Born in Granville, Washington County, New York, Tanner completed preparatory studies. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1854 and commenced practice in Whitehall, New York.

During the Civil War, Tanner entered the Union Army in 1862 as a captain in command of Company C, 123rd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was promoted through the ranks, and was the regiment's lieutenant colonel and second in command at the close of the war.

Tanner was elected as a Republican to the Forty-first Congress (March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1871). He resumed the practice of law in Whitehall, and died there on January 14, 1882. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery, Salem, New York.

• United States Congress. "Adolphus H. Tanner (id: T000037)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2009-05-01
• Reminiscences of the 123d Regiment, N.Y.S.V by Henry C. Morhous

  This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress