At 222 years old, Elizabeth Taber is looking pretty strong.

More accurately, Taber’s legacy is strong. Known as Marion’s “fairy godmother,” she established Tabor Academy, the town’s library and Natural History Museum, the Music Hall, and contributed money to build the Town House.

To celebrate, Elizabeth Taber Library staff held a birthday party for its namesake on Aug. 22, which Taber attended at the request of Board of Trustees President Asha Wallace.

Well, it was actually Fairhaven’s Natalie Silvia-Hemingway dressed as Taber, but her detailed costumed could have fooled anyone.

Silvia-Hemingway grew up in Mattapoisett and often portrays South Coast historical figures. Thursday marked the first time she appeared as Taber at the library. As Taber, she wore a long, black dress with white lace accents. A small black purse held a hidden cigar – for historical accuracy.

To the crowd, she told the story of how Taber, sitting atop an easy chair, would be pulled through Marion’s then dusty streets in a horse drawn cart.

Often, she was seen with a pipe in hand; clouds of tobacco smoke in her trail.

“In this day and age of people wanting things done instantly, they forget there is a history behind them that needs to be carried,” Silvia-Hemingway said.

For the occasion, she presented Library Director Libby O’Neill with a photograph of the library when it was first built. In 1872, Taber gave $4,000 for construction of the Victorian-styled building. The photograph is not that different from the library as it stands today.

“Today is about keeping history alive,” said Susan Mead, a library trustee. But the library is also focused on the future, she said.

The event served a dual purpose: Remind people of the library’s past and introduce patrons to O’Neill.

Hired in June, O’Neill has already implemented a few changes. She eliminated DVD rental fees, started an artist of the month exhibit, and moved the director’s office front and center.

Previously in the back, the office is now in the front of the library. The old office was converted to meeting space for non-profit groups and a study area.

Also, the library’s popular annual book sale is expanded. Books will be for sale year round inside the library.

Funds collected will help the library carry on its mission of education, which was Taber’s mission in life.

Tabor Academy was founded in 1876 when Taber was 85 years old.

Mount Tabor was once considered the tallest mountain in Jerusalem. Taber named the academy after it to draw an international student body.

“When she started the academy she wanted to draw people from all over the world,” Silvia-Hemingway said. “And that’s still true today.”