Beech Tree News Network

Each year the Green River Museum honors someone who has either impacted or preserved Butler County history. The 2016 recipient was famed local photographer and artist, George H. Dabbs in recognition of his life and work. A special presentation by Tommy Hines, Museum Director, and reception was held in his honor on Saturday afternoon. Several of Mr. Dabbs descendants were on hand.

George Henry Dabbs was born July 6, 1882, Huntsville, KY the son of Joseph and Fannie Dabbs (three older sisters and two older brothers).  The Dabbs family moved to Morgantown in 1888; George grew up exhibiting extraordinary artistic and musical talents, abilities that would be a driving force for the rest of his life.
1904 proved to be a pivotal year in the life of George Dabbs. He met and married Sallie Glenn from Calhoun, and they would eventually have two children, Catherine Glenn and George Jr.
1904 was also the year that George opened his photography studio in the Morehead Building in Morgantown. Dabbs soon became the sole portrait photographer in town, capturing the images of hundreds of Butler Countians for the next twenty years. Mr. Dabbs wasn’t the first of Morgantown’s portrait photographers- he knew personally three of them who pre-dated him- R.B. Morehead, who dominated the business in the 90’s, Lem McIntyre, who lived next door to the Dabbs (teens), and Alonzo French, who gave some of his equipment to George when he closed his studio in 1904, a photo of 19-year-old George, by French, survives.

George Dabbs, however, used his camera for more than portraits George documented history, and he was well aware that he was doing so.
He took his camera to events across the Butler County. He documented everyday life in the region, lives of both the prominent and the less fortunate. He made composite portraits of the BCHC class from the 1910’s through 1929, created ads for the yearbooks in the 1940’s, painted sets for plays, and taught art classes at the High School. He painted works of art, created cartoon drawings, and drew vignettes of local happenings. He captured the last days of our region’s romantic steamboat era, photographing the boats, crews, and passengers.
That would have enough for most people, but George Dabbs devoted his life to family, who he had loved dearly, friends, of whom he had several, and faith, evidenced in his commitment to First Baptist Church’s ministry, through teaching, leadership, and through music.

"George Dabbs was a man of faith, a preservationist, an artist, a musician, a historian, a lover of people with a strong commitment and a deep affection for the place he called home. I can’t think of anyone who has done more to deserve the Green River Museum's Impact Award," said Tommy Hines.

The last work of George Dabbs in represented at the museum. In the early 1960’s he began to enlarge many of the photographs he had made at the turn of the century. Dabbs died July 5, 1967, at 84 years old.

Joseph and Fannie Dabbs' children:
Ida Jane Dabbs Gardner (1866-1956)
William Robert “Will” Dabbs (1868-1916)- four children
Minnie Dabbs Kelly (1875-1946)- one child, no descendants
Jame Finley Dabbs (1879-1970)- one child, no descendants
Sibyl Mae Dabbs Moore (1879-1970)- one child
George H. Dabbs (1882-1967)- two children