By Muriel Bristol | December 17, 2023
Stanley Cleveland Tanner was born in Farmington, NH, October 30, 1892, son of Hervey E. and Mary “Molly” (O’Hare) Tanner.
Stanley Tanner advertised to hire a sober barber in May 1914 (See Milton in the News – 1914).
Stanley Cleaveland Tanner of Milton, NH, aged twenty-four years, registered in Milton, Strafford County, NH, June 5, 1917, for the WW I draft. He was then employed as a fireman for the Y.W.C.A. in Boston, MA. He was tall and slender, with brown eyes and brown hair.
Private 1st Class Stanley C. Tanner left Boston, MA, on the troopship Lancashire, July 19, 1918, with Battery A of the Sixty-Sixth Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps. He left Pauillac, France, February 19, 1919, on the troopship Powhattan, bound for Hoboken, NJ, again with Battery A of the Sixty-Sixth Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps.
Mary A. [(O’Hara)] Tanner, aged fifty-four years (b. Ireland), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fourteenth (1920) Federal Census. Her household included her children, Eva M. Tanner, a shoe shop stitcher, aged thirty-one years (b. NH), George L. Tanner, an ice company laborer, aged thirty years (b. NH), Marion L. Tanner, a shoe shop stitcher, aged twenty-eight years (b. NH), Stanley C. Tanner, an ice company fireman, aged twenty-seven years (b. NH), Charles Edwin Tanner, a leather-board laborer, aged twenty-five years (b. NH), Consuelo Tanner, aged twenty-two years (b. NH), Patrick J. Tanner, a tire repair shop owner, aged twenty-one years (b. NH), Eleanor T. Tanner, aged eighteen years (b. NH), Audrey Y. Tanner, aged sixteen years (b. NH), and Herbey C. Tanner, aged fifteen years (b. NH); her daughter-in-law, Vila L. [(Kimball)] Turner, aged nineteen years (b. NH), and her grandson, Lloyd C. Turner, aged eight months (b. NH). Mary A. Turner was a naturalized citizen, having immigrated in 1892. They resided on Charles Street in Milton Village.
Stanley Tanner appeared in a list of Sixth Degree Initiates, from the NH State Grange proceedings held in Rochester, NH, December 9, 1925. Other Milton initiates were Samuel Blaisdell, Mrs. Margaret Butler, Mrs. Addie Chase, Arthur Columbus, Cordelia Davidson, Mrs. Addie M. Dixon, Ernest Dickson, Franklin Dickson, Amy Dixon, Paul Dixon, Wayne Dixon, George A. Downing, Josephine Downing, Mrs. Annette Downs, Catherine Ham, Mrs. Hattie M. Innes, Margaret Lover, Bernard Paey, Mrs. Elizabeth Perry, Fred A. Perry, Mrs. Addie Place, George M. Place, Mrs. Marion Roberts, Enaise St. John, Frank S. Tuttle, and Mrs. Susie Williams (NH State Grange, 1925). There was no indication as to which of Milton’s two Granges the various initiates came.
Father Hervey E. Tanner died of arthritis deformans at the Strafford County Farm in Dover, NH, December 25, 1929, aged sixty-six years, four months, and twenty-five days. He was a carpenter. D.L. Stokes signed the death certificate.
Mary [(O’Hare)] Tanner, aged sixty-three years (b. N. Ireland), headed a Milton household at the time of the Fifteenth (1930) Federal Census. Her household included her children, George L. Tanner, a garage mechanic, aged thirty-nine years (b. NH), Stanley C. Tanner, a garage mechanic, aged thirty-seven years (b. NH), Charles E. Tanner, a house carpenter, aged thirty-five years (b. NH), and Hervey C. Tanner, a barber (barber shop), aged twenty-five years (b. NH). Mary Tanner rented their house on Charles Street, for $11 per month. They had a radio set. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Ernest Carpenter, aged seventy years (b. NH), and Gustave W. Dorhn, a summer hotel chef, aged sixty-seven years (b. Germany).
Stanley C. Tanner married in Milton, November 15, 1931, Cordelia Frances Davidson, both of Milton. He was a garage man, aged thirty-nine years, and she was a public health nurse, aged thirty-five years. Rev. Fred Bannister performed the ceremony. She was born in Bethel, Quebec, Canada, March 29, 1895, daughter of Frank and Maude (Waterson) Davidson.
