John Tanner And His Family

John Tanner was born in 1778 at Hopkinton, Rhode Island, the son of Joshua and Thankful Tefft Tanner. His family migrated to Greenwich, New York, in 1791. He married Tabitha Bently (1780-1801), ca. 1800. They had one son born at Greenwich in 1801. He married 2) Lydia Stewart (1773-1825) at Greenwich in 1801. They had twelve children, 1802-1825, born at Greenwich and Bolton, New York. He married 3) Elizabeth Beswick (1803-1890) at Bolton, New York. They had eight children, 1826-1843, born at Bolton, Kirtland, Ohio, and in Lee County, Iowa. Seven of his children died as infants or children. He and his wife joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1832 and migrated west with the Mormon pioneer; first to Kirkland, Ohio, then to Far West, Missouri; Liberty, Illinois; Montrose, Iowa; Winter Quarters, Nebraska, and finally to Utah in 1848. Four of his children remained in the east. He died in the Salt Lake Valley in 1850. Descendants lived in Utah, California, Arizona, Canada, and elsewhere.