Cathy L’Altrelli has been doing genealogical research since she started a correspondence with her paternal grandmother as a pre-teen.  She and her husband relocated to Maryville in 2018. Coincidentally, it’s where her 4th Great Grandfather and his brothers-in-law had been for a time after the Revolution.

Christy Martin is a retired public school educator and holds three degrees from the University of Tennessee. After spending 30 years in Blount County Schools as a teacher and administrator she worked as an instructor at most of the area’s higher education institutions teaching in both undergraduate and graduate programs at Pellissippi State, Tusculum, LMU, and ETSU. She officially retired in 2020 after working as a coordinator of a social services program for youth aging out of foster care. Since 2023 she has written historical articles for The Daily Times and been on the board of the Blount County Historical Museum. In January of 2024, she started another writing journey through Patriot Legacies which is a team attempting to write the history of each Revolutionary War Patriot that is buried in Blount County. She and her husband Gary have a proud 7 generation history in Blount County.

The following books by author Terry Futrell will be offered for sale at the June 8 meeting of the Anderson County Historical Society.

Amazon price: $20
Sale price: $15

Amazon price: $50
Sale price: $35

Jill Jones-Lazuka was born and raised in Michigan where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Therapy, but she claims her Tennessee birthright through heritage that extends back to before Tennessee was a state, It was decades later in life that she became interested in that heritage and documenting it.

Jill completed her internship in Music Therapy at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and is a Registered Music Therapist. She has taken graduate courses in leadership at Tennessee Technological University, is a graduate of Leadership Morgan and the Leadership East Tennessee program.

Jill is involved in local genealogy societies, as well as national lineage societies. Her volunteer work with these societies includes: Morgan County Genealogical & Historical Society President, Friends of Frozen Head State Park Board member, Quarles-Burton Society board member, Honorary Chapter Regent Old Walton Road, past TSDAR Sequoyah District Secretary, past TSDAR State Chaplain, current TSDAR State Parliamentarian, NSDAR Correspondent Docent, past Chapter President USD1812, past State Corresponding Secretary USD1812, past Chapter Chaplain NSDU, past NSDU National Officer – Director General of Insignia, and current NSDU Corresponding Secretary General. She also holds membership in Daughters of the Confederacy, Daughters of 98, Southern Dames, and Descendants of American Farmers.

Jill worked in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 25 years. During that time, she has always worked as a pianist alongside her career. She is currently serving as a church pianist.

Jill has published five books – 4 family genealogies and her latest, Sunbright Potteries. She co-authored, Civil War Stories of Morgan County, and has been a contributing writer for several books, magazines, and blogs. She is currently co-authoring a murder mystery book based on an unsolved murder from the 1930’s.

Jill has recently been awarded honors from the Tennessee Association of Museums, East Tennessee Historical Society, and the Colonial Dames of the 17th Century. She is the recipient of the NSDAR Historic Preservation Medal.

Jill enjoys old cemeteries and grave dowsing. She speaks to groups across the state on the art of dowsing and headstone care and maintenance.

Jill currently lives in the Cookeville area with semi-retired husband, Marlon, and her two German Shepherds. Her daughter, Christina, taught high school math at Tennessee School for the Deaf before relocating to California to work in the computer programming field. She works as a freelance programmer and junior college instructor. Son, Joshua, works as an engineer and has a blacksmithing shop. He recently appeared on the History Channel show, Forged in Fire, where he won the competition.

Zach Foster is a lifelong resident of Anderson County who has loved history for just as long. He has served as the Anderson County Archivist for three years and have overseen the move of Archives which is still ongoing as of this writing.  He will be completing his third year at the Archives Institute in Nashville in April 2024 to become an accredited Archivist in the State of Tennessee.

Originally from Washington County, TN, Miria has spent the last ten years as the director of the Clinton Public Library. She has a bachelor’s in English from Lees McRae College and master’s in information science from UTK. As of the end of March, she has eighteen total years of experience in libraries in Tennessee and North Carolina. One of her proudest genealogy research moments was finding a friends grandfather in less than an hour when the friend didn’t even know his legal name.

Ron Evans is a family historian for the Evans, Paul, Humphrey, Darr and Underwood families )and associated families) of East Tennessee and has been doing genealogical research since 1980.  His interests in genealogical research led to historical research of the many East Tennessee Counties where his ancestors lived, including Knox, Anderson, Sevier, Union, Bradley and Polk.  Ron served as Vice President and President of the Anderson County Historical Society from 2004 – 2013.  He is administrator the Anderson County Historical Society website since 1999 and administrator of the Anderson County TnGenWeb website.  He is now researching the Powell Community of Northwest Knox County.  He co-authored the book Stooksbury – Ancestors and Descendants of Robert “Squire” Stooksbury.

Dr. Kristy Sumner holds a PhD in Public Affairs with an emphasis on Criminal Justice from the University of Central Florida. Her professional background includes 8 years as a Senior Director and spokesperson for a Registered Traveler company focused on biometric clearances for the traveling public, where she routinely gave presentations before national airports, local and national media, and members of state legislatures and the US Congress. She was also a consultant for a biometric credentialing company, and she was a college professor at Metro State College of Denver and at the University of Central Florida. In 2021, Dr. Sumner, along with her business partner, Miranda Young, founded History, Highways, and Haunts, LLC., a female owned and operated company located in Tennessee and operating out of the Historic Scott County Jail and Museum. The goal of the business is to promote tourism and encourage historic preservation through creative endeavors.

David Needs is a graduate of Carson-Newman University with a degree in Political Science and History.  He was President of Phi Alpha Theta the History Honor Society while a student at C-N.  He was also in ROTC and was commissioned a 2nd LT in the Field Artillery.  He currently serves Carson-Newman University as an Instructor and Director of the Nationally Ranked Track and Field Team.  Among the many classes David teaches at C-N is “Mossy Creek History 1850 to 1900”.  In 2019, David received the Community History Award from the East Tennessee Historical Society for his work in preservation and sharing the Mossy Creek Story.   In 2019, he was also named the President of the Lakeway Civil War Preservation Association.  In the Fall of 2021, he was named the first City Historian for Jefferson City.  In 2023, he traveled to Austin, Texas and Colorado Springs, CO to share information and speak about the 160^th Anniversary of the Battle of Mossy Creek.  Additionally, he led the City of Jefferson City’s remembrance of the Battle on December 29^th.  David Needs has been active in our community, researching, cemetery preservation, historical documentation, archaeological work, leading tours, engaging student groups, and lecturing.  He is also currently writing a book about the personal stories of the men and units  who fought at the Battle of Mossy Creek.

David Needs

Director of Track&Field and Cross Country
Carson-Newman University
Coach of the Year 2019, 2022, 2023
22 National Championship Appearances
4 National Champions
59 All Americans