Milton sent Stanley C. Tanner to Concord, NH, as its NH State Representative, for the 1935-36 biennium.
MILTON. A local rehabilitation committee was formed this week, comprised of the board of selectmen, Representative Stanley C. Tanner, Red Cross Nurse Miss Northwood, Mrs. Charles Piper, and Samuel Blaisdell. The first work contemplated by the committee will be the cutting of fifty cords of wood (Farmington News, December 7, 1934).
Bay State Shoe Firm Reverses Decision. Stanley Tanner, chairman of the citizens’ committee of Milton, N.H., a town eight miles outside of Rochester, late last week announced that negotiations had been called off in regard to the Salem Shoe Mfg. Co. of Salem, Mass., moving to Milton (American Shoemaking, 1935).
The Milton Selectmen of 1938 were Phillip G. Hayes, Frank F. Spencer, and Stanley C. Tanner. The Milton Selectmen of 1939 were Frank F. Spencer, Stanley C. Tanner, and Leroy J. Ford.
The Milton Selectmen of 1940 were Stanley C. Tanner, Leroy J. Ford, and Edward R. Stone.
Stanley C. Tanner, a real estate broker, aged forty-six years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Sixteenth (1940) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Cordelia D. [(Davidson)] Tanner, aged forty-four years (b. Canada). Stanley C. Tanner owned their house in the Milton Community, which was valued at $900. Their household appeared in the enumeration between those of Carrie B. Leighton, a widow, aged sixty-seven years (b. NH), and James V. Regan, a leatherboard laborer, aged thirty-three years (b. NH). They had both resided in the same house in 1935.
ROCHESTER, N.H. County Solicitor John F. Beamis, Monday night, gave the outgoing sheriff and deputies a banquet at the London Room of the Fernald-Hackett restaurant. Present were Sheriff Clyde R. Cotton and Deputies Robert E. Drew, Farmington; Lyman Plummer, Milton; Ralph W. Dunlap, Rochester, and Ernest Valley of Somersworth. The sheriff and his deputies will conclude their duties tonight and Wednesday will be succeeded by Democratic Sheriff Stephen W. Scruton and staff. Sheriff Scruton has named as deputies Frank D. Callaghan of Rochester, John Lepene of Farmington and Stanley C. Tanner of Milton. All had served previously with Mr. Scruton (Evening Express (Portland, ME), December 31, 1940).
Mother-in-law Marie Amanda (LaRiviere) Davidson died in Upper Melbourne, Richmond, Quebec, April 6, 1942.
Stanley Cleveland Tanner of Main Steet, Milton [Mills], registered for the WW II draft, April 30, 1942. He was aged forty-nine years, having been born in Farmington, NH, October 30, 1892. He was employed at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, in Kittery, ME. He was 5′ 10″ tall, weighed 180 lbs., with brown hair, gray eyes, and a dark complexion. His next of kin was Cordelia D. Tanner, of Main Steet, MIlton [Mills].
Stanley C. Tanner received a five-year appointment as a Milton Notary Public, April 7, 1943.
Stanley C. Tanner, a realtor for Country Property, Inc., advertised several large Milton properties for sale in Spring 1945, and a poultry farm for sale in February 1947. (See Milton in the News – 1945 and Milton in the News – 1947).
Stanley C. Tanner received a five-year renewal appointment as a Milton Notary Public, March 26, 1948.
Stanley C. Tanner, a Strafford County Commissioner, aged fifty-seven years (b. NH), headed a Milton household at the time of the Seventeenth (1950) Federal Census. His household included his wife, Cordelia D. [(Davidson)] Tanner, an insurance agent, aged fifty-four years (b. Canada), and his lodgers, Charlotte B. Carpenter, aged ten years (b. NH), and Patrick McCartin, a fibreboard mill fireman, aged fifty-one years (b. Ireland). They resided in the “1st house on the left” when “Proceeding north on State Highway No. 16 from the intersection of Farmington Rd. on left and Mill St. on right.”
Mother Mary A. (O’Hare) Tanner died of cardio-circulatory collapse in Milton, May 26, 1952, aged eighty-seven years. She was a housewife, native of Ireland, and a forty-five year resident of Milton, i.e., she had arrived there from Farmington, NH, circa 1906-07. Robert E. Lord, M.D., signed the death certificate.
