This work, compiled by Bettye J. Broyles, serves as a compendium of both Rhea and Meigs counties' marriages from 1808 through 1850, the 1830, 1840 and 1850 census, and several early Rhea County Tax lists.

The marriage records include: "the name of the groom and bride followed by the license date, the marriage date if given (in parenthesis), the person performing the ceremony (JP = Justice of the Peace; MG = Minister of the Gospel, and the Bondsman (Bm) or Surety (Sur)."

"The Tax Lists are an important indicator of when a person arrived in the County. They provide information on where the person lived and the number of acres owned, the number of lots (TL) in the Town of Washington, the number of White Polls (WP), the number of Black Polls (BP), and the tax paid on stud horses."

Appendices A and B "contain a complete listing of the heads of household on the 1850 Rhea and Meigs county census arranged by page and household number. This will enable a researcher to quickly identify the neighbors of an individual. The third appendix contains all of the statistics included with the 1830, 1840 and 1850 census."