Welcome!
The Cannon County TNGenWeb Project welcomes you to browse and learn about your ancestors who travelled through and settled here. Cannon was an early “turnstile” county for individuals migrating westward.
Bill Spurlock originated the Cannon County site in 1996. Bettye Liberty is the current Coordinator. Please contact her through the links in the right-hand menu with your questions and comments.
the area that became Cannon and Coffee Counties, in 1836.
Cannon County lies almost exactly in the center of Tennessee, approximately half way between Chattanooga and Nashville. It contains an area of some 270 square miles and was created on January 31, 1836, from parts of Rutherford, Smith, and Warren Counties. The original bill (as drafted) named the County, “Marshall”, after Chief Justice John Marshall, but before its passage, the word “Marshall” was penned out and the word “Cannon” was inserted, for Newton Cannon, the governor of Tennessee.
In 1837, a portion of Northeastern Cannon Co. was used in the forming of the new Dekalb Co., and in 1838 a portion of Wilson County containing the area around Auburntown was added to Cannon. The County is bounded on the west by Rutherford County, the north by Wilson and DeKalb Counties, on the east by Warren County, and on the south by Coffee County.