Robert H. Tinker (1836-1924)
In 1856 Robert Tinker came to Rockford to work for the Manny Reaper Company. Rockford quickly became his home and over the years he made his mark on the community. He served as Mayor in 1875, worked to bring the railroad to town, served on the board of directors of many companies, and was among the founders of the Rockford Park District.
Mary Manny Tinker (1829-1901)
Mary Dorr Manny Tinker married inventor John Manny in 1852. Manny had developed a reaper mower for harvesting grain. After Manny died in 1856, Mary hired Robert Tinker as a sales agent of the company and the two became friends. They were married in 1870.
Jessie Dorr Hurd Tinker (1859-1942) and Marcia Dorr (1856-1904)
Jessie Dorr Tinker and her sister Marcia were nieces of Mary Dorr Manny Tinker. In the 1870s, Jessie and Marcia moved into Tinker Swiss Cottage to live with their aunt.
In 1904, after several family deaths left them alone in the Cottage, Robert Tinker and Jessie Dorr were married. In the 1920s, Jessie sold the Cottage and its land to the Rockford Park District. Upon her death in 1942, Tinker Swiss Cottage was opened as a Museum.
Ted Tinker (1908-1984)
In 1908 Jessie Tinker adopted a baby from a children's home in Normal, Illinois. She and Robert named him Theodore. Ted was the only child to grow up in the Cottage. He attended Military School in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. As an adult, Ted lived in the Milwaukee area and worked for the railroad and for a trucking company.
The Cottage and Grounds Then
Robert Tinker built his Swiss Cottage in 1865. Over the years he planted garden beds, rows of trees, and added a suspension bridge and statuary to his estate.
The Cottage Today
Inside the Cottage today looks much as it did in the late 1800s.