The object that I feel connects me to my family, is my family's barn. This barn was built from 1916 to 1918. This barn was built by my Great Great grandfather, William Bahre Timpner. The farm this barn was built on has been in my family since 1867. William Bahre Timpner was born in 1903, in 1916 he went to school and learned about how to build barns, at this time he currently also lived on a farm with his family, after learning about how to build a barn, he went home and managed to convince his father to let him build a barn, William was 13 at the time. William had organized the ordering of a barn kit, this came by train, and many neighbors came to the train with their wagons to help transport the pieces back onto the property of the Timpners. The barn was of the Lauden, gothic style, the farthest west of this style known. The barn was originally designed to be built on the ground, but it was Williams' idea to build another story underneath the barn, to make it two stories. When built in Pinckneyville, IL, it was the largest barn in the county when it was finished in 1918. The Barn was originally built to be a dairy barn, it also had an attached early version of a chiller to store the milk. This barn is part of my family today and has been standing for 107 years and 5 generations of farmers. I feel connected to this barn in many ways. The barn shows how much me and my family like to work with our hands and how much we can accomplish. My grandfather was 13 when he planned and made the barn, this is a major accomplishment that i will never forget.

– FML

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more