provo he would have opportunitites of learning which he would not have had in Payson, including Brigham Young Academy and Dr. Karl G. Maeser. CHAPTER II Marion Grows Up There is nothing on record in the early: life of Joseph Marion Tanner c/2 c__ to indicate { xceptional individua . His mother says that he commenced walking when he was thirteen months old, which is about average for nor mal, healthy children. (, A few months later she records, "Baby was not well, but managed to do considerable in the way of carrying out things, putting knives through a crack in the kitchen floor, and falling in the creek, in fact it was almost one's work to keep track of him. " Th-e-mothei= Mary Jane was never quite well hersel~ nd it was almost more than she could :) manage to keep track of this toddler. Finally a girl was hired to assist and between the two they managed to keep the house work done, as well as look after the baby. In the true Mormon fashion of the day 'fOmen had large families. J I ' I Children were born to Mary Jane i regular pe ieds of approximately two years. rrtv The first child was born May 6, 1857, and the ninth January 25, 1875. Marion would have plenty of experience with children around the home. Three of his full brothers and sisters died in infancy, the one older than himself and the next two younger. He would brothers and sisters. r brother to his ' S: In addition to his mother's children, Marion wettlcl have eight half brothers and sist rs. ~ ""-"'"--~ en, is father .r h was appointed a bishop in Provo in 1864 married a second wife, Ann Crosb1C) two years later Most Chapter II, Page Two J church officials of the rank of bishop or higher were under considerable pressure to join the ranks of the polygamists, and Myron, like many others~ married a poor but attractive immigrant girl twenty years of age and twenty years his junior. r Their oldest child was born in 1861'._when Marion was / ) eight years old so he was big brother to a large brood of half brothers and A sisters. Myron, who had done little but move from place to place during the thirty-five years of his life ten major moves in all and commenced to make his fortune. c I s '-'f, ·y whic ~ Bernardino -r Mention ha; ,, ,~ quire~ ~~~ I settled down in Provo e~ • en maae of the .___,t. -t,A.._,,' f the trade for ~ '- / ; i.H,ASan hile My-ro had had no previous experience in milling, he s ills wei=e aeecle and~ began to prosper. Myron's biography says, "He soon made himself familiar with the milling business, bought two new farms, and kept teams moving almost constantly for years hauling flour from Provo to Salt Lake City. " In many respects Myron was like his famous father, John Tanner, who knew how to turn labor into weaith. All he needed was an opportunity. /'"\ Within a few years he was considered one of the successful business men , (t f of the city, whica Hlcluaed- enough wealth that he and his family could 1-1- available at the time. Only of either ~ V occasional ffieftBOn is made the children in the writings e parent . Myron makes almost no mention of them and Mary Jane/ only occasionally. Marion is mentioned more than any of the younger . children, probably because he was the only one of the first four children to ree survive. A lt After burying the third child, Gertrude, a lovely girl of tw and ... 'Effie half years, Mary Jane wrote in her J·ournal: Savior above us whose love is eternal Say didst Thou see that our darling was fair, Cherisf her still with Thy power supernal Glory and gladness are crowning her there. four: "Time passed without any material changes for another year. 1 I Our Marion was growing to be a large boy, full of mischief as boys can be. " , ll ' Marion -w-oukl-re six years old at the ti]ile. It was sometime after this that t Myron mar.J.=--i ed for ~he second time. journal. wife. Mary Jane makes note of it in her "A change was made in our family by Myron marrying another She was an English girl named Ann Crosby. little. Of this I will say but It is a heart history which pen and ink can never trace. ./ It was a great trial but I believed it to be a true principal, and summoned all my fortitude to bear it bravely. " -At-the-H-rne-a .the mar.riag/ Ann was brought into the Tanner home to live with I o er w-if1 and e children. It would be interesting to know 24_,,._ if a boy clte---arre-of Marion would bav. noticed any change in his mother and y A I • v · the affairs at home. '---""" Seventeen years hence he would oe marrying a plu - ral wife while a first wife looked anxiously but helplesslx. Plural marriage in the Myron Tanner home was far from tranquil. In the earliest years Mary Jane tried hard to make a success of what she considered a true prin,ciple of the Gospel. G She tried to put away her jea lous feelings and support her husband whom she sincerely loved. . She tells ,(;..;. of the birth of Ann's first child, ·a-dati-ghter on March 16, 1867. whem be -GaJ.loo Sai:ah-Ellen . Two weeks later, March 31, Mary Jane gave birth to ?Lb t... A , rr:x_-_r-whom ey named Mary Elizabeth. Myron pi:astical had twin girls --.:::i- - .. in the family. This may have been the moment of greatest harmony or hap ~ $ piness in Myron's home aueF his second marriage. Mary Jane's comment is one of very few with an optimistic ring: "I think we never felt happier or enjoyed ourselves better together than then. baby's We attended each other's bies) and got along very comfortabl y. " t-0 thi _/' 0 time, Ann w-as living in r . 