Lt. William A. Tinney

William Holland was the first to settle here, but the cast of characters who came and went included some heavy hitters who did their share of nurturing Washington and the surrounding area.  One of those was William A. Tinney.

In November 1832,  William and his wife, Sarah Jane Yager, arrived in Holland's Grove from Kentucky with Sarah's parents, Josiah and Lydia Yager.  Upon settling, Tinney began his trade as a saddle maker and, in 1834, applied to the Tazewell County Board to run a tavern in town.

Josiah Yager and William Tinney purchased multiple land plots in Washington, usually adjoining. There are adjacent "Yager Addition" and "Tinney Addition" subdivisions near the Square. Tinney's plot is three lots that now encompass most of the Heartland Bank property, and Yager's is everything north to Peoria Street and as far west as the current Washington Dentistry building.

Josiah Yager did not stay in Washington long, however, and by 1840 had moved back to Kentucky.

Soon after opening the tavern house, TInney was hired as a sheriff's deputy under Tazewell County Sheriff Alfred Phillips. Two years later, in 1836, Tinney was elected Sheriff of Tazewell County, an office he held until 1840. During those years, the Tinneys lived in Tremont, the county seat at the time.

In 1840, Tinney left the Sheriff's office and returned to Washington, where he ran a hotel on his "Tinney Addition." 

In 1846, he enlisted in Company G, Fourth Illinois Volunteers, and achieved the rank of 2nd Lieutenant during the Mexican War, participating in the battles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo.  It is said that Tinney was leading the regiment that captured the wooden leg of Mexican General Santa Cruz, which remains to this day in the Illinois State Military Museum, despite multiple efforts by Texas over the years to procure the leg from them.

Upon his one-year return from military service,  William and Sarah Tinney relocated to Pekin and opened another hotel, the Taylor House, then the Bemis House, and later the Eagle Hotel.

Tinney served as the Tazewell County Coroner from 1856 to 1860. He is also widely credited with being the first person in Pekin to lead a black person to the voting polls.

In 1861, Tinney was elected Justice of the Peace in Pekin, and he was also chosen to take the U.S. Census for his area in 1840 and 1860.

William Tinney obtained his law license in 1865, but according to most reports, he used it infrequently.

An older Tinney, still going strong, continued his role as police magistrate well into the 1870s.

Tinney passed away in 1888 and is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Pekin.