Brick Wall w/ 2 John Tanners in same place what to do?

+4 votes
321 views

RE> Tanner-1812

Ok I hope someone can help direct me what to do next. I have searched for John Tanner w. wife Catherine or Elizabeth. Both of these are listed in different profiles in different family trees,  as parents of Susannah Tanner born 1768 in St Marys County Maryland (according to her marriage register in Rockingham County, VA when she married William Breeden on 8/19/1794. The only real evidence I found when I visted the Rockingham County Historical Society was that Susannah Tanner m/William Breeden and that she was born in St. Mary's County, MD. Looking at a very old map of the area this could have also been considered part of Virginia at that time. The 1st settlers in the Shenandoah were German along with Puritans and a few others. But The German settlers came by groups. The other point of fact about researching all of this is that in that area it was common to marry within families and to marry within native tribes.  

I recently read The History of Rockbridge County and the History of Rockingham County. Both books were wrote based on records from the early settlers in the area. I have also just read thru the notes publshed by the  Germanna Foundation on the first German emmigrants that came in three groups. Here John Tanner is listed as being in the "Little Fork"  group. In all of these there is a John Tanner.  One  comes with his family from Germany to Ireland to America and settles in Rockingham. The other John Tanner is listed in one of the books as a "half breed indian"  that was used as a scout. None of these list a wife or children's names. However I did find a Magdalena Susanna Tanner listed under the Baptism records at Friedens Church in Rockinhgham County dated 1786 with a John Tanner and a Catherine.  

To date I have never found a record of Susannah's birth anywhere. The dates for both John Tanner's are the same, yet in one of the books he (from Germany) is listed in the same paragraph as the "half breed indian".  The Germanna record and notes also say that there has been much confusion about Tanner versus Danner and that Tanner's left Germany and it is a German name coming from I believe Gerber. 

This has been a 20 year brick wall to get so close and then hit another brick wall with 2 men same name, different background. 

Please any ideas??? 

Thanks, 

Ruth 

in Genealogy Help by Ruth Hodges G2G5 (5.0k points)
I don't know the answer, but we may well be related! I myself have hit a brick wall more recently with Frederick M. Tanner (1848-1934), my great-grandfather, who appears to have sprung up out of nowhere in Prince William County VA. Perhaps once my GEDCOM is approved we'll be able to figure it out.

I've found the Tanner family exceptionally difficult to research in general. Somewhere in my mother's research there's supposedly a clear line from my father back to a ship's captain who arrived in Philadelphia from England in the 1680s and settled in Virginia, but she died recently and was EXTREMELY disorganized -- plus she lived in Pennsylvania and I now live in England -- so it may take some time for my less-invested brother to track down the relevant papers.

5 Answers

0 votes
I'll check some more, but what I found so far is already a bit confusing. Susannah Tanner is listed as the child of Jno. Sawner and Elizabeth Sawner. She married William Breeden. How then did she get the name Tanner?
by Victor Wilkie G2G Crew (530 points)
Victor, Thanks for your response. Susanna's death record listed the names Jno. amd Elizabeth Sawner but even those names I cannot find at all in the area at that time frame. On her marriage register I did find the name Tanner as parent. There is a blog online that is also a gggrandaughter that still lives in the area and says her register list Elizabeth and John as parents on her marriage register yet I never found that on my trip to their Historical Society. Others have listed Catherine as a parent yet also no proof... Even on the Pedigree files and Ancestrial files Catherine is listed but no sources and no proof.

Finding the church record of a Magadalina Susannah is the only time I have ever linked a Catherine and John to a Susannah and even that part is confusing! Weird huh! Once you actually get into the church record then Magadalina is listed as parent of Christian who is baptised (1787 baptism). So that can't be her after all (found this info last night) as she was listed as single on her marriage register.

I am leaning more at this point as Susannah belonging to John Tanner the so called "half breed" listed in the books. It makes sense with no records anywhere on this man. The John Tanner that was taken as a captive couldn't be her father as the dates do not match at all and there is a book on just his life.