'Tft'l--f-lcft-c:±3E-¥--H:H~--and ller-/ oo it might be wondered how the relationshi p was kept as harmo nious as it was. That autumn a new home was completed, larger and more / desirable, and Myron told Mary Jane she might claim t:he vacate the old one to Ann. .,...-, ?fwhem (. I nd This was of course a triumph for Mary Jane -bttt- a let down for Ann. In all contests there is a loser, and losing is never a pleasant experienc_e. Ann V , we/ ~er, now had a home of her ow and this . . was :i-H-a-wi¥ a triumph. in itself. quarters 1 Both wives were relieved to hav7\their own =-i:i-vacy i afforded. rn=- -.... ....... ·s- was to be ~ short-lived -t-t--+-~, however, as alxmt a year later Myron a cia means from England. ;~./-1 { --w-t-f"filtH .n l b Ann's mother and sister to America They moved ·n with An~ nd the mother noting the difference "old home" AH~~ .:!-1"' ::> ·fl and the more modern one occupied by Mary Jane, soon began stirring up strife. • Mary Jane tells wh9-t was bap~ cnapcet n, r age . fl 1v e ey had not been here long before they commenced sowing dissention in the family, which increased until all inter j r course between the two houses ceased, and all friendly relationship between us was destroyed. Previous to their coming we had overlooked each others imperfections and tried to live our religion putting all jealousies aside, and had she striven as I did instead of allowing her people to come between us it would no doubt resulted in entire happiness and confidence in each other. a Het susure bout that. ) Myron, probably puzzled at the turn of events, finally found it nece J ssary to move one of ', tl.@ wives. "He bought a home for Ann near the meet ing house and central business part of town, about a mile from my house, I" I <c and mo ed her there, after which I had my premises clear and free from annoyance." Mary Jane explains that Myron provided for them impartially and spent half of his time at each home. Marion, whose history will include r/.lJ- much strife in his own polygamous household was probably too young to t realize much 9:-00\:t what was going on / But as the years passed and e ~ e conditions grew steadily worse, he would have been forced to take v mce of it. -Put:ure-€v.en.t.s_w ill show, however, tha this was no deterj nt to ~; ~-Fi n's ~t:H.i::1:±-:~·t-e af tivities Whether he did any thinking while he was l growing up about the problems involved in polygamous livin is _not known, but in any case he would become as involved in difficulties as his parents I r. 1 ,-.. doctrine of polygamy with her desire to have her husband to herself is re vealed in this statement of Mary Jane: /\. C "I tried to be watchful and prayerful stri~ing to overcome every weakness that caused unhappiness and live uprightly doing my duty before God and my fellow men., I sought to train my children properly and rear them in the 'n ture and admonition of the Lord' and I can say truly, I found that peace which an upright life I and trust in God alone can give. " (note) fi/vr--/4U Jane and Ann. . } ·s known there wa~ never a reconciliation between Mary I\ Mary Janef -seems to have remained loyal to Myron through all their troubles, but much of the time Ann was hostile and played the 1 1, c__, \ In later years Afl.H- drank heavily" and finally r~ game)alone. , ) ed herself / ' unfit to manage her household. Her children were taken away from her at various times and cared for in other homes, ?? Jane. I ~'"' One of Qu-J~ ~ - t " ~.l. Mary n's children., Caleb, r elated to his dau ,. hter that he had V known only one mother aaE1 that was Mary Jane. (note) In the tradition of > the John Tanner family, Myron saw to it that his children learned to work. In her journal of March 3, 187 4, Mary Jane has- this entry: "We are going to bed for we have to get up early, as the boys., Marion and Bertrand work in [the factory. " At this date Marion was not quite fifteen and Bertrand ..__.,/ ,.,----__ was just over nine. We are not told what these boys were doing in the factory or why they were not at school. March 3, 1874_t as a Tuesday so l Chapter II, Page Seven this was not just a week-end with the boys doing a little Saturday work. One week later,.._on March 10, Mary JanefI makes much the same statement: /;> . "We manage very well only it is hard getting up so early to get the boys off to their work. I must go to bed for I have to get up at five o'clock. " This is not to suggest that the boys were being abused or over 1 worke~ but it is a bit puzzling. Myron's finances did not require that his boys miss school to earn money to support the family; he was one of the better~ ixed men in Provo. were out of line. One can only conclude that his priorities I John Tanner g ~e his children only the bare minimum ] of education, although he could/ have ~ ell afforded the best. (John {a~ner and His Family, Chapter 25) The idea that to learn to work was more im - J portant than to go to school was a part of the philosophy of John Tanner's 7 children. (Henry) J. M. It is doubtful if the school with his education. Tanner missed seriously interfered In fact it is quite inconceivable that he could have been kept from gaining an education. But that might not be true with others and many of the Tanner men were greatly handicapped because of a lack of a basic education. In the case of J. M. Tanner the real tragedy was that he tried to practice the old philosophy that it was better to teach tpe boy to work than for him to go to school. This was carried to a point where he lost the love and esteem of his largest family. (note) I I 0t B~t to retu~n to the story; the next mention o Mario~ in his mother's ./ journal · · February 1878: "Marion preaches at American For today. wish I could hear him. I I think I should be a better woman if I could hear a gospel sermon sometimes. " Marion is almost nineteen, but it is a little surprising to learn that is giving gospel sermons at this early date. L, I I The Latter-day Saint's Biographical Encyclopedia gives considerable I space to J. M. Tanner: I/ ~ -"F': om his fourteenth to his seventeenth year he was an employee of the Provo Woolen Mills. He worked during the day in the factory and attended a night school organized at the Brigham Young Acaderµy, under Dr. Karl G. Maeser. The class originally consisted of twenty-six factory hands who gradually lost their interest in the studies and he finally became the only student of the class which continued during the entire school year. _e-, '111 ---1-,~ euld be interesting-te knew i-f either Myron aware of the kind of young man they had on their hands. ,, r 11 Mary Jane we.r.e Mary Jane took great pride in him and mentions him more than Sf¼e--Eli the other children, J but she probably knew little if anything about superior children. -8ut ''the 1I good 1actor QV.e:rr at the Academy knew iehad found a fine mind and ae be gan CB::ki¥-ating it. Dr. Maeser, who spoke quite well and did considerable moralizing in his talks, was in great demand in wards and ehurch auxiliaries all over the church. I , in It was natural that his star pupil should emulate him and fill when the li>ctor could not be present. invitation to American ForM , This may account for h · However, there could have been another cnapcer n, Page Nme was keeping company with Jane, the daughter of Leonard C. Harringto n, bishop of America n Fork, and this may have occasion ed the invitation . But Marion was preachin g in other places as well, and a month later he had an appqintm ent to preach in Provo Third Ward where his father was '7 . bishop. Mary Jane was sie-k: en-this dat and again missed e aratory courses h had take in the -r graphica l Encyclop edia "At the age of seventee n as a regular student and was a member of its first gra du a ting class in the year 187 8, thus becoming one of the first teachers who had graduate d from the institutio n. " -u1~ IJ It was in May 1878, semetim near the ~uaaer i ·n-the life of Mary Jane %±s may have been the first time lized what an exception al son she had. a book of poem~ nd hoped to have them publish d. Among those she had I talked to about her l!epes, was Edward W. Tullidge, t:H€~ "J and historian . v ,(_. · Mary .Jane's N-f} aet:;{:)tl ffitffi'S e event: ~ We got the work done up and I made myself tidy and sat down to rest. Looking out I saw Messrs .. Tullidge and Crandell , publishe rs from Salt Lake. journalis t ..,I Chapter II, Page Ten They had promised to call and inspect my writings and tell me the cost of publishing a book of poems. I read them my poems with which they were very much pleased, and stronly urged me to publish; selecting such pieces as seemed to them suitable. They said I had enough to make a book of a hundred pages that were well worthy of publication. It would cost $350. 