| Sources |
- [S75] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume II, 1955-1973, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 2 Jun 1959.
Sarah Caldonia Fain obituary
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 7 Feb 2015.
Upland Chronicles: Ketner Grocery Co. was a neighborhood hangout
CARROLL MCMAHAN
Standing in front of Ketner Grocery Co., Elmer Ketner is holding the hand of his daughter Elmeda with his wife, Sarah, beside them. This picture was taken shortly before Elmeda died in 1929.
The interior of Ketner Grocery Company. Elmer Ketner is the man beside the stove.
Elmer and Sarah Ketner, who operated Ketner Grocery Co. for 20 years.
Ketner Grocery Store was located in an area of Sevierville known as Thomas Addition. It was situated at a unique intersection, with Belle Avenue on the right side of the store, which faced the split where Newport Highway (now East Gate Road) branched off New Road (now Park Road).
A sign under the front porch awning read: "Ketner Groc. Co., Staple & Fancy Grociers." Another sign painted on a front window, just to the left of a squeaky screen door, read, "Ketner Grocery Co., General Merchandise."
Brothers Burt and Elmer Ketner opened the store a few years after Sevier County High School was built in 1921 on nearby High Street, and Murphy College relocated to a 63-acre tract of land just down the street on what was known as Thomas Hill. Although Burt later left the partnership to establish a Sinclair Oil Company, Elmer ran the store for over two decades.
Burton "Burt" Ketner was born April 6, 1884, and his brother Elmer was born 14 years later, on Dec. 26, 1898. They were two of 11 children of William A. "Bill" Ketner and Huldah Fox Ketner.
Shortly after he married Sarah Fain on Dec. 1, 1922, Elmer Ketner followed Burt from the Fox Community, where they were raised, to Sevierville. Burt Ketner and his wife, the former Mary Webb, were living in Sevierville with their daughter Ina (Brookshire) and son Lee "Buster."
In 1923, Elmer and Sarah had a daughter, Ella Grace, who died in infancy. A second daughter, Elmeda Faye, was born in 1925 and died of ptomaine poisoning at age 4.
In the ensuing years, the family grew to include Mike and Jacquelyn "Jackie" Curry (Hatcher), children of Sarah's sister Ida Fain Curry whom they raised; and a daughter, Flora (Miller), born in 1942. For several years, Elmer and Sarah lived in a white-frame house next door to the store. Later they moved to a bigger house on nearby Belle Avenue.
Burt Ketner and his wife and children lived at the corner of Crawford Street and Park Road. The house is easy to find, because during construction, the date March 2, 1928, was written in the concrete retaining wall in front and can be seen from Park Road.
The Ketner store became a favorite haunt for the entire neighborhood, as well as for students from Sevier County High School and Murphy College. Typically for the times, a big wood-burning stove sat in the middle of the store. In the back corner, deli items were prepared. They were especially popular with the high school kids who walked the few blocks from school for lunch.
For five cents one could purchase a big slice of cheese sandwiched between two pieces of bread, which humorously became known as a "binder sandwich." This, and the popular bologna sandwich, were often made by Dana Parrott, who worked in the store for several years. The nickel ice cream cone was another popular item.
Residents living near the store opened a charge account. Items purchased by the family were recorded in a small ledger, and usually the head of the household settled up once a month. At the end of the month, when customers paid their bill, Mr. Ketner gave the children in the family a bag of penny candy.
Customers could place their order by phone, charge it, and have the groceries delivered to their kitchen counter in half an hour. Usually a young boy from the neighborhood was paid to make the deliveries on his bicycle.
A gasoline pump was on the sidewalk in front of the store. When customers needed to buy gas for their vehicle, they simply pulled over to the side of the road. What little traffic there was went around them obligingly.
Operating a business on one of the main roads in Sevier County, the Ketner brothers became well known and respected throughout the community. In fact, Burt Ketner was elected mayor of Sevierville in 1937 and served eight years. His term covered the entirety of world War II.
After Burt left the business, Elmer and Sarah operated it until the late 1940s. Shortly after the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established, New Road, which was then the road that led to Gatlinburg, was renamed Park Road, greatly increasing the volume of traffic passing the store.
After Murphy College closed in 1936, the Church of God Bible Training School was located in the building, and the Bible school students often stopped by the store. A few students from the school boarded with Elmer and Sarah at their home on Belle Avenue.
Jackie Hatcher recalls the morning her mother sent her to the store to pick up a loaf of bread for breakfast. She noticed when she arrived that the front door was standing wide open. When she got back home and told her father, he ran there and discovered they had been robbed and the safe was missing. The financial loss was such that he felt that he could not recover. Ketner Grocery Company went out of business in 1947.
Carroll McMahan is special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce and serves as Sevier County historian.
The Upland Chronicles series celebrates the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for future topics, would like to submit a column or have comments, please contact Carroll McMahan at 453-6411 or cmcmahan@scoc.org; or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or ron@ronraderproperties.com.
- [S112] Census, 1900.
Name: Elmer Ketner
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1900
Event Place: Civil District 3, Sevier, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 2
Marital Status: Single
Race: White
Race (Original): w
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Son
Birth Date: Dec 1898
Birthplace: Tennessee
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
William A Ketner Head M 42 Tennessee
Louisa M Ketner Wife F 40 Tennessee
James M Ketner Son M 19 Tennessee
Casville B Ketner Son M 16 Tennessee
Sarah M Ketner Daughter F 14 Tennessee
Lockie B Ketner Daughter F 12 Tennessee
Emely L Ketner Daughter F 10 Tennessee
William L Ketner Son M 5 Tennessee
Elmer Ketner Son M 2 Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1930.
Name: Elmer Ketner
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1930
Event Place: Sevierville, Sevier, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 34
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Race (Original): White
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Head
Birth Year (Estimated): 1896
Birthplace: Tennessee
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
Elmer Ketner Head M 34 Tennessee
Sarah E Ketner Wife F 24 Tennessee
Elmeda F Ketner Daughter F 4 Tennessee
- [S4] Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee), 26 Feb 2007.
Jaricia Rene Daniell obituary
- [S87] Death Certificate.
Name Date of Death / Age County of Death County / State of Residence Marital Status Gender Race File #
KETNER ELMER 05-04-1993 / 94 SEVIER SEVIER / TN WIDOWER M WHITE 21896
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Name: William A. Ketner
Spouse's Name: E. M. Fox
Event Date: 17 May 1881
Event Place: Jefferson, Tennessee
- [S129] The Official Marriage Records of Sevier County Tennessee 1914-1944, Volume II, Smoky Mountain Historical Society, (Copyright 2008), ISBN 1-890150-00-4.
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