Showing results by author "CL Gammon" in All Categories

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 ...

This book takes a look at some of the crimes in Macon County, Tennessee between 1960 and 1984. Most of these short articles deal with what we usually classify as crimes – murder, blackmail, theft, and the like. But the reader should be aware that some of the stories deal with “crimes” in a broader sense of the word. They include some of the times when people fought to improve the responsiveness of government and some of the times when injured people sought recompence from corporations.

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!

This book presents the letters between President John Hancock and General George Washington from Washington's appointment as Commander-in-Chief until shortly after Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. That period of just over one year was perhaps the most pivotal of the Revolution. Had Congress given in to the temptation to compromise, the war would have been lost before it began. Had Washington been less diligent in his duties, or had he been a weak leader, the British would have overwhelmed his poorly equipped, untrained and unmotivated army. While the letters illuminate the...

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.

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.

Some people are bigger than life – they just are. Sidney Johnston Catts, Florida’s 22nd Governor was one of those people. In 1917, Catt became the first Governor of Florida since 1877 (during the period of Reconstruction) to represent a party other than the Democratic Party. As of this date, Catts remains the only person ever elected to a statewide office on the Prohibition ticket. However, Catts was more than just a “third-party” leader.Florida, as was the rest of America, was in turmoil for decades after the end of the Civil War. Racism, anti-foreignism, and anti-Catholicism were ...

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 ...

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...

In this brief book, bestselling author CL Gammon ranks the 50 worst College Football teams of all time in order from #50 to #1. Inside this book, the reader will find a snapshot look at each team, its Head Coach(s) and its best players. In addition, the author has provided each of these team’s schedules and has identified each team’s best and worst games.

This book discusses briefly the pandemic in Macon County, Tennessee. It also relates biographical information on all the 97 known victims of Spanish Influenza within Macon County’s borders between 1918 and 1920. Of course, the author also relates some details about the United States during the same period. This book is more than a recounting of death and despair. It offers the positive message that despite the difficulty caused by the pandemic, Macon County’s citizens went on, and the living, while never forgetting their loved ones, honored the victims by returning to normalcy as best ...

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.

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.

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 book takes a brief look at Macon County, Tennessee during World War II and some of the men and women that took part in it, either in direct combat or in support roles. It lists more than 900 soldiers, seamen, and Marines. It identifies some of those wounded or captured and includes brief articles on the soldiers that died in uniform. Those that served were as diverse a group as Macon County could offer. Some were Black, others were White; some were men, others were women; some were teenagers, others were past forty; some were well-to-do, others were dirt poor; some were college ...

George “Big House” Baker is working a gruesome murder. At first, he is stymied because even though he knows who committed the murder, and hundreds of people saw it happen, no one will agree to testify. Then, a witness falls into his lap. However, the witness, fourteen year-old Lisa Moore, might not be able to hold up against the best criminal defense attorney in the state. The brilliant and ruthless attorney, Crafty Jack Newman, promised to get his client acquitted. However, Prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Marie Key attempts to match Newman, move for move. The BIG FIRE is a ...

In Simon the Accuser: A Christian Novel, CL Gammon tells the story of Simon Magus, his conflict with, and his accusations against Apostles Peter and Paul before Emperor Nero in Rome. Gammon wrote this short novel from a Christian point of view and should appeal to the faithful everywhere.

Satire is “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” American’s Zombie Counteraction Command is a Zombie book, but it is not a “traditional” Zombie book. There are too many of them now. It is a purely satirical work, but it does not employ the over-the-top, slapstick satire that is so common today. On the contrary, the satire found in this book is often subtle and sometimes obscure. In addition, the satire is sometimes humorous, but it is ...