In The Shadow Of Cumberland: Truth, Judgment, And The Girl History Buried

by Buddy Ray

In the Shadow of Cumberland Truth, Judgment, and the Girl History Buried

In September of 1846, in the foothills of Cumberland Mountain, seven members of the O’Neal family were murdered in their sleep and burned in the ashes of their cabin. Only one Patsy O’Neal, age eighteen. Days later, she was arrested—bloodstained, silent, and carrying the deed to her father’s land tucked inside a Bible.

What followed was one of the most sensational trials in Tennessee’s history. The courtroom overflowed. The press feasted. Witnesses lied. Jurors whispered. A girl was condemned by a jury uncertain of the truth, and saved by a judge who feared God more than man.

And then… she vanished.

Based on forgotten court documents, real newspaper accounts, and a mystery that outlived its verdict, In the Shadow of Cumberland reimagines the life, the trial, and the possible redemption of Patsy Troxdale—a woman branded by fire, but pursued by silence. Blending southern-gothic with true crime, this novel explores the uneasy border between guilt and grace, justice and mercy.

What becomes of a soul too guilty to mourn… and too human to forget?

237 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 1, 2025