Eight Ask Three Seats. Strafford county has four Republicans and four Democrats bidding for the three commissioner seats now held by Democrats. They are Democrats Lucien G. Paradis of Rochester and Stanley C. Tanner of Milton asking reelection, and Carroll E. Hall of Dover and Alden J. Doherty of Rollinsford. The Republicans are George A. Young of Rochester, John M. Brant of Barrington, and ex-Rep. Paul G. Kardavelas and H. Howard Hartford of Dover (Concord Monitor (Concord, NH), July 25, 1952).
COUNTY COMMISSIONER TANNER ASKS FOR RECOUNT OF ELECTION BALLOTS. County Commissioner Stanley C. Tanner, democrat, of Milton has petitioned lor a recount of Strafford county ballots, following the outcome of the November 4 election, it was learned late last week Tanner was defeated in his quest for reelection by George A. Young of Rochester by a relatively close margin. Farmington ballots were collected last Friday night by the county sheriff Moses Pare of Somersworth, but no date was given for the recount. It was also learned that several other defeated office seekers had asked for a recount (Farmington News, November 14, 1952).
Stanley C. Tanner received a five-year renewal appointment as a Milton Notary Public, March 13, 1953.
There were two Democratic filings for the [NH State] Senate: Paul E. Provost of Manchester in the 18th district and Stanley C. Tanner of Milton in the 20th district (Concord Monitor, July 18, 1956).
Half of 24 State Senators Seek Reelection This Fall. … The Democrats have hot primary contests for their two other areas. In Manchester’s District 18, there are five battling it out to succeed Sen. Thomas B. O’Malley, who is running for the Executive Council. These contestants are Reps. William W. Corey and George L. Lavoie, Paul E. Provost, Joseph B. DesRochers and Harold T. Laughlin. In the other normally Democratic center, District 20, ex-Mayor Sumner W. Watson of Rochester is contesting with Lucien E. Bergeron of Rochester and Stanley C. Tanner of Milton to succeed Sen. J. Paul LaRoche of Rochester (Nashua Telegraph (Nashua, NH), August 14, 1956).
REAL ESTATE. Stanley C. Tanner and Cordelia D. Tanner to Francis H. Fifield and Marjorie V. Fifield, land and building on the state highway in Milton (Farmington News, December 6, 1956).
Stanley C. Tanner and John G. Gilman were the Milton Selectmen that walked along the Milton-Middleton border when the septennial town line perambulation took place in January 1958.
LINE PERAMBULATED. Middleton and Milton selectmen spent three days last week walking the town line – a chore performed every 7 years. John Gilman and Stanley Tanner were the Milton selectmen and Donald Francoeur represented Middleton (Farmington News, January 9, 1958).

(Had these septennial perambulations, or “beating the bounds” walks, continued on schedule, they would have taken place in 1965, 1972, 1979, 1986, 1993, 2000, 2007, 2014, and 2021 and would take place next in 2028. (I have seen town boundary markers on the Farmington-Rochester (pictured above) and Barnstead-New Durham boundary lines)).
Stanley C. Tanner received a five-year renewal appointment as a Milton Notary Public, April 30, 1958.
Cordelia F. (Davidson) Tanner served on the decorations committee for the Democrat state convention held at the state armory building in Manchester, NH, September 27-28, 1958.
Mrs. Alice Davis of Manchester is chairman of the decorations committee. Serving on the committee will be Helen Desjardins of Rollinsford, Ann Moher of Dover, Mary Campbell of Rochester, Mrs. Cordelia Tanner of Milton, Eileen Foley of Portsmouth, Mrs. Frances Adams of Exeter, Ruth Dunfey of Hampton and Mrs. Walter Kretowiac of Keene (Concord Monitor, September 28, 1958).
Daughter Charlotte Lee Tanner married at the Church of the Redeemer in Rochester, NH, July 2, 1960, Harris Edward “Harry” Twitchell, she of South Main Street on Milton and he of Whitehall Road in Rochester, NH. She was a student, aged twenty-one years, and he was a painter, aged twenty-three years. Rev. Donald H. Marsh performed the ceremony. Twitchell was born in Rochester, NH, circa 1937, son of Franklin W. and Doris M. (Ramsdell) Twitchell.
Stanley C. Tanner was installed as service officer of the Oscar G. Morehouse Post of the American Legion and its Auxiliary in 1961. (Oscar G. Morehouse was a former schoolteacher at the Nute Ridge district schoolhouse, who had died during WW I).
