Benjamin F. Timms, Sheriff of Stephenson County, has passed his entire life in this section, having been born in what is now the township of Kent, but was then designated as Black Hawk Fort, and where the Black Hawk monument now stands. He first opened his eyes to the light March 26, 1842, and is the son of James Timms, who was born in North Carolina in 1802. The latter when a mere lad moved to Tennessee with his parents, where he developed into manhood. Upon making his way to Northern Illinois he came up the Mississippi to the Rapids, and from that point, in a keelboat, to Galena, arriving in the spring of 1825, he first employed himself at mining, and in 1827 was united in marriage with Miss Lucy Mann, who is now deceased. She was a sister of Harvey Mann, who still survives, and is now a resident of Jo Daviess County, near Galena, Ill.

After their marriage Mr. Timms and his wife moved to a point on Apple River, in Jo Daviess County, near the fort which was built during the Black Hawk War, where they remained until the fall of 1835, and then removed fifteen miles west of Freeport, which place was afterward named Timms Grove, where they lived until 1859. In the meantime, however, the wife and mother had passed away, in 1853. The father of our subject after­ward became a resident of Lena, where his death took place in 1863. The parental household included five sons and two daughters, six of whom survive, namely James B., Maj. Harvey M.; William 0., now a resident of Nebraska. Benjamin F., our subject, Mary A., the wife of A. U. Jenkins, of Missouri, and Louisa, a resident of Arizona.

The subject of our sketch, who was the youngest of the household, passed his boyhood and youth near the fort where he was born, and received a fair education in the common school. Subsequently he left the farm to perfect his studies at Lena, and when starting out for himself he engaged as clerk in his father’s store, and in 1864 succeeded to the business. In the meantime, during the progress of the late war he recruited Co. A, 142d IL. Vol. Inf., but was thrown out by the mustering officer on account of physical disability. Later he became sutler of the regiment, and was thus occupied until the close of the war.

In 1875 Mr. Timms engaged as traveling salesman for a Chicago grocery house, with which he was connected for a period of eleven years, having his residence meanwhile at Lena, IL. Upon being elected Sheriff he resigned his position, and assumed the duties of this office Dec. 6, 1886. He is discharging the duties of this responsible position in a satisfactory manner, and possesses good executive ability, besides a thorough knowledge, self acquired, of common law.

Mr. Timms was first married in February, 1873, to Miss Celia M., daughter of Daniel B. and Desire (Lincoln) Packer. Of this union there was one child, James George, now living; the mother died Jan. 20, 1875. Mr. Timms marriage with Mrs. Emma S. Liddell, nee Sampson, was celebrated at the home of the bride in January, 1878. Mrs. Timms is the daughter of Dr. Arch and Safrona (Gibbs) Samp­son, of Grant County, Wis., where her birth took place in 1846. She remained with her parents until her marriage. By her union with Mr. Timms she be­cam the mother of one son, named Arch S.; two girls (twins), one now deceased, one living; the de­ceased, Eva, was four weeks old. Edith still survives. Mr Timms socially, is a member of Lena Lodge No. 174, A. F. & A. M., Lena Chapter No. 103, Freeport Commandery No. 7, and Freeport Consistory.

The name of Timms is inseparably interwoven with the development of this part of the state and Benjamin F. Timms from his early boyhood to the present has been numbered among the representative and reliable citizens. He is now engaged in the real-estate and insurance business in Freeport, where he has made his home for a long period. The birthplace of Mr. Timms was at Timms Grove, about fifteen miles west of Freeport, and his natal day was March 26, 1842. He is, therefore, one of the oldest native residents of the county and is a representative of an honored pioneer family.

In the days when Indians still roamed over the broad prairies of Illinois his father, James Timms, took up his abode in this state. The grandfather, James Timms, Sr., was a native of South Carolina and of English descent. His wife died in early womanhood, leaving but one child, James Timms, the father of our subject. He, too, was born in South Carolina but was reared in Tennessee, where in his youthful days he was bound out to learn the wagon-making trade but did not complete his apprenticeship. He left his uncle William, who was his adopted father, and made his way to New Madrid, Missouri, where he lived for a time and afterward proceeded to different places along the Mississippi river. He made his way from Rock Island to Galena in a keel­boat as no steamboats plied the waters of the Mississippi above the rapids in 1825. While living at Galena he was married there in 1829 to Miss Lucy Mann, who had arrived in Galena about two years after he located there. She was born in New York and was a daughter of Frederick Mann, a native of Vermont, whence he removed to the Empire state, where his death occurred. He had served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812. There were only five buildings in Galena when Lucy Mann arrived there in 1827. Her brother Harvey Mann built what he styled a hotel but called in those days a tavern. He had reached Galena in 1824 and became the landlord of the new hostelry, while his sister Lucy took charge of the household arrangements.

