Bio of TANNER, William L. (b.1845 d.1918), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol III, pg 90-93
WILLIAM L. TANNER
To those familiar with the history of industrial activity in Minneapolis prior
to the year 1918, the name of William L. Tanner is well known, for through an
extended period he conducted an extensive business as a contractor in painting
and decorating. He also operated considerably in real estate and had accumulated
a number of proper­ties, from which he derived a good rental. All of this was
indicative of the wise use which he made of his time and of his opportunities.
Diligence and energy were among his marked characteristics and his life record
indicates what can be accomplished through persistent personal efforts.
William L. Tanner was a native of Connecticut, his birth having occurred at
Meriden on the 3d of May, 1845, his parents being Lewis A. and Sarah G.
(Perkins) Tanner. He acquired his education in the schools of New Haven, to
which city his parents removed during his early childhood. When he was a youth
of about sixteen years he became a sailor and remained upon the water for two
years. He enlisted when eighteen years of age for service in the Civil war,
joining the "Boys in Blue" of the First Connecticut Cavalry, with which he
served for about four years. He participated in many hotly contested battles and
was captured just before the engage­ment at Cedar Creek, after which he was
incarcerated in the prison at Salisbury, North Carolina, for five and a half
months, being there at the time of the close of hostilities.
When the war was over Mr. Tanner returned to his home and worked in his father's
tin shop for about a year, but believing that he might have better business
opportunities in the growing west he made his way to Minneapolis in 1866 and
here took up his abode. He first worked in a cooper shop for about a year, at
the end of which time he was called to New Haven, on account of the death of his
father. He continued in the east for about eighteen months, during which period
he learned the house painting trade. In the spring of 1869, however, he again
came to Minne­apolis, where he became identified with the firm in the painting
business, spending two years in that way. In the fall of 1873 he purchased 'the
business of his employer and continued in that line of activity as a contractor
in painting and decorating until about two years prior to his demise. He did
interior decorating as well as exterior work and enjoyed a liberal patronage,
his business growing year by year and bringing him a substantial competence as
time passed on. In the course of his business he saw opportunity for judicious
investment in real estate and at intervals acquired property, from which he
derived a good rental. While he started out in the business world empty-handed
he came into possession of a substantial income as the just and merited reward
of his own labors and in the latter part of his career was able to enjoy all of
the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.
In September, 1869, Mr. Tanner was married to Miss Helen C. Pinch, a daughter of
William and Angeline (Kelsey) Finch. They came to Minnesota in the spring of
1850 and passed through the Indian massacre in this state. Her father took up
land where Fort Snelling is now located and he and his family experienced all of
the hardships and privations of frontier life. To Mr. and Mrs. Tanner seven
children were born, five of whom are living. One son, Harry L., died in 1899,
and Mabel, the third of the family, died in infancy. The others are: Wallace N.,
who is now living in Anaconda, Montana; Alice M., the wife of W. C. Wilson of
Minneapolis; William R., a resident of Santa Monica, California; Helen C., the
wife of F. A. Barnard of Mon­rovia, California; and Ruth, the wife of C. S,
Ensign of Minneapolis. About 1870 Mr. Tanner erected a residence, in which his
widow still makes her home and in which he resided continuously until the time
of his death on the 8th of December, 1918. He was a lifelong republican in his
political views and fraternally he was a Masbn, loyal to the teachings and
purposes of the craft. He also proudly wore the little bronze button that
proclaimed him a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and indicated his
faithful service when he followed the nation's starry banner on the battle
fields of the south.