John Tanner

John Tanner was the father of Maria Louisa Tanner Lyman,

Sadie McBride's great-grandmother.

JOHN TANNER (1778-1850) was born in Hopkinton, Washington County, Rhode Island, on 15 August 1778. He was the second child and oldest son of Joshua Tanner (1757-1807) and Thankful Tefft (1757-1822). On his mother's side he was a descendent of three Mayflower pilgrims: Richard Warren (1579-1628), and father and son Francis Cooke (1583-abt.1653) and John Cooke (1612-1695). John Tanner was a 7th generation American -- on his father's side he was a descendant of noble and royal English families such as Trevilian, Courteney, Beaumont, Tremayne, Tyrrell, Sergeaux, de Raleigh, de St.Clare, de Champagne, de Spencer, de Saluzza, Beauchamp, Plantagenet, de St.Valery, de Brittany, Marshall, Welsh prince Llewelyn "Fawr", William the Conqueror, etc.

Following is an excerpt from the Tanner Family website which contains a full biography of this amazing man including the miraculous healing of his crippled leg by two Mormon missionaries. He eventually gave up all his wealth to help establish what he saw as the kingdom of God restored to the earth through Joseph Smith.

According to Nathan Tanner, John's son "At this time at Bolton, notwithstanding his large family responsibilities, he had acquired wealth and had become a man of much influence, and was extensively known and universally respected." He had built a beautiful, spacious frame home for his large family (so well-built that it is still in use today, and is used as an inn, known as Green Acres). "He had commenced poor, but by hard work and economy, accumulated around him the comforts of life. John Tanner was the kind of man who could not be kept poor -- he prospered in everything he did. He carried on farming extensively; stock-raising and dairying on different farms which he had cleared from the surrounding forest, and he engaged in lumbering in all its branches, as he owned several sawmills and planing mills, and owned some 2,200 acres of timberland; he also had many acres of cleared land with homes and barns to accommodate a number of families (his married children and their families); and he had orchards in abundance." He also owned Green Island in Lake George, which at the time may not have been valuable, but later became the resort island on which the famous Hotel Sagamore was built. John Tanner "also kept a hotel at Bolton Landing of some considerable note (often he gave food and lodging to people who were unable to pay, and that he never turned anyone away). The poor and needy always found a friend in him; he would give them employment whereby to earn what they needed, if they were able to work, but would supply their needs just the same, whether they were able to work or not ... All of the various branches of business made work for his family and all he could hire."

Nathan says, "(My father) had a delightful home on the west side of Lake George, one of the finest sheets of water in the world ... In those days women turned the wheel by hand or foot that spun our yarn and made our cloth. In this we were not behind. We were a hard-working and hard-handed family. None of our means was willed to us, but earned by hard work and economy. My father used to say he enjoyed accumulating property around him, and if it could be spent wisely, it would prove a blessing. If spent otherwise it would prove a curse."

John Tanner was also an active Baptist lay preacher who was highly respected in the area. His name was said to be synonymous with benevolence, honesty and integrity.

To read more go here.