John Tanner and his family

Page 437

20 BIOGRAPHY OF MYRON 'fANNER. call to the Bishopric in 1866 he married his second wife Annie Crosby. At this point in the narration of the events of his life, he stopped to impress upon his children the importance and value of business integrity which have so much to do with a man's standing in the Church as well as in the business world. He warned them against speculating with other people's money, and admonished prudent and economical in their habits of life. Myron Tanner had a world of pleasure from the expressions of confidence them to be which others made to him and he related this, another little cir­ cumstance, of a visit he made in 1870 to Salt Lake City in order to get money to enlarge his business. "It was soon after the First National Bank was organized and I told I called upon Horace Eldredge, one of the bank directors. him I wanted to borrow about asked me if I had anybody $500 for six months, and he then in town that would endorse for me. I I don't want said, No, sir, I would not ask anybody to do that. He replied that it was entirely the money bad enough for that. contrary to the rules of the bank, but I should have the money.' Continuing. he said, "I never had a paper go to protest in my life, and my father, although he signed notes of large amounts for others, died without a judgment hanging over him and owed no man a dollar." "It in the early 70's that a change came to my business people began to organize their business institu­ tions throughout the state into corporations and for awhile all private enterprises were more or less submerged in the new busi­ At this time Abraham O. Smoot became presi­ ness movements. dent of the Utah Stake of Zion. He called upon me and expressed the desire that I put my property, and especially my mill into the new organizations." "The factory," he said, "needed the mill." "It already had one and it was his intention to make Myron Tanner superintendent both of his own mill, should it be put into the fac­ tyry, and the one owned by the factory. The proposition was not In the first place, Myron Tanner had business very acceptable. ideas that were somewhat peculiar and altogether his own. He much preferred to keep his mill which was bringing him in a large income for those days and he was, perhaps, as well to do as any was activities. The