How did the small seaside town of Marion attract the attention of this remarkable philanthropist, educator, and visionary long ago in the 1870s and 1880s so that she virtually built it into the community it still is today?
First, let’s go back to the beginning of the story. She was born in Marion in 1791 on a small lane between Main and South Streets. She was the daughter of Theophilus Pitcher, a successful merchant, along with five brothers and one sister. From the start, she hungered for an education, attending every small schoolhouse in the village. Then she taught in the town school and founded her own private school.
In 1824, she married Stephen Taber, a New Bedford clock maker, and they had three children all of whom died before the age of five. Several years later, after amassing a fortune in mill stocks and railroad bonds, she decided to return to the town she loved. A very wealthy widow, she came back to Marion in 1870 determined to do everything she could to make the village more attractive and life more pleasant.
She started with a new library and Natural History Museum. Then, she established a plan to offer high school level education for the boys and girls of Marion, founding Tabor Academy in 1876 in what is now the Town House.
Her generosity knew no bounds! She built Union Hall and the Congregational Chapel for a Sunday School and for women to ply their crafts; she left endowment funds to these places so that they would remain well-maintained. She donated $5,000 to Evergreen Cemetery and $20,000 to the Lower Village “for the embellishment of my native place.” And finally, she built the Music Hall in 1892, the hub of the town’s cultural, musical and committee activities.
Although she kept very much alone, she had many friends and townspeople revered her for her courage, her boundless generosity, and her persistent vision for her town’s future.
Elizabeth Taber died in 1888 at the age of 97. She was buried in the Acushnet Cemetery beside her husband and her three children. The rest of the Pitcher family are at rest in the Evergreen Cemetery in Marion.
To honor her and her extraordinary achievements, the selectmen have offered a Proclamation making October 2, 3, and 4, 2015 Elizabeth Taber Gala Weekend, which will include the 125th Birthday Celebration of the Music Hall.