Tanner was born on April 7, 1878, in
Jacksonville, Illinois, the son of Edward Allen Tanner, president of
Illinois College, and Marion Lucy Brown. Tanner graduated from Illinois College when he was 19, receiving an
A.B. and
B.S. from there. He taught Latin and mathematics at a high school in
Pueblo, Colorado, and spent a year in ranches and mining camps in the
Rocky Mountains. In 1899, he moved to
New York City and studied at the
New York University School of Law. He was the president of his graduating class in 1901 with an
LL.B. In 1899, he became associated with the law firm Ritch, Woodford, Bovee & Wallace, which his cousin
Stewart L. Woodford was a member of. He rose to become the second member of the firm Woodford, Bovee & Butcher. In the
1918 United States House of Representatives election, he was the Republican candidate for
New York's 17th congressional district. He lost the election to
Herbert Pell. In 1932, Tanner became the senior member of the law firm Tanner, Sillcocks & Friend. The firm worked as attorneys for the
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.,
Home Life Insurance Co.,
John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co., the
Union Dime Savings Bank, the City Savings Bank of
Brooklyn, the Peoples' Saving Bank of
Providence,
Security Mutual Life Insurance Co., and Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. of
Philadelphia. Tanner was a member of the
New York State Bar Association, the
New York City Bar Association, the
New York County Lawyers' Association, the
Union Club, the
Players Club, the
Apawamis Club,
Phi Beta Kappa,
Phi Delta Phi, the
Mayflower Society, the
Society of the Cincinnati, the
Piping Rock Club, the
National Golf Links of America, the
Manhattan Club, and the
New York Young Republican Club, the
Sons of the American Revolution, and the
General Society of Colonial Wars. He was a
Congregationalist. In 1915, he married Mary Ogden of
Albany. Their children were Frederick Chauncey, Jane Ogden, and Edward Ogden. == References ==