Jennie Harrington Tanner


Wife of Joseph Marion Tanner, President of Agricultural College of Utah, 1896-1900

Jane (Jennie) Harrington was born on Nov. 7, 1857 in American Fork. Her parents were Leonard C. Harrington and Lois Russell. In 1878 Jennie married Joseph Marion Tanner, a professor at Brigham Young Academy in Provo. Later, Jennie became the superintendent of women at the Academy. When after five years of marriage, Jennie had no children, she agreed that Joseph marry a second wife, Annie Clark, in 1883. Six months later, Joseph married Josephine Snow.

In 1888, Joseph and Jennie had a home in Logan where Joseph was principal of the Brigham Young College on the site of the current Logan High School. Jennie was a teacher there. Around 1890, a daughter, LaRue, was born to them. Annie Clark Tanner and Josephine Snow Tanner and their children had gone underground since it was then impossible to live an openly polygamous life following the passage in 1887 of the Edmunds-Tucker Act and the Woodruff Manifesto of 1890.

After his appointment as president of the Agricultural College of Utah in 1896, Joseph, very likely with Jennie and LaRue, moved back into the Farm House on campus after requesting that the following renovations be made: electrification, indoor plumbing, re-papering, a new furnace and telephone installed. Joseph ultimately resigned his position on Feb. 3, 1900 rather than abide by the Manifesto of 1890 and give up the practice of polygamy. "It became clear, all known polygamists would have to leave." (Ward, pp. 37-38).

After resigning the presidency in the earliest years of the new century, Joseph married Carrie Amelia Peterson of Ephraim and Lydia Holmgren of Bear River City. Lydia had been hired to teach orthography at the Agricultural College of Utah in 1899 while Joseph was president. Joseph had a total of 24 children.

Jennie Harrington Tanner died in Salt Lake City on June 12, 1916.