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 that 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.

Both Josiah Yager and William Tinney purchased, usually adjoining, multiple land plots in Washington. There are adjacent "Yager Addition" and "Tinney Addition" subdivisions near the Square.  Tinney's plot is three lots that now encompasses 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 up the tavern house, TInney was also hired as a sheriff's deputy under Tazewell County Sheriff Alfred Phillips.  Two years later in 1836, Tinney himself 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 1856-1860.  He is also widely credited as 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.

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

An older Tinney,  but 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.