A word to our Loyal Visitors.. You may have noticed our page being down for about a week and a half we apologize for the problem we were in the possess of changing servers we now have a new host thanks to Ken Seaton and The Tennessee Star Journal Hosting the pages for free many thanks to Ken and his staff for the space "about 3 gig" and they are not charging us a thing. So please thank him and his staff!!!
Introduction
The Genealogy Department of the Sevier County Public Library was organized in 2000 by the library board. The department's collection contains more than 1,500 printed volumes and 600 items of microfilm and microfiche. This collection grows daily through department purchases and donations from appreciative genealogists and historians. Because of the collection's size and continuous growth, the information in the following holdings summary will necessarily be brief and representative in nature.
Our Crown Jewel
Wanda Fisher
Wanda was born in ____the daughter of David Arthur Howard and Eaunice Blalock. She married a fellow by the name of Emeritt H. Fisher. Together they had a fine group of children (Pat, Pam, Tim, and Terri) who have gone on to produce some wonderful grandchildren. Wanda just got back the other day from Parris Island. She went to see her grandchild graduate from Marine Basic training. She couldn’t contain her enthusiasm and pride in her younguns.
Wanda was raised with her grandmother telling stories about the old days. When her grandma started forgetting about these times Wanda became interested in family history. Miss Lynn was an influence in getting her introduced to the hobby of genealogy. She took Wanda to a meeting of the Smoky Mountain Historical Society and about 30 years later Wanda became the Genealogist for the SMHS. She was their genealogist from the 80’s until March of 2001.
During her researching days she found many resources were hard to find. She sometimes came across people who had records thought lost forever. When she came across these “finds” she would diligently copy them by hand for her records. She has copied many a church minute or family bible in this manner.
The Bethany Church Minutes for sell at the Library is one instance of a record that would be lost forever if not for Wanda’s persistence. She spent many a night, after everyone else was sound asleep, transcribing this book. Now the original is lost but thanks to Wanda we still have a part of our history.
Wanda has spent many years doing research for the SMHS newsletter. As people would write in asking questions, she would do her best to answer them. She kept a record of all the correspondences she received throughout the years. In the year 2000 Wanda had a series of mini strokes and she has trouble remembering some things now. Wanda has decided to share her lifetime of research with the rest of the world. Since March of 2001 she has begun volunteering at the Sevier County Library. She is down at the Genealogy annex Monday through Saturday every week. While there, she is diligently going through her half century of work getting it ready for the library files. She is happy to talk to people interested in what she has to teach
them.
Wanda Fisher is happy to learn anything new, but she has probably forgotten more about Sevier County and its history than many people have ever known.
In May of 2001 Wanda was acknowledged with the Jolley award from the Teen
Volunteer Network. This award is presented annually to 5 volunteers from
East Tennessee who exemplify and set an example for others to follow.
When asked if she has anything to say she simply states, “Doing what I
enjoy”.
When You Visit
Librarians experienced in genealogical research are always on duty to answer your questions. Please notify us in advance if you plan to bring a group. Open hours are:
- Monday and Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Tuesday-Wednesday-Friday 10:30a.m. to 6 p.m
- Saturday 10:30a.m. to 4 p.m.
- (Closed on Sundays, Memorial Day and Labor Day)
The Resources of the Historical Genealogy Department of the Sevier County Public Library
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