From the homes of the first settlers in Middle Tennessee to Gallatin's public square and everywhere in between, there is not a more haunted county in America. The Winchesters' unique and architecturally impressive Cragfont had mysterious occurrences from its very beginnings in the late 1700s. Gallatin's public square, its courthouse, loft apartments and places of business have hauntings that seem to specifically point to restless spirits still unsettled from the oppressive days of Civil War occupation by a brutal commanding officer of the Union army. Even the modern subdivisions are not immune to the supernatural, hosting everything from flying cryptids to tormented spirit-remnants of the bloody conflict between settlers and Native Americans. Author Donna Lyn Hartley details the spooky side of Sumner County.

Early African Americans in Sumner County, both slaves and free, left a legacy not only of beautiful brick buildings and sturdy stone fences, but also a social history as rich and varied as the many tribes they represented. This exciting book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the immeasurable contributions, undeniable services, and the devotion of black Americans to the evolution of Sumner County's communities. Many of the sienna-hued photographs and Civil War-era tintypes presented here were taken when folks wore their Sunday best and didn't smile for the camera. These images, many never before published, capture everything from a "creek baptism" and bonnet worn by a local slave, to views of families and schoolchildren. The volume covers most of the early settlements in Sumner County where African Americans largely resided, from Rockland and Avondale to Scattersville, Parker's Chapel, and Gallatin.

The earliest surviving federal enumerations of the Tennessee Country consist of the 1810 census of Rutherford County and an incomplete 1820 census. But since the first settlers arrived at the French Lick as early as 1779, the first forty years of settlement in the area we now call Tennessee are a blank, at least in the official enumerations. This work is an attempt to reconstruct a census of the Cumberland River settlements in Davidson, Sumner, and Tennessee counties, which today comprise all or part of forty Tennessee counties. To this end, Mr. Fulcher has abstracted from the public records all references to those living in the jurisdictions between 1770 and 1790. From wills, deeds, court minutes, marriage records, military records, and many related items, the author has put together a carefully documented list of inhabitants--virtually the "first" census of Tennessee.