Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Evelyn Albaugh Timanus, 1856-1947
By Hayley Crum, undergraduate student, University of Maryland
Evelyn Albaugh Timanus was born in Maryland around 1856 to John and Amelia Albaugh. Both of her parents immigrated to the United States from Europe, making her a first-generation American citizen. Her father was a German native and was born around 1829. He immigrated to the United States sometime between 1829 and 1853. He ran a carriage and wagon manufacturing business for many years in Baltimore before his death on February 16, 1901. Her mother, Amelia, was born in England around 1834. She emigrated in 1848. She married John Albaugh five years later in 1853, and the couple had seven children.
Evelyn Albaugh received a high school education, completing her third year. She did not attend college. She married Franklin Timanus of Virginia, around 1878, when she was twenty-one years old. The couple had two children before Franklin Timanus passed away. As a widow by 1900, Evelyn Timanus lived with her parents in Baltimore, Maryland. Three of her siblings also lived at this residence in 1900.
By 1910, Evelyn Timanus had moved from her parents' residence and into her own home located at 1018 Lanvale Street. Her daughter, Evelyn Timanus, and her sister, Catherine Virginia Albaugh, also resided at this location. Timanus and her sister both worked as teachers. On September 20, 1911, Timanus' daughter married Harvey E. Lyons of Rush, Pennsylvania. He worked as both a farmer and a meat inspector. The couple lived with Evelyn Timanus through 1940.
During the early part of the twentieth century, Evelyn Timanus was a prominent figure in the woman's suffrage movement. In 1915, the Woman Suffrage Party of Maryland was formed. She was involved in that organization and held several positions within it. Timanus was appointed to a committee to draft the constitution and by-laws for an alliance of the three biggest suffrage organizations in Maryland: the Just Government League, the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association, and the Equal Suffrage League. During that same year, she also served as secretary and recording secretary for the Woman Suffrage Party of Maryland, and she was appointed to a temporary legislative committee responsible for tabulating Maryland legislative candidates' views on suffrage. She attended the 1916 and 1917 National Woman's Party conventions as a delegate for the Maryland Woman Suffrage Party.
Evelyn Timanus hosted suffrage meetings at her house and spoke at parades and rallies. After the ratification of the federal Nineteenth Amendment, Timanus continued to advance the suffrage cause. On September 14, 1920, the Maryland Woman Suffrage Association held an open forum in which women in the movement shared their knowledge with other women on how to exercise their newly found right to vote. During this event, Timanus was one of the women in the question box.
Not only was Evelyn Timanus an ardent suffragist, she was also a devout Christian and active member in the Methodist-Episcopalian church community. She was involved in a wide variety of church activities that included singing, teaching, and suffrage advocacy. In 1893, Timanus combined her love for singing and teaching, when she led the infant class of Emory Methodist Episcopal church in singing exercises. On some occasions, her suffrage work overlapped with her church activities. On November 12, 1905, Timanus spoke at the Epworth League Rally that took place at St. Luke's Church. She spoke on “Suggestions for League Work, Social and Literary.” She also took part in a charity fundraiser for a new organ at the Lauraville Methodist Protestant Church in 1906. Timanus did not confine her musical interests and talent to church events. On May 10, 1917, the National Woman's Party and the Just Government League held a seven-hour long oratory outside the Baltimore Courthouse. Timanus opened the oratory that morning by singing “America.”
In the years between 1920 and 1930, Evelyn Timanus moved from her home on West Lanvale Street to Mohawk Avenue, the household to her son-in-law, Harvey Lyons. She was listed at this location during the 1940 census. Evelyn Albaugh Timanus died on January 17, 1947, in Baltimore and was buried at Klines Grove United Methodist Cemetery in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.
SOURCES:
“Church and Children.” Baltimore Sun. June 19, 1893, p.10. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
Death Notices. Timanus, Evelyn. Baltimore Sun. January 18, 1947, p.14. Newspapers.com.
“Delegates To Convention.” Baltimore Sun. September 5, 1916, p.14. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
Find A Grave. “Evelyn Albach Timanus.” Accessed June 20, 2019. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51896198/evelyn-timanus.
Harper, Ida Husted, ed. “Maryland,” chapter XIX in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 6: 1900-1920. New York: National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1922, pp. 258-76. [LINK]
“In Suburbs and County.” Baltimore Sun. November 12, 1905, p.9. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
“John Albaugh's Will.” Baltimore Sun. February 28, 1901, p.12. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
“Played ‘Ye Destrick Skule.'” Baltimore Sun. May 20, 1906, p.9. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
Society News. “Lyons-Timanus.” Baltimore Sun. September 22, 1911, p.8. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
“Suffrage Leagues to Unite.” Baltimore Sun. January 27, 1915, p.7. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
“Suffragists Combine.” Baltimore Sun. January 28, 1915, p.12. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
“Suffs To Take Up War Work.” Baltimore Sun. December 10, 1917, p.3. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
“Talk Suffrage Seven Hours.” Baltimore Sun. May 11, 1917, p.4. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
“To Ask Views On Suffrage.” Baltimore Sun. August 12, 1915, p.4. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
United States Census 1870, s.v. “Evelyn Albaugh, Baltimore, MD.” HeritageQuest.
United States Census 1880, s.v. “Eva Timanus, Baltimore, MD.” HeritageQuest.
United States Census 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, s.v. “Evelyn Timanus, Baltimore, MD.” HeritageQuest.
“Women Balk at Honors.” Baltimore Sun. October 23, 1915, p.9. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
“Women to Censor News.” Baltimore Sun. February 17, 1915, p.12. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.
“Women to Learn ‘Voting.'” Baltimore Sun. September 14, 1920, p.7. ProQuest Baltimore Sun Historical.