After his marriage James Timms and his wife lived for a time in what is now Jo Daviess county, Illinois, near Scales Mound, and subsequently made their home near Apple River, now a station on the Illinois Central. While they were living there in 1832 the Black Hawk war broke out and the settlers, few in number, took refuge in what was then called Frank’s Fort, situated about a mile and a half from the Timms’ home. Mr. Timms was an enlisted soldier of the Black Hawk war and aided in subjugating the Indians, who resented what they felt to be the intrusion of the white men upon their hunting grounds. After the war Mr. Timms removed with his family to Kellogg’s Grove, referred to as Timms’ Grove, where Dement and Black Hawk had engaged in what was termed a battle. He bought and occupied the buildings now known in history as Dement’s Fort and it was there that Benjamin F. Timms was born, as were also Major Harvey Timms, William 0. and Daniel Timms, Harvey M. Timms being the first white male child born in what is now Stephenson county. James Timms, Sr., received a land warrant for one hundred and sixty acres, a part of which be homesteaded and entered. He resided upon that place until 1859, when he sold out and removed to Lena, Illinois, where he made his home until his death, which occurred August 24, 1863, when he was sixty-one years of age. His wife died in September, 1851, when forty-eight years of age. They were Methodists in religious faith, being disciples of Peter Cartright. In Lena Mr. Timms, Sr., engaged in merchandising up to the time of his demise. He also held various local offices at different times but cared little to mix actively in politics. His political allegiance was given to the whig party until its dissolution, while subsequently he joined the ranks of the republican party. Unto him and his wife were born seven children: James B., who is now living in Kent, Illinois; Mary Ann, the deceased wife of A. U. Jenkins; Mrs. Louisa Small, a widow living in Portland, Oregon; Major Harvey M. Timms, of Portland, Oregon; William 0., deceased; Daniel, who. died in early childhood; and Benjamin F., of this review.

Benjamin F. Timms was reared in Stephenson county, which has been his home practically throughout his entire life. He was reared on a farm amid such surroundings as are features of frontier life. His early education was obtained in the old-fashioned subscription schools where each pupil paid his share of the teachers salary and where the branches of learning taught were very few. Later a public-school system was established and he was thereby enabled to continue his studies. He remained at home until his majority and assisted his father in the management of the store until the father’s death, after which he became his successor and carried on the business for a short time. Eight times he attempted to enlist for service in the Civil war but each time was rejected on account of disability; but at length was comissioned sutler of the One Hundred and Forty-second Illinois Infantry. Thus he went to the front and was in Close connection with the army although not a regularly enlisted soldier. After the war he engaged in the stock business for a time and later went upon the road as a traveling salesman for a Chicago wholesale grocery house, which he represented for eleven years. While thus engaged he was nominated for the office of sheriff in 1884 and in August of that year resigned his position with the wholesale house. In the following November he was elected to the office for which he had been made a candidate and served for four years, retiring with the confidence and good will of all law-abiding citizens. He then again went upon the road as a traveling salesman and for nine years represented Burrell Brothers of Freeport in selling vinegar. At the end of that time he turned his attention to the real-estate and insurance business, in which he has since been engaged, and in both departments he is meeting with success.

In December, 1872, was celebrated the marriage of Benjamin F. Timms and Miss Celia Packer, a daughter of Daniel B. and Desire (Lincoln) Packer. Mrs. Timms died January 20, 1876, leaving a son, George J., who is now living at Minonk, Illinois. On the 16th of January, 1878, Mr. Timms wedded Mrs. Emma Liddle, the widow of William Liddle and a daughter of Arch and Sophronia (Gibbs) Sampson. There are three children of this marriage: Arch S., who is a railroad man living in Denver, Colorado; Edith V., the wife of Charles Elsworth Horsley; and Eva B., who died when but four and a half months old.

Mrs. Timms belongs to the Embury Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Timms holds membership in Lena Lodge, No. 174., A. F. & A. M.; Lena Chapter, No. 94, R. A. M.; Freeport Commandery, No. 7, K. T.; and Freeport Consistory, S.. P. R. S. He has thus attained high rank in Masonry and is a worthy exemplar of the craft. Politically he has always been a stanch republican and has held various town offices, the duties of which he has discharged with promptness and fidelity. His record is a creditable one, characterized by those qualities which win him classification with leading citizens and reliable business men. Few, if any, have more intimate knowledge concerning the development of the county for events which are to others matters of history are to him matters of personal experience or knowledge. He has seen the county transformed from a frontier district, in which the homes were widely scattered, to a populous and prosperous region, in which none of the evidences of modern civilization are lacking, and at all times he has rejoiced in what has been accomplished.

Transcribed by Christine Walters
History of Stephenson County 1910 S.J. Clark Publishing Co.