S.B. Tanner, Prominent Cotton Manufacturer, Dead at 72, July 8, 1924

S.B. Tanner Died Thursday Morning. . . Funeral of Prominent Rutherford Cotton Manufacturer Held in Charlotte. Aged 72

Rutherfordton, July 5—S.B. Tanner, well known cotton manufacturer and capitalist, died here Thursday morning at 4:10 a.m. at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Robt H. Crawford, with whom he had lived for the last three years. Mr. Tanner has been ill several months and grew worse Tuesday. He died of complications.

Funeral services were held at Tryon Street Methodist Church Friday noon and inte3rment was in Elmwood cemetery by the side of his wife and son Spencer.

Active pall bearers were D.C. Colpin and T.B. Stephenson, Caroleen, the latter General Superintendent of Henrietta Mills; W.S. Moore, assistant superintendent Henrietta Mills; W.L. Horne, and J.R. Moore, prominent Forest City men; R.R. Flack, Carl Horne, G.B. Howard and J.O. Williams, prominent mill men of this place.

Mr. Tanner was 72 years of age and was a native of Spartanburg county, S.C. He is a member of the Rutherford M.E. church. He is survived by two sons, K.S. Tanner of this place and S.B. Tanner Jr., now in Italy, and one daughter, Mrs. R.H. Crawford of this place; one full brother, A.S. Tanner of this place, and one half brother. W.R. Tanner of Cowpens, S.C.; and five sisters, Miss Alice Tanner and Mrs. Sallie Tanner, Saluda; Mrs. Laura Gaffney, Gaffney, S.C., Mrs. W.H. Justus, Hendersonville; and Mrs. H.M. Justice of this place.

Mr. Tanner built the Henrietta mills and was president of them for many years. He and his son, K.S. Tanner, built Spindale. He is president of the Spencer, Spindale, Stonecutter, Sunlight, and Horne mills of Spindale, the Cleghorn mills and the Commercial Bank of this place, also green River Manufacturing company of Tuxedo and is connected with many other business enterprises. He built the new Isothermal hotel here.

At the Fourth of July celebration in Spindale Friday at noon, at the speakers’ stand, a 10-minute memorial service was held in honor of Mr. Tanner, the founder of Spindale and Rutherford county’s pioneer cotton manufacturer.

Mr. Tanner was one of the South’s leading manufacturers and financiers. His ideals on the cotton situation were always recognized as authority.

From the front page of the Cleveland Star, Shelby, N.C., Tuesday, July 8, 1924