Researching (and writing about) Our Ancestors

I was asked, recently, to write a guest post on the blog of fabulous author, Christine Verstraete on one of my main interests, beside writing. While I love sports (I’m a tomboy from waaaaay back), swim, and play a little golf, my first love, after reading and writing of course, is genealogy.

Family Search has become one of my favorite websites. I’ve traced my family tree, on my mother’s side, back to kings and queens in England, France, and Scotland.

I relax by digging up research about my ancestors. Sometimes I relax, too much, and hours have gone by before I know it! My time and interest in family members and stories paid off, however, by sparking a five-book middle-grade series, Cynthia’s Attic.

When I realized a recurring dream I’d had for almost twenty years was about a mysterious attic was in the home of my childhood best friend, Cynthia, the writing, and my search for characters, began. It didn’t take long to realize genealogy could provide some interesting characters.

Like most of us, I had regrets about ignoring my grandparents, and even my parents, when I was young. Their stories about “the good ol’ days” bored me to tears. (I would’ve much rather been outside, playing baseball)

Bess Conrad Bulleit

So, when I came up with the book idea to send Augusta Lee (Gus) and her best friend, Cynthia, back in time to meet their twelve-year-old grandmothers, Bess and Clara, I found the perfect opportunity to honor my ancestors by sharing adventures with them.

Besides my grandmother, I wrote about my dad, my mother, great-grandparents, Charles and Samantha, and even my great-great-grandparents; the best story of all!

As I mentioned above, I had no use, back then, for old family stories; with one exception. According to family legend, my great-great grandfather, Augustus Bulleit, made a living transporting “produce” from his farm in Southern Indiana down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers on a flatboat. He sold his “produce” all the way to New Orleans until, during a fateful trip in 1860, he disappeared. Although some of the “produce”, along with his boat, was recovered, no trace of him, or his remains, was ever found. 

Lots of speculation surrounded his disappearance. Did he simply vanish into the streets of New Orleans to escape the responsibility of providing for five children (four additional children died in infancy) and a wife, Marie Julia, who