Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/52

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32
TANNER
TAPPAN

TANNER, Henry S., physician, b. about 1830. Early in 1880 much interest was manifested in the fasting power of Mollie Fancher, of Brooklyn, N. Y., who claimed to have lived fourteen years with- out food. Dr. William A. Hammond offered her $1,000 if she would allow herself to be watched for one month by relays of members of the New York neurological society, provided she did not take any food voluntarily during that period. Dr. Tanner, at that time a practising physician in Minneapolis, Minn., saw the challenge in print and offered to per- form the experiment under the conditions. To this Dr. Hammond agreed, saying : " If he succeeds he will get $1,000, and if he dies I will give him a decent burial." Dr. Tanner then came to New York city, and after some difficulty secured the co-operation of the Neurological society in conducting the fast. It began at noon on 28 June, 1880, and continued until its successful termination on 7 Aug. Dur- ing the fast his eyes became slightly dimmed, the top of his head, which was thinly covered with gray hair, became as white as milk, and he lost ten and a half pounds in weight. The outline of his feat- ures stood out more clearly, and his lips closed more tightly. Dr. Tanner drank eighty ounces of water during the first two days, in doses ranging from six to eight ounces each, after which, in lieu of drinking, he simply gargled his mouth about once an hour. He spent the time reclining on his cot or sitting in a chair. At bedtime he took a sponge- bath and was rubbed down with coarse towels, after which he retired. Before he dressed in the morning his clothes were examined to ascertain that no food was concealed in them. His pulse and temperature were frequently taken, and his weight every day. Subsequently he lectured on fasting. Several persons have since fasted for long periods, and exhibitions of fasting have taken place both in this country and abroad. In 1888 John Zachar, residing near Racine, Wis., went without food for fifty-three days, which is the longest fast known. His weight was reduced from 160 to 90 pounds.


TANNER, John, captive, b. in Kentucky about 1780 ; d. in 1847. His father removed from Ken- tucky to the mouth of Big Miami river, Ohio, and settled there as a farmer. At the age of six years the son was captured in the fields by an Indian, who wished to adopt a son in place of his own, who had recently died. Tanner was compelled to labor for the Indians, and thought to be "good for nothing " by his captor, who tomahawked him and left him to die in the woods, but he was found by his adopted mother, who treated him with kindness and affection, and he recovered. After two years he was sold to Net-no-kwa, an Ottawa Indian, and he remained in captivity for thirty years. He became thoroughly accustomed to In- dian life, participated in many hunting warlike excursions in the region of the great lakes, and married Mis-kwa-bun-o-kwa, " the red sky of the morning." He afterward fell in with the Hud- son bay company, and went to Detroit, where he was interviewed by Gov. Lewis Cass, and met his brother, with whom he was unable to speak except through an interpreter. After visiting his family he returned to the Indian settlement for his chil- dren, and was then employed as interpreter for the Indian agent at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. He wrote a "Narrative of the Captivity and Adven- tures of John Tanner during Thirty Years' Resi- dence among the Indians," edited by Edwin James, M. D. (New York, 1830). His son, James, became a Unitarian missionary.


TAPIN, Richard (tah-pang), Flemish physi- cian, b. in the duchy of Luxembourg about 1515 ; d. there in 1590. He received his education in Flan- ders, and early entered the Portuguese service, being employed as surgeon on board ships that sailed to the Indies. At the time of the invasion of Admiral Villegaignon, he was in Brazil as sur- geon of the king, and he practised his profession afterward with great success, holding several im- Eortant offices in the colony. After his return to lurope he published a curious work, " Colloquios dos simples e drogas do Brazil " (Coimbra, 1566), which enjoyed a great reputation for about a cen- tury in a revised and completed French version, " Histoire des drogues, espiceries, et de certains medicaments et simples qui croissent es Bresil, province de l'Amerique " (Paris, 1590).


TAPPAN, David, clergyman, b. in Manchester, Mass., 21 April, 1752; d. in Cambridge, Mass., 27 April, 1803. The name was originally Topham. His ancestor, Abraham, came to this country from Yarmouth, England, in 1637, and his father, Benjamin, was pastor of a church in Manchester in 1720-'90. After graduation at Harvard in 1771, David studied divinity, and was pastor of a Congregational church in Newbury, Mass., from 1774 till 1792, when he was chosen Hollis professor of divinity at Harvard, serving there until his death. The degree of D. D. was conferred on him by Harvard in 1794. Dr. Tappan published many sermons and addresses. After his death appeared " Sermons on Important Subjects, with a Bio- graphical Sketch of the Author," by Rev. Abiel Holmes (Boston, 1807), and " Lectures on Jewish Antiquities delivered at Harvard in 1802-'3" (1807). — His son, Benjamin, clergyman, b. in Newbury, Mass., 7 Nov., 1788 ; d. in Augusta, Me., 23 Dec, 1863, was graduated at Harvard in 1805, and was pastor of a Congregational church in Augusta, Me., from 16 Oct., 1811, until his death. Bowdoin gave him the degree of D. D. in 1845. — David's nephew, Benjamin, jurist, b. in North- ampton, Mass., 25 May, 1773; d. in Steubenville, Ohio, 12 April, 1857, was the son of Benjamin Tappan, who, sacrificing his opportunity of study at Harvard for his younger brother, David, went to Boston, became a gold- and silver- smith, and in 1770 married Sarah Homes, the great- niece of Benjamin Franklin. After receiving a public- school education, the son was ap- prenticed to learn copper - plate en- graving and print- ing, and devoted some attention to portrait- painting. Subsequently he

studied law, was

admitted to the bar, and began practice in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1799. In 1803 he was elected to the legislature, and after the war of 1812, in which he served as aide to Gen. William Wadsworth, he was appointed judge in one of the county courts, and for seven years was president judge of the 5th Ohio circuit. In 1833 he was appoint- ed by President Jackson U. S. judge for the district of Ohio. Being elected to the U. S. senate as a Democrat, he served from 2 Dec, 1839, till 3 March, 1845. He was an active leader of his party,