Timber Township

Timber township forms the extreme southern point of the county, and was originally chiefly covered with timber. The north part is rolling; the southern part is bottom lands. The Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw railroad, passes across the lower portion, and opens to market some valuable lands. Timber township is settled by an industrious and energetic class of citizens, who have made some of the best farm improvements in Peoria county. It is well watered and rolling, and is well adapted to stock and grain raising. One of the old settlers asserts that they have not had a failure in crops for forty-five years.

It is claimed that a man by the name of Daniel Hinkle was the first settler in the township.

Spring of 1832, Benjamin Duffield immigrated to Timber township from Nicholas County, VA., where he died the following year. He married Miss Elizabeth Shock, of Shenandoah County, VA., by whom he had seven children, five boys and two girls. Mrs. G. has been in the township over forty-seven years. She married Samuel A. Glassford, a native of Ohio, who came to the county in 1842.

Mr. G. laid out the town of Glassford, December 9, 1868. The first name given to it was Glascoe, but it was afterwards changed for the reason that there was another town by that name in the State. The town contains two general stores, one Baptist church, a good school-house, two blacksmith shops, one flouring and saw mill, two shoemaker shops, a warehouse and one wagon maker shop. The first school-house, says Mrs. G., was a small log building near Dry Run, 16x18, with greased paper for windows. The benches were made of slabs turned flat side up with pins for legs. Here some of the best people in the township got their education.

The first church erected was at Lancaster, by the M. E. Society, which has since been moved to Copperas creek, and is now used by the Christian Union. The first meeting was held at Wm. Eyman's, one mile above Kingston. John Congeton came to the county in 1835. In the Spring of 1836, there was an election at the house of Wm. Duffield; he was appointed as one of the judges of election, and the whole number of votes cast was seven. Daniel Hinkle was not only the first settler in Timber, but the first justice of the peace. Col. A. L. Fahnenstock came to the county in 1837, from Adams County, PA., and located at Lancaster. In 1856, he embarked in the mercantile business in Lancaster; afterwards removed to Glassford, where he handles a large stock of general merchandise. He has held several local offices; was county treasurer two years. He entered the army as captain and was commissioned as colonel, but not mustered. Charles Fahnenstock, son of the colonel, is also engaged in the same business. Wm. H. Davis, has one of the finest flouring mills, outside of Peoria, in the county, equipped with the latest improvements. Erected in 1872, and cost $17,000. There is also a saw mill worked by the same power, which cost about $3,000.

Lancaster is situated on section 17, and was laid out by Samuel F. Bollinger. Since the railroad passed through the township the business has gone chiefly to Glassford.

Kingston, formerly Palmyra, is situated on the Illinois river, and was laid out by James Monroe. The chief business is coal mining.

Source: The History of Peoria County, Illinois, Johnson & Company, Chicago, 1880.