Sarah (Bibbs) Timbers and Fannie (Timbers) Butler
Files
Dublin Core
Title
Sarah (Bibbs) Timbers and Fannie (Timbers) Butler
Subject
Timbers, Sarah Evelyn Bibbs (1875-1938)
Butler, Fannie Hughes Timbers (1893-1984)
African Americans - Virginia - Shenandoah County
Description
Photograph of Sarah Evelyn (Bibbs) Timbers (left) with her daughter, Fannie Hughes (Timbers) Butler, standing beside her.
Sarah Evelyn Bibbs was born to Carter and Louisa Bibbs, one of eleven children, in Zenda, near Linville in Rockingham County. The year of her birth varies by record, but the civil registration of the event was dated 1871. She married William B. Timbers (1848-1905) in 1893. He was a much older man and by 1900, she had 4 children -- Anita, Fannie, William and Jett Elmer -- and lived on Water Street in Woodstock where her husband was a waiter in a hotel. Her husband’s grown son from his first marriage, Harper, also lived with them.
Sarah remained in Woodstock the rest of her life. After her husband died, she worked as a laundress in a home for a time. In the early 1920’s, she went to work for the family of J.J. Sperry where she worked for 17 years until her death.
Sarah was a member of the Mt. Zion Methodist Church. During a service, she suffered a stroke and fell from the pulpit hitting her head on the altar railing. Unconscious, she was carried from the church to Dr. Fravel’s hospital and then to the home of her daughter, Mrs. Fannie Butler, where she died almost a week later.
Fannie Hughes Timbers married Lucien P. Butler (1900-1963) in June 1921, in Woodstock. The person who performed their marriage ceremony was W.H. Polk, a well-known African American minister in Woodstock. Lucien was the son of W.O. and Alice Butler of Strasburg. He had worked as a bell boy at the fashionable Loch Lynn Hotel in Mt. Lake Park, Garret County, Maryland, when he registered for the WWI draft. When he married, his occupation was “cook”.
By 1930, the couple lived at 239 E. High Street in Woodstock in a home they owned. Lucien worked as a cook at Massanutten Military Academy and they had two young daughters: Fannie Timbers and Esterlean Rawes Butler. Fannie’s half-brother, Harper Timbers, lived next door with his large family.
In his later years, Lucien worked at Wender’s Department Store in Woodstock before suffering a fatal heart attack. Fannie stayed in her home on High Street and lived another 21 years until she, too, reached the end of her life.
Sarah Evelyn Bibbs was born to Carter and Louisa Bibbs, one of eleven children, in Zenda, near Linville in Rockingham County. The year of her birth varies by record, but the civil registration of the event was dated 1871. She married William B. Timbers (1848-1905) in 1893. He was a much older man and by 1900, she had 4 children -- Anita, Fannie, William and Jett Elmer -- and lived on Water Street in Woodstock where her husband was a waiter in a hotel. Her husband’s grown son from his first marriage, Harper, also lived with them.
Sarah remained in Woodstock the rest of her life. After her husband died, she worked as a laundress in a home for a time. In the early 1920’s, she went to work for the family of J.J. Sperry where she worked for 17 years until her death.
Sarah was a member of the Mt. Zion Methodist Church. During a service, she suffered a stroke and fell from the pulpit hitting her head on the altar railing. Unconscious, she was carried from the church to Dr. Fravel’s hospital and then to the home of her daughter, Mrs. Fannie Butler, where she died almost a week later.
Fannie Hughes Timbers married Lucien P. Butler (1900-1963) in June 1921, in Woodstock. The person who performed their marriage ceremony was W.H. Polk, a well-known African American minister in Woodstock. Lucien was the son of W.O. and Alice Butler of Strasburg. He had worked as a bell boy at the fashionable Loch Lynn Hotel in Mt. Lake Park, Garret County, Maryland, when he registered for the WWI draft. When he married, his occupation was “cook”.
By 1930, the couple lived at 239 E. High Street in Woodstock in a home they owned. Lucien worked as a cook at Massanutten Military Academy and they had two young daughters: Fannie Timbers and Esterlean Rawes Butler. Fannie’s half-brother, Harper Timbers, lived next door with his large family.
In his later years, Lucien worked at Wender’s Department Store in Woodstock before suffering a fatal heart attack. Fannie stayed in her home on High Street and lived another 21 years until she, too, reached the end of her life.
Creator
Morrison Studio
Source
Morrison Studio Collection - Shenandoah County Historical Society
Publisher
Shenandoah County Library
Date
The glass plate negative of this image was stored in a box labeled "July 1926".
Contributor
Fannie (Timbers) Butler was identified in 2011 by Harry and Joanne Lockhart.
Sarah (Bibbs) Timbers was identified in 2025 by library staff based on other images of her.
Additional biographical information on both women was compiled from public records.
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT - NON-COMMERCIAL USE PERMITTED
Relation
Fannie (Timbers) Butler appears in Morrison photos 000608, 000783, 0005717, 007811, 011948, 012916, 016333, 022677, 022947 and 022948.
Sarah E. (Bibbs) Timbers appears in Morrison Studio Collection numbers 005084, 005717, and 022948.
Identifier
022948
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Glass Negative
Collection
Citation
Morrison Studio, “Sarah (Bibbs) Timbers and Fannie (Timbers) Butler,” Shenandoah County Library Archives, accessed April 3, 2025, https://archives.countylib.org/items/show/52548.
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