Showing results by author "CL Gammon" in All Categories

This book explores thirteen bizarre “murder” stories that have taken place in Tennessee over the past two centuries. The first story related here takes place around 1798 and the last takes place in 1998. These stories span the breadth of Tennessee from the Smoky Mountains, to the Mississippi River and most points between. Some of these stories are about famous persons and others are about powerful persons. Some are about persons that are unknown to all but a few. One story is about an abused animal.

By any objective measure, the Articles of Confederation failed. In this book, historian CL Gammon analyzes the Articles of Confederation paragraph by paragraph and illustrates the inadequacies of America's first constitution.

After decades of acrimony and dispute, in 1861, America erupted into a Civil War that cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens, and billions of dollars in damages. This book presents the reader a series of short snippets dealing with the Confederate efforts to win the war. Additionally, it includes some 120 photos and images – many of them rare – and relates very brief accounts of some of the more important battles. There is also a recounting of the more than 100 Confederate Generals killed, or who otherwise died during the conflict – including one murdered by a jealous ...

This is a true story about the murders of a man and two boys. It contains so many bizarre elements that it threatens to overwhelm comprehension. The amazing story includes drunkards, outlaws, drug dealing, theft, a pitched gun battle, torture, execution-style murders, baffled law enforcement agents, a crime scene more disturbing than a Hollywood horror flick, a befuddled judge, and a jury so confused that it did not know what verdict it was handing down. Beyond that, this strange tale includes a redneck psychic, a cold-blooded former football star, and a mysterious figure known as the “...

This book is about the resort at Red Boiling Springs, Tennessee from 1900 to 1945. Also, there are articles about its many famous visitors including a Speaker of the US House, and a jazz legend. It also explores the search for mythical gold and silver mines there and an archeologist’s efforts to prove that Neanderthal man inhabited nearby caves. There are many other items mentioned as well.

This brief book profiles the lives of the two American women who worked for the Axis cause during World War II under the name of Axis Sally. Both of these women, one in Germany, and the other in Italy, unabashedly employed their beautiful voices in the service of Fascism. These women boldly attempted to damage Allied (especially American) morale in the European Theater.

This book is not about witch stories. It is a recounting of a few witch trials. Judges presided over some of these trials in courts of law; church officials conducted others. Some of those accused of witchery faced brutality and torture and some remained outcasts after their trials. On the other hand, many of the southern witches won their cases and some of them received damages from their abusers. In those cases where the accused stood before church leaders and their respective congregations, the penalty for witchcraft was excommunication. One can argue that a church proceeding is not a ...

The rape and murder of eight-year-old Cary Ann Medlin on September 1, 1979 shook Tennessee to the core. The particular cruelty and viciousness associated with the murder shocked and disgusted the citizens of the Volunteer State. The citizens of the state demanded justice. To the vast majority of Tennesseans, justice meant executing the murderer – and the quicker the better. Ultimate Penalty: Executing Robert Glen Coe is the true story of the events from the murder of Cary Ann Medlin on September 1, 1979 until the execution of Robert Glen Coe more than twenty years after he confessed to ...

Nestled in the hills of eastern Macon County, Tennessee and situated in a peaceful valley on the banks of Salt Lick Creek, one can find quiet and unassuming Red Boiling Springs. For most of a century it was a leading resort town. Thousands of people, some of them famous, vacationed there, and some, including a former Governor, died there. This volume covers events at the Red Boiling Springs resort and spa until the end of 1899.

Tiger Strong! Macon County Football, 2024 details the exploits of the Macon County, Tennessee high school football team. After fielding teams for 98 years, Macon County high finally captured its first state championship. This book contains detailed recaps of every game and much more.

Hanging the Macon County Witch is a true story. The hanging outlined in this book really took place in Lafayette, Tennessee in the late spring of 1845. This bizarre story follows a slave woman named Lize – who claims to be a witch by the way – from the time Wilson Meador purchased her, until the Macon County Sheriff hanged her. This story has several weird twists and turns, including Lize trading her own head to a local doctor for ginger cakes and hard cider. Truth is stranger than fiction and this true story is as strange as they come!