00 for a thousand copies. They staid (sic all night. Myron is in Salt Lake City, but Marion came in, and I was proud to introduce him. conversed with them to good advantage. I-------.:.: --- / He They talked of science, and religion and I was pleased to see him so well informed. ;/ . ,J -<'mak7' a mother mere pro 11~ 0f-her-chH than to see Nothing perform well and Marion did very well in the presence of distinguished ? ~_,Al company. I I ' an remarkieEI-: "I thought he was better than my book, /\ and if I did no other work, the honor of having such a son is more pride . and pleasure than a dozen books. '' Upon his graduation from Brigham Young Academy, Marion began teaching classes there. He was offered a teaching job in Tooele where his Aunt Maria Lyman and cousin Francis M. Lyman lived, but the position was so poorly paid he decided to teach at the academy, where he received $7 S. 00 a term. If Marion's precociousnes s began showing in academic life, another I --- cnapter n, Page Eleven trait quite different from that of his father, Myron, began showing as well. Shortly after his nineteenth birthday, his mother announced his engagement to Jane Harrington: "As I was writing this evening Marion came in with a young lady he is waiting on. Miss Harrington of American Fork. " Myron, his father managed to find a girl who would marry him when he was two weeks short of thirty; Marion would marry when he was four months short of twenty. t --/ In the case of Myron, the father, he married a gir1 of nineteen, almost eleven years his junior; Marion, on the other hand, married a girl a year and a half older than himself. But given time, he would marry a number younger. / On July 24, 1878, another occasion took place which would make his mother proud again. celebrate the 24th. A very special program had been arranged to There was a band, floats and banners and marchers in the parade. Marion was deputy marshall! "This was said to be the grandest celebration that had been south of Salt Lake. " (boy of nineteen) It is ever an interesting thing to note how certain people move ahead while others do not. This is not always a question of superior in- tellect or of educational opportunity or even of an individual's incentive. Groups which have tried to pick the individual from their numbers most likely to succeed, usually fail. But J oseph Marion Tanner possessed two qualities which marked him for success: He was endowed with natural ability very much above most of his contemporaries, and he had a great desire to achieve. The educational opportunities about him would appear to have been quite minimal. There were whole terms of school which he did not attend at all and the quality of the schools when he was in atten - Chapter II, Page lwelve dance must have left much to be desired. There were a few favorable elements in his environment; his mother must have been a positive factor in his advancement. There were all too few books in the Tanner home, but those which were there were substantial. Brother Lidiard loaned to Mary Jane Milton and Virgil. Mary Jane admitted that she had to be alert to be able to read them, but she must have read them or she would not have taken them home. A number of Mary Jane rs friends, both in Salt Lake and Provo, consisted of the elite of the day. (note) She wrote a number of articles for the Women's Exponent, and prepared a book of poems which were published under the name of Fugitive Poems. A woman of her intellectual capacity was likely to put her stamp on a bright and impressionable young man such as Marion. At the funeral of his father, Myron, one of the speakers told of how hard Myron had striven to give educational opportunities to his children, and in the biography of Myron Tanner, which was prepared by Joseph Marion Tanner, Myron is quoted as saying that for the eight years preceding 1896 he had not tried to accumulate property but had devoted his resources to the education of his family. When ·we add the devotion of a superior mother to that of a father who financially better able to provide the necessary means than most of his contemporaries, we are still unable to explain the advancement made by this bright boy from this Provo farm. He rose so far above those about him that any attempt to explain the reason ends up largely in co_n jecture. But, of course, there was Dr. Maeser. CHAPTER III Entering the World of Education J.M. Tanner was seventeen when Dr. Karl G. Maeser came to ,. - I Provo -an took control of the Brigham Young Academy in 1876. This fledgling institution wit.h not enough feathers to get off the ground, had already one through the agonies of two births, first being called the Provo Branch of the University of the State of Deseret and later known as the Timpanogos t ( Branch of the University of the State of Deseret. Whatever its difficultJ ' in getting unde way i enjoyed a larger student attendance then the parent ) institution in Salt Lake City. (B. Y. U. - Wilkinson p. 53) The executive committee of the school was composed of Marion's father, Myron Tanner, a