The bust of Gov. John Tanner inside his mausoleum at Oak Ridge Cemetery (SCHS)
Gov. John Riley Tanner “was addicted to pomp and circumstance,” Robert P. Howard wrote in Mostly Good and Competent Men, Howard’s 1988 guide to Illinois’ chief executives. If so, Tanner lived his best life in December 1896 and January 1897.
Tanner (1844-1901) won the governor’s office, defeating Democratic incumbent Gov. John Peter Altgeld, on Nov. 2, 1896. The election was an overwhelming triumph for Republicans up and down the ballot – GOP candidates won all the statewide elections, took control of both chambers of the General Assembly and elected 18 of 22 Congressional candidates. Tanner, who was chairman of the Republican State Central Committee, got much of the credit for that too.
Tanner was a widower with two grown children – his first wife, Lauretta (1847-87) had died nearly a decade earlier. As a result, many people expected his daughter-in-law, Flora “Patsie” Tanner, wife of son John Mack Tanner, to be the Executive Mansion’s semiofficial hostess.
The Illinois State Journal published drawings of John and Cora Tanner the day after their wedding (Courtesy State Journal-Register)
A month after the election, however, t he governor-elect and Springfield socialite Cora English (1853-1946) announced they were engaged and would be married on Dec. 20.
That came as no surprise to those in the know – “Mr. Tanner has for some time been devoted to Miss English,” the Illinois State Register reported. However, the timing meant the incoming governor, his fiancee and Tanner’s staff had to organize two major social events, the wedding and Tanner’s inauguration on Jan. 12, within two weeks of each other. They were up to the task.
Cora English was no shy violet herself when it came to pomp and circumstance. The marriage ceremony, however, was a simple one.
Cora English Tanner (SJ-R)
“Miss Cora Edith English is a tall, handsome blonde,” the Chicago Tribune said in a profile. “She is a past master in the art of dress. Her gowns are always fashionable, well selected, in the best of taste, and worn with a style and dash which have won for her the distinction of being the best dressed woman in the state. …
“Miss English is witty and bright, and, what is rare in a woman, tells a story well. … Her charm of manner has won her many friends in all classes of life.”
English, the daughter of prosperous real estate investor Turney English, spoke fluent French and German and regularly played lead roles in Springfield theatrical productions, the Tribune said.
Twelve hundred invited guests attended the wedding, held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, the Illinois State Journal said, while outside the church, “a detail of police kept back the curiosity seekers.”
Inside, the decorations consisted mainly of those put up previously for holiday services. The governor-elect and his bride each had only a single attendant. And instead of a lavish public reception afterwards, the newlyweds hosted a luncheon – chicken salad, quail on toast and lettuce sandwiches – at Turney English’s mansion at Sixth and Cook streets. Outgoing Gov. Altgeld was one of the few non-family invitees.
Wedding gifts
The ceremony may have been understated, but the wedding presents were not. In fact, “there was a division of opinion” over which was the most magnificent gift, the Register reported.
The choices were two.
First was a landau – a luxury four-wheel carriage – that came complete with a matched pair of brown-and-bay Kentucky mares. The upholstery was blue leather and quilted satin; the harness was trimmed in silver. “The equipment is complete to the smallest details, and the coachman was sent with the vehicle,” the Register said.
The carriage was a gift from an anonymous group of wealthy Chicagoans. The newlyweds became aware of it when the landau pulled up in front of the English home to carry the bride to St. Paul’s. After the ceremony, the Tanners rode in it back to the house for the luncheon.
The other candidate for most ostentatious gift was a mahogany trunk full of solid silver tableware, compliments of the Republican State Central Committee, which Gov. Tanner chaired. Custommade for $1,500 (some $50,000 in 2024), the set “is said to be the finest and largest service of its kind that was ever made,” the Register said.
Aside from two dozen sets each of table, fruit and dessert silverware, serving pieces included spoons for mustard, preserves, crackers and horseradish, and forks for pickles, asparagus, olives and sardines. Other well-wishers piled on with three more silver sets, all designed to complement the central committee’s gift.
Slightly less showy wedding presents included a “handsome and costly” set of books from Altgeld; an eight-foot-tall hall clock with gold figures on a silver dial; and a mounted pair of buffalo horns. (As Howard noted in Mostly Good and Competent Men, many of the wedding presents were accompanied by job applications.)
One young fan of Tanner carved his likeness into a pine medallion mounted on a walnut base.
“The boy writes that he hopes to be able to carve his statue when the governor-elect is elected president of the United States,” the Register said.
Tanner’s inauguration a week later made up for the low-key wedding. The festivities featured a 4,000-man parade in the morning, a series of artillery salutes, receptions in the afternoon and a Statehouse ball that night.
Electric lights, still a novelty, illuminated the scene inside the Capitol. At the entrance to the House of Representatives, where the ball was held, the Register said, “The effect when the lights are turned on is magnificent.”
Tanner, a Civil War veteran turned farmer and lumber dealer, got a humble start in politics when he was elected sheriff of Clay County in 1870. However, as governor, Howard wrote, he took full advantage of the perks of the office.
At formal events during the next four years, he was accompanied by his personal staff, one man from each congressional district. They were known as “sunburst colonels” because of the elaborate gold braid on their tailor-made uniforms.
At the same time, Tanner seems to have been an effective governor. He erased the state’s debt, lowered property taxes, established a prisoner pardon board and created the college that eventually became Western Illinois University.
Tanner (center) depicted on the Battle of Virden Monument in Virden (SCHS)
His legacy, however, hangs on two decisions that were controversial in the 1890s but became widely accepted later. Tanner declared the state neutral in disputes between labor and employers, instead of automatically calling out the militia to blatantly support management. His actions in conflicts like the “Battle of Virden” in 1898 made Tanner a hero to turn-of-the-20th-century labor advocates.
And African-Americans were delighted when, at the start of the Spanish-American War, Tanner formed the Eighth Illinois Regiment, apparenty the first Black unit in the U.S. military to be led completely by Black officers. The unit formally received its colors in a ceremony at the state fairgrounds (renamed Camp Tanner for the duration) on July 31, 1898. Tanner spoke briefly to a crowd of about 8,000 people.
“Illinois is the first state, and this the first country in the world,” Tanner said, “to give the Afro-American race the full measure of citizenship by mustering in 1,300 negroes, all negroes from colonel down to privates, to go to the front to do battle for their country.”
(The Eighth Regiment didn’t get into battle. In fact, combat was virtually over before it was mustered in. But the Eighth eventually did serve about six months as a peacekeeping and rebuilding force in Cuba and did credible service in spite of deprivation, heat and yellow fever.)
Tanner decided not to run for a second term as governor in 1900. Instead, he challenged incumbent U.S. Sen. Shelby Cullom for the Republican nomination to the Senate. Already in ill health, Tanner lost decisively to Cullom. He died in May 1901, five months after leaving the governor’s office.
John Riley Tanner’s remains were interred in the most visible private mausoleum at Oak Ridge Cemetery, along the road between Monument Avenue and Lincoln’s Tomb. The tomb is flanked by the graves of both his wives and dozens of their relatives. Lauretta Ingraham Tanner, the Tanners’ two children and their families are buried on the south side of the mausoleum. Cora English Tanner and her relatives lie on the north side.
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