physician, politician, civic leader, b. Whitewater. He spent his boyhood in Indiana and Illinois, graduated from Indiana Medical College (1878) and in 1880 moved to Kaukauna where he set up a medical practice and served as city physician (1890-1893). A Republican, he was a member of the state pension examining board (1890-1893), mayor of Kaukauna (1894-1896), and state inspector of illuminating oils (1895-1901). He was prominent in Kaukauna business circles, and as an amateur historian wrote several articles on local history, including a pamphlet entitled History of the Streets of Kaukauna (1931). In 1913 he left Wisconsin and lived in the Southwest for the remainder of his life. Milwaukee Journal, Dec. 5, 1933; H. B. Tanner, Hist. of Streets of Kaukauna (Kaukauna [1931]); A. J. Aikens and L. A. Proctor, eds., Men of Progress. Wis. (Milwaukee, 1897); H. B. Tanner Papers.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Herbert Battles Tanner Papers for details. See also the Herbert Battles Tanner Family Papers.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]