man rising in the business world in Provo and bishop of the Third Ward, Bishop Leonard E. Harrington of American Fork, whose daughter Jane, Marion would later marry, and Bishop Thurber of Spanish Fork, among others. The new trustees of the Academy, all Utah county residents, were A. 0. Smoot, Wilson H. Dusenberry, Harvey H. Cluff and Myron Tanner. /) In 1892, the Young Woman's Journal secured a short item from J.M. Tanner, who was then attending Harvard University, which it published: (p. 339-340) "When Professor Maeser arrived in Provo in . the spring of 1876, I was laboring in the Provo Woolen Mills and enjoying the anticipation of some scholastic cnapter 111, Page rwo training in Salt Lake. I was unable to enter school that spring, nor did I find myself able to do so when it opened in the fall. In order, however, to commence my work at the best possible advantage with the class at the opening of the second half year, I made an appli cation to Professor Maeser and the board for a night class and secured for that purpose the names of twentyseven of my factory companions. All manifested un- usual interest in the beginning, but the preparations required self denial and night work more than many felt that they colild render, and after a few weeks I was a solitary member of the class. " This was a crucial moment in the life of this bright young man. His natural instincts told him to join the crowd of young people and have a good time; that you are only young once and youth was slipping away. His comment, "It became necessary for me to forego the various evening pleasures common to a community of young people, and after my day's work was over at the factory I applied myself late in the evening to my studies." The driving force which impelled him forward in addition to his own · ambition, he mentions as a desire to keep "parallel with the day classes'' so that he might join them later without being behind. Dr. Maeser, who if he was not actually teaching the night classes, at least kept in touch with them, and he soon "touched a sympathetic cholrd and occa·s ional con J versations after the exercises soon won my fullest confidence and inspired cnapter 111, Page I nree me with new ambition. " One of the most thrilling things in life is to learn, to acquire knowledge. This is particularly true with the superior individual, and in these night classes, which he found "among the most important circumstances of my education, " Marion began to unlock the treasurehouse of knowledge. Who his instructors were in the night classes is not stated, or how much of the time he was entirely on his own. This seemed not to have mattered much, for there were books and Marion was quite able to use them with or without an instructor's help. Dr. Maeser "discovered" It was at this point that J. M. Tanner. To put it in J. M. 's words, "Professor Maeser was fully convinced that I possessed the essential elements of a teacher. " No greater compliment could have been paid him than to link his name with that of teacher. His favorite subject at the night school, and in fact the entire time he was at Brigham Young Academy was history. These history courses created in him a great desire to travel over the grounds of the historical study. ( A few years hence he would visit England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Roumania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Having finished successfully the night courses which continued for a period of six months, he enrolled in the regular courses and graduated with the first class of graduates. It is not known how much of a college course in terms of present college work this would have included; whether the two last years of a high school course, or perhaps the first two years of a college course, with special emphasis on classes a teacher would need. Probably the latter. It is difficult to determine just how much academic work Marion completed at the Brigham Young Academy. sent to the Young Woman's Journal he makes the stat I In the item he L , "I was a member of the first class of graduates, but continued my studies the second year. " M ion felt that he was under the necessity of earning the money with which to go to college. (note) Somewhere along the college course he learned enough civil engineering that he was able to do surveying. No details of what this consisted is given but he worked at different times as city engineer for Provo, surveyor fpr the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and the Bingham mine. It would seem that his surveying was not thought of as fulltime professional work, although it is mentioned that the railroad company offered him fulltime employment if he would go with them to Texas. In later years when he once took a ride to Bingham with Kneland he showed his son where he had "surveyed