HISTORY
Tales from Bug Tussle
Fiddling Tom Freeman’ s long-lost manuscript reveals tales of murder, mayhem and life in one of Alabama’ s most unusually named communities
In the book,“ The Ballad of Fiddling Tom Freeman: Music, Moonshine and Murder in Bug Tussle, Alabama,” Author Joyce H. Cauthen, in collaboration with local historian Robin Sterling, tells the story of a local legend whose writings offer a wealth of knowledge about the Cullman County community, and events that could have been lost to time.
Here is a condensed introduction to the book by Cauthen. Meet Cauthen at Arboreadum Bookshop and Garden, 104 4th Ave. NE, Cullman, on October 10, 2026, at 10 a. m.
In 1944, Fiddling Tom Freeman, the best-known citizen of Bug Tussle, Alabama, let it be known that he was writing a book about the many murders that took place there during his lifetime. Its name would be“ Bug Tussle Murder Crimes.”
The Birmingham News reported: " According to him, there have been 15 persons, some of his own blood, killed in this ghostly one-store town since 1888. " Wildcat liquor caused it all, says Tom, whose son, ]. C. Freeman, operates the only store in Bug Tussle, which is located 12 miles north of Summit [ Sumiton). Tom says he ' s written 300 pages on Bug Tussle ' s fatal feuds and ' there ain ' t 12 lies in the book.”’
Tom Freeman( 1883-1952) was born in Southwestern Cullman County near the Walker County line decades before a local resident jokingly suggested calling his community Bug Tussle, a name that stuck largely due to Tom ' s support of it. For years the Cullman Tribune, Cullman Banner and Cullman Democrat( The Cullman Times), and the Jasper Mountain Eagle faithfully covered the comings and goings of this popular fiddler, and he was no stranger to the big-city newspapers of Birmingham, 50 miles away. I became aware of Fiddling Tom in 1985 when I was writing a book on old-time fiddling in Alabama and searching vintage newspapers for articles about fiddlers. I found an amazing number of articles about Tom Freeman, many dealing with his then-impending book, and thus entitled my chapter on him " The Most Publicized Fiddler in Alabama."
The second mention of his book appeared in the Cullman Banner in 1946:
“ Fit as a Fiddle, Pulling into town just as strong as ever after a spell of sickness, Bug Tussle ' s Fiddlin ' Tom Freeman was very much in evidence last weekend. Tom was wielding the bow and singing his praises for his selected candidates for political offices in the forthcoming Primary Election. On the side, he was whispering a few exclusive and confidential previews on his forthcoming book, " Bug Tussle Murder Stories," which he is planning to release in the near future. Included in the stories about the Bug Tussle community will be the real " lowdown " on how it received that name, said Tom.
It ' s a truthful book, too. " If anyone can prove as many as twelve lies on me I ' ll give ' um a copy free."
The book was still in progress four years later when the Cullman Tribune announced, " This fiddler from Route One Bremen is expecting 1950 to be a big year since his book about the seventeen murders at Bug Tussle since 1888 will be off the press soon.”
That year the Mountain Eagle explained that Tom ' s book " is not a treaty [ sic ] on music. It ' s murder. He says it ' s about the murders at Bug Tussle during the past 50 years. Bug Tussle is just over the Walker County line in Cullman County. Tom says one man has offered him ten dollars for a copy of the book."*
When Tom Freeman died in 1952, however, his book about Bug Tussle ' s 15 or 17 murders with fewer than twelve lies was nowhere to be found. It wouldn ' t
40 Cullman magazine | HOLIDAY 2026