Legion, Auxiliary To Install Slates. Milton – The Milton Grammar school will be the site Saturday night for the installation of the officers of the Oscar G. Morehouse Post, No. 61, American Legion and Auxiliary. Commander Frank E. McIntire will be flanked by these aides, Raymond E. Wilkinson, first vice commander, Arthur L. Chase, second vice commander, Charles E. Tanner, adjutant, Bard Plummer, finance officer, Wilfred Gobert, chaplain, Charles E. Tanner, historian, Stanley C. Tanner, service officer, William A. Fabian sergeant at arms (Farmington News, April 20, 1961).
Stanley C. Tanner lost to Charles H. Logan in the Milton town election of March 1963.
Milton Elects Logan Selectman. Milton Republican Charles H. Logan defeated democratic incumbent Stanley C. Tanner, 318 to 108, in Tuesday’s election in Milton. In other contested offices, George W. Meyers lost to republican Charles R. Whitehouse, by a vote of 319 to 95; Milton Mills police, Edwin Hutchins, R., 148, Frederick Meyers, 43, Fred Morrill, 98, Norman Place, 70; 2nd engineer in the fire department, Donald Cheney, 244, Robert McIntire, 132. Pauline Clough was elected trustee of trust funds on a write-in. The other offices were uncontested. Town meeting was held and most of the articles were passed without much controversy. Article 25, which had to do with a preliminary report and plan preparation for sewerage and sewage treatment facilities was passed with a provision that the jobs be put up for bid (Farmington News, March 14, 1963).
Stanley C. Tanner was again installed as service officer of the Oscar G. Morehouse Post of the American Legion and its Auxiliary in 1963.
AMERICAN LEGION. Both the American Legion and the Auxiliary of the Oscar G. Morehouse Post #61 held an installation of officers at the monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 5, at the Legion Hall. Refreshments were served under the direction of Mrs. Dana Armstrong following the ceremonies. Friends who were invited attended this public meeting. Officers elected were Commander of the Legion Merton Roberts, Senior Vice Commander Edwin K. Boggs, Junior Vice Commander Arthur Chase, Adjutant Robert Taatjes, Sergeant-at-Arms William Fabian, Historian Charles E. Tanner, Chaplain William Gilman, Finance Officer Bard Plummer, Service Officer Stanley C. Tanner, Charles Logan Child Welfare Officer. Auxiliary President Mrs. Eva Perry, Senior Vice President, Mrs. Thelma Ellis, Sergeant at Arms Mrs. Rita Tanner, Historian Mrs. Ruth Dawson, Secretary Treasurer Mrs. Madeline Burroughs (Farmington News, May 6, 1965).
Stanley C. Tanner died in Manchester, NH, November 24, 1971, aged seventy-nine years.
OBITUARIES. Stanley C. Tanner. Stanley C. Tanner, 79, of Main Street, died at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Manchester, Nov. 24, after a long illness. A native of Farmington, he had lived here most of his life. He had owned and operated Tanner Brothers Garage for many years. He was a 50-year member of Oscar Moorehouse American Legion Post and a member of the World War I Barracks of Somersworth. He had been a Strafford County Commissioner, a member of the General Court, a deputy sheriff, a selectman, a precinct commissioner, a real estate operator, a blueberry grower, and a town service officer. The family includes his wife, Cordelia (Davidson) Tanner, a daughter, Mrs. Harry Twitchell of Rochester, two brothers, Charles E. Tanner and Hervey C. Tanner, both of Milton, four sisters, Miss Marion Tanner of Derry, Miss Connie Tanner of Boston, and Mrs. Audrey Lawson and Miss Mildred Tanner, both of Milton; a grandchild, and nieces and nephews. Services were conducted at the C.E. Peaslee and Son Funeral Home, 32 Central St., Farmington, by the Rev. Donald H. Marsh, rector of the Church of the Redeemer (Farmington News, December 2, 1971).
Cordelia F. (Davidson) Tanner died in Rochester, NH, August 13, 1985.
References:
Find a Grave. (2021, June 20). Hervey E. Tanner. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/228712155/hervey-edwin-tanner
Find a Grave. (2021, May 14). Stanley C. Tanner. Retrieved from www.findagrave.com/memorial/226905953/stanley-c-tanner
NH State Grange (1925). Journal of Proceedings of the New Hampshire State Grange. Retrieved from books.google.com/books?id=YGAkAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA6-PA75