for the railroad tracks in Bingham Canyon. " (mm 275) Surveying was probably a means of making a little money to help him get to school, and was performed mostly in the summer when he was not in school. After he became a member of the Brigham Young AGademy faculty, he taught a course in surveying. It must have been an important day in the life of J. M. Tanner when "near the close of the second summer's vacation I was asked to accept a pas ition of teacher in the A.ca y. " (Ibid) This offer came in the summer of 1878 when he was nineteen years Gt ag@. He would continue on as a teacher at the Academy until he left for his mission in 1884, a total of six cnapter 111, Page F 1ve years. Marion explains a little about his work as teacher at Brigham Young Academy. "My first year's work was in what was then called the grammar department. " It is not exactly clear what is meant by the grammar department but it could refer to some of the upper grades which were likely a part of the Academy at that time. In the same sentence he continues, "but the second year, through the resignation of Professor Booth, I took the department of mathematics, and after Professors Talmage and Hardy left I taught classes in the sciences. " (Ibid) When J. M. first entered the faculty at Brigham Young Academy there were five teachers; Dr. Maes er, J. E. Booth, Zina D. Williams, Professor Hardy and J. M. Tanner. Dr. Talmage joined the faculty briefly taking charge of Section A of the academic department with J. M. Tanner having charge of Section B, mathematics and faculty secretary. ,f • In 1882 - 83, J.M. added physics and elo tion to his teaching load, and the following year he headed the "Commercial Department, " and taught science and surveying. Course and department designation remained fluid during his years at Brigham Young Academy. The 1883 "Commercial Department" for example, included courses in geology, chemistry, physicology, physics and botany, as well as okkeeping. The next year the same courses were listed under the "Collegiate Department. " This was before the time of teacher specialization, and as J. M. put it, "My work throughout was general in character, and there were few classes that I had not at one time or another taught. " (Ibid) cnapter 111, Page six It is difficult to determine J. M. 's place at Brigham Young Academy. There would have been no such thing as tenure in those days but it may be surmised that he would have been as secure in his job as any of the other teachers with the exception of Dr. Maeser. There seemed to have been no question that he was an important part of the B. Y. A. faculty, and this would be the case until he left for his mission in 1884. Under date of June 23, 1879, J.M. 's mother, Mary Jane, makes this note: "Marion received a letter from Marion Lyman (later Apostle Francis M. Lyman) offering him a position in a school at Tooele. he likes the place. He will go and see how If he concludes to accept the posi- tion he will not buy the house he talks of getting. "(MJT p. 153) The following month J.M., accompanied by Dr. Maeser and his mother drove a team to Tooele to investigate the offer. :J They stopped at the home of his cousin, Francis M. Lyman, where they received a warm welcome. As a part of the visit a side trip was made to Grantsville by .-.Lyman, Maeser and J. M Mary Jane makes no comment about the results of the trip, nor is there any hint of how J. M. felt about the school offer. The fact that nothing more is said about the Tooele school proposition suggests that J. M. found it less challenging than his position at Brigham Young Academy. That Dr. Maeser went along on the trip could indicate that he had a personal interest in its outcome, and may have played some part in J. M. 's decision to remain on the B. Y. A. faculty. / cnapce1 111, r age 0even In November, 1878, Marion Tanner was married to Jane Harringto -daaght;er-ef L en&rd E. Harrington, bishop of American For / The bride came from a superior family and her taining led to her selection as a mem £;._, ber of the faculty at B. Y. A. In 1884 she was employed as _uLady Superin) heading the 'Ladies Work Department.'-' A part of her duties re,; lated to a boarding house which had been given to the school by David John and Samuel Liddiard. The building, located at 1st West and Center, was __/ >--- capable of accommodating sixty students, and t:E.ey were accommodated / for the modest price of $10 a month for oo board and room. Jennie Harrington Tanner was matron of the building for two years, when it closed due to financial difficulties. Among her other du ties were the frequent in - spections of female student boarding places. She remained on the B. Y. A. faculty while J. M. filled his long mission and then joined him in Logan when he became president of the Brigham Young College.