America’s Fourteen Unknown Presidents explores the lives and careers of the fourteen men who served as President before the adoption of the United States Constitution. These largely unknown men served collectively from September 5, 1774 to April 30, 1789. They were sometimes referred to as “President of the Confederacy,” “President of Congress”, or “President of the United States in Congress Assembled.” We can better call them the “Unknown Presidents.” History has largely forgotten the acts preformed by these men while they were President. However, their accomplishments ...

Included in this little volume are a few of my life rules.Let me tell you that I am having fun with these life rules. Yet, some of them are actual words that I live by – sort of. All of these rules listed here do illustrate – in a very twisted way – how I look at things.Make no mistake; I am (mostly) playing the rules for laughs. If you are looking for something deep, or earthshaking, you will likely be disappointed.By the way, as silly as some of these rules are, some of them come from my daily life. I will let you guess as to which.I hope you enjoy this little volume and that it ...

The first person to hang for witchcraft in Salem was Bridget Bishop. This is her story. It is also the larger story of the fear that caused otherwise intelligent persons to take leave of their senses and commit horrible acts in the name of preventing horrible acts. This book looks at Bridget Bishop the real person, not the idealized personification of her that so many have presented. It also looks at the attributes that made Bishop the ideal person to be the first to go to the gallows at Salem. In addition, this book considers why the execution of Bishop caused the floodgates of execution ...

In 1692, it did not pay to be a nonconformist in Salem Village, Massachusetts. This was especially true if the nonconformist just happened to be an elderly, improvised widow. Susannah Martin found this out the hard way. Susannah Martin stood trial, received a conviction, and suffered hanging for bewitching some of the good folk of Salem, Massachusetts and the surrounding area. More than two dozen persons related the crimes Martin committed. It seems that Susannah Martin’s most heinous crime may have been that she had a sense of humor. When she heard the ridiculous accusations made against...

This book follows the Sedley Alley case from the night he murdered Suzanne Collins until his execution by lethal injection at Nashville, Tennessee’s Riverbend Prison more than twenty years later. This book presents highlights of Alley’s mammoth court file of more than 50 volumes. It also references many media reports and almost 400 court opinions. The books takes a realistic look at the many defenses Alley adopted – from insanity to innocence – in the twenty-plus years he battled to avoid execution. It also deals bluntly with Tennessee’s current judicial system. However, this book...

On July 13, 1972, Democratic Party nominee for President George McGovern made the single worst choice of a running mate in the history of the United States. On that day, he selected Missouri Senator Thomas A. Eagleton to share the national ticket with him. This disastrous decision destroyed any slight chance McGovern may have had of running a competitive race against incumbent President Richard Nixon. This is the story of that selection and its aftermath.

In February 1692, two little girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts began to act strangely. A local doctor examined them and could not find any natural cause for their behavior. This led Salem Village and other nearby towns down a dark road of fear and insanity. Over the next seven months, legal authorities did 20 people to death and jailed more than 100 others for practicing witchcraft.During the year of 1692, a small band of accusers identified between 150 and 200 persons as witches, but they did more than that. They told the judges that there was a hierarchy of witches operating within ...

Murder, Mayhem, and Moonshine relates 75 true crime stories from Macon County, Tennessee between 1879 and 1939. These stories run the gamut of crime. Some are tragic, some bizarre, some grotesque, and some are a little humorous. Although all of the alleged crimes mentioned here took place decades ago, many of them detail the types of crimes that remain common today across the United States and the world. Besides murder, there are stories about child abduction, rape, bullying, domestic violence, racial problems, drunk driving, confidence games, and others.

The First Continental Congress was in business from September 5 to October 26, 1774. In those fifty-two days, a group of fifty-six men laid the groundwork for American independence. This is their story.