20 year brick wall is still a very hard soild brick wall now...
Sorry I was no help. As I know everyone does, I hate these brick walls. I have however, traced my Grandmother back to Michael Tanner, who came from Germany to Maryland in 1764. If you think any of my tree info might help, please let me know. Best of luck with the search!
Thanks Victor, it is driving me crazy!
0 votes
I don't know about Maryland but I do know about the Palatine Germans expelled from the various German principalities for being variant religions.  They made their way to English refugee camps in the 1720's and were eventually transported by the Crown to Ireland (most absorbed into the population) and to the New World, in exchange for their indentured labor making tar for the British Navy.  They were not given any materials and had to build their own shelters, provide their own food, etc. while producing the tar.  They also had to swear alleigence to the British Crown, which is why many of them refused to fight in the Revolution (many frin NY made their way to Ontario, in places like Norwich Township (see their online genealogy archives).  There was a large contingent of Palatine Germans in Dutchess County, NY on the Beekman Patent (see Frank Dougherty's book, Settlers of the Beekman Patent, in your library).  My Tanners settled there (James Tanner served as a Continental Army private in the Revolution, son of James Tanner; I haven't gone further back yet.).  There is a list of their siblings in my Wikitree, or on ancestry.com.

Sandra
by
Thank you Sandra, these Germans actually came and worked the mines (copper if I remember right)  in the Shenandoah Vally in Virginia to pay for their passage like you said early 1700's.  They are really well documentated lol except for the 3 I am looking for. Going back and re-reading German History by John Blankenbaker, he speaks more of a Robert Tanner. John Tanner is only listed in his "Little Fork Group).

He actually went to the villages in Germany looking for answers to the Tanner mystery.

This is soooooo flustrating to get so close...
0 votes

Is it possible there were 2 different women named Susannah Tanner? Ancestrylibrary dot com records 3 Susannah Tanners in Virginia marrying. The other Susannahs are

 

Virginia, Marriages, 1660-1800

Name: Jacob House
Spouse: Susanna Tanner
Marriage Date: 5 Dec 1797
Marriage Location: Madison County, Virginia
Household Members:
Name
Jacob House
Susanna Tanner
Source Information:
Dodd, Jordan. Virginia, Marriages, 1660-1800 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997.
Original Data: Electronic transcription of marriage records held by the individual counties in Virginia.
Description:
Database of Virginia marriages to 1800
 

Virginia, Marriages, 1660-1800 about Susanna Tanner

Name: Susanna Tanner
Spouse: Joshua Zimmerman
Marriage Date: 9 Feb 1798
Marriage Location: Madison County, Virginia
 

Source Information:

Dodd, Jordan. Virginia, Marriages, 1660-1800 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1997. Original data: Electronic transcription of marriage records held by the individual counties in Virginia.

 

 

by
yes I checked all 3, however I know the Susannah I am searching for married William Breeden. I have records up to that point based on my ggrandmother Cassie. This is Cassie's great grandmother and the only one that appears to be missing... I copied the marriage register when I was at the Rockingham Historical Society long ago. It's just crazy.
0 votes
IF IT HELPS IN YOUR SEARCH WILLIAM WAS ALSO IN RECORDS AT ANCESTRYLIBRARY AS BREEDING AND BREDIN. ALL DATES SPOUSE AND CHILDREN THE SAME. SURNAME SPELLED 3 WAYS.
by
Thank you, I have all of William's info but Susannah can get no further. I have found her as "Susan" in later records w/ William.
0 votes
Spelling of last name: Tanner, Donner, Danner, even "Dunkard" .

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BRETHREN/2008-06/1213968983

If of German descent the male Germans used "Johannes" before their first name. Their real first name would follow "Johannes". Many just ended up using "John" especially in the first migrations.
by Karen Brubaker G2G6 (9.7k points)

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