Fannie grew up in the Hurricane section of Wise County and attended school at the old Wise High school. She is married to Letcher Steele and has six living children and one deceased, several grandchildren and great grandchildren.
After raising her family, Fannie decided to better educate herself, so she bought a used typewriter and borrowed a typing book and she was off! She hasn’t stopped since! She has gone through two typewriters, two outdated computers and almost through one purchased new. (This part was written a few years ago and does not apply today)
The love of writing was instilled in Fannie while a child from writing letters for her mother to her older siblings who lived away from home. One of her interests is writing poetry. She has some of her work published in an anthology of Our World’s Best Loved Poems. She has received the Golden and Silver poet awards from World of Poetry and was invited to attend their poetry convention in Reno, Nevada. She also has poetry in Blue Mountain Arts that can be found at their electronic greeting card site on the internet.
Family Reunions, after the passing of her mother, inspired Fannie to delve further into researching her family history. Her first genealogy book, Country Roads and Lanes, was published in 1991 and five years later in 1996, The Crabtree-Stanley Collection: A Memorial, was in print. These two books cover both her Father and Mother’s families. She is currently working on and is nearing the completion of a book of old time recipes, stories, games, herbs, songs, etc., which will be called, Our Vanishing Heritage. (Can be purchased at Wise Historical Society office)
Fannie joined the book committee of The Heritage of Wise County and The City of Norton, helping with stories and proof-reading. From the publishing of this book the Wise County Historical Society was formed and Fannie is a charter member. She volunteers at the Society’s office and is the archivist, keeping a database of all the books and documents that come into the office and filing them in their respective places. Fannie has helped with and authored numerous articles for Heritage I and II, WWII Veteran’s Book and the Apple Blossoms of Yesteryear published by the Historical Society. When the Appalachian Quarterly was initiated, Fannie became the book review editor for On The Bookshelf. She also maintains the Historical Society’s web page.
Aside from the Historical Society some of Fannie’s interests are Church, family gatherings, photography, and making quilts.
I like to have a book on my family my father is a lane he grew up in pole Bridge and bold camp he is a lane im really interested in getting to know where my family came from
I would like to buy a copy of Fannie Steel’s Country Roads and Lanes (if at all possible) and also her copy of — Our Vanishing Heritage… Any one who has a copy at all – I wish to buy a copy for a friend who is from Wise County & still has relatives throughout the county…My phone # is 541-218-5344 if someone might want to call about selling a book…EMail address is—walnutpaul@cavenet.com…Thank you very much..Jerry Carter – Oregon (Can call me any time—I stay up late every night)
Where can I purchase the book titled “Country Roads and Lanes”, by Fannie Lane Steele. I believe it was self published in 1991
I would love to buy a copy of all of Fannie’s books. She was a wonderful lady, my great aunt.
I would love to purchase a copy of Country Roads and Lanes by Fannie lane Steele. I was born in Wise County and she is a relative of mine, but I do not know how to get in touch. Lillian Ann(Big Bay) Robinson Enlund Lehman
I currently live in Florence,Oregon
lehman_rnl@comcast.net
Phone (503)351-1605.
Sheila Osborne, daughter of the late Fanny Steele, is in the process of getting the Country Roads & Lanes book reprinted. It is currently out of print. We do have it in the archives, although we are not a lending library, and you may find used copies for sale somewhere. If you contact Wanda Rose directly, she can give you contact information for Sheila Osborne.