Crockett County, Tennessee: History
Crockett County was formed in 1871 from portions of Haywood, Madison, Dyer and Gibson counties. It is named in honor of David Crockett, frontier humorist, soldier, Tennessee state legislator and U.S. congressman, and defender of the Alamo.
In 1876, in what apparently was a political rivalry gone bad, Crockett County Sheriff R. G. Harris and 19 other unidentified men removed four men from the county jail and beat them, killing one of them. The sheriff was arrested. In United States v. Harris (1883), the Supreme Court ruled that the Sheriff could not be prosecuted under federal law.