Rena Helen (Barr) Botkin
Files
Dublin Core
Title
Rena Helen (Barr) Botkin
Subject
Botkin, Rena Helen (Barr) (1910-1986)
Description
Portrait photograph of Rena Helen (Barr) Botkin with short hair and smiling.
Rena was born in rural Woodstock to William Kirby (1864-1925) and Laura Frances (Wilkins) (1867-1941) Barr, a farming couple. She lost her father as a teenager and in both the 1930 and 1940 censuses, she and her widowed mother lived with her older sister, Myrtle, and her husband, Clarke W. Kibler, on a farm along Route 11 in the Stonewall District of Shenandoah County.
For many years, she worked as a secretary for Philip Williams, a Shenandoah County Attorney and Commonwealth’s Attorney in Woodstock.
She moved to Washington D.C. at some point in the 1940’s and by 1950, she was working as a secretary for a congressional office and living on C St. SE. A Northern Virginia Daily newspaper article from January 1956 noted she had worked for Congressman A. Willis Robertson and later, Congressman Burr P. Harrison.
Rena was already in her forties when she married in 1953. A detailed article in the Northern Virginia Daily (on 7 July 1953, page 4) described the event: “Of wide interest, not only in Woodstock and Shenandoah County, but also among Democratic political circles in Washington D.C.”
Her husband was William Harrison Botkin, Jr. (1920-1966), a travelling salesman for Emerson Television Company in Huntington, West Virginia. Not long after, they moved to Woodstock.
Rena was selected to be one of two deputies for Jesse D. Funkhouser, then a Shenandoah County Treasurer. Many other Northern Virginia Articles chronicle her community involvement over the course of her years in Woodstock.
The couple did not have children and Rena’s death certificate notes she was divorced and living in Woodstock when she died. At the time of her death, she worked as a secretary in a nursing home. She was well into her seventies by then.
Rena was born in rural Woodstock to William Kirby (1864-1925) and Laura Frances (Wilkins) (1867-1941) Barr, a farming couple. She lost her father as a teenager and in both the 1930 and 1940 censuses, she and her widowed mother lived with her older sister, Myrtle, and her husband, Clarke W. Kibler, on a farm along Route 11 in the Stonewall District of Shenandoah County.
For many years, she worked as a secretary for Philip Williams, a Shenandoah County Attorney and Commonwealth’s Attorney in Woodstock.
She moved to Washington D.C. at some point in the 1940’s and by 1950, she was working as a secretary for a congressional office and living on C St. SE. A Northern Virginia Daily newspaper article from January 1956 noted she had worked for Congressman A. Willis Robertson and later, Congressman Burr P. Harrison.
Rena was already in her forties when she married in 1953. A detailed article in the Northern Virginia Daily (on 7 July 1953, page 4) described the event: “Of wide interest, not only in Woodstock and Shenandoah County, but also among Democratic political circles in Washington D.C.”
Her husband was William Harrison Botkin, Jr. (1920-1966), a travelling salesman for Emerson Television Company in Huntington, West Virginia. Not long after, they moved to Woodstock.
Rena was selected to be one of two deputies for Jesse D. Funkhouser, then a Shenandoah County Treasurer. Many other Northern Virginia Articles chronicle her community involvement over the course of her years in Woodstock.
The couple did not have children and Rena’s death certificate notes she was divorced and living in Woodstock when she died. At the time of her death, she worked as a secretary in a nursing home. She was well into her seventies by then.
Creator
Morrison Studio
Source
Morrison Studio Collection - Shenandoah County Historical Society
Publisher
Shenandoah County Library
Date
Labeled "Aug 31, 1936" on box of plates.
Contributor
Identified in 2009 by Betsy Bushong, the subject's great niece. She had a similar photograph at home and remembered Rena had worked for William Logan, Sr. at some point.
Additional biographical information was compiled from public records.
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT - NON-COMMERCIAL USE PERMITTED
Relation
Rena Helen (Barr) Botkin appears in Morrison Studio Collection numbers 001749 and 015346.
Identifier
015346
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Glass Negative
Collection
Citation
Morrison Studio, “Rena Helen (Barr) Botkin,” Shenandoah County Library Archives, accessed September 20, 2024, https://archives.countylib.org/items/show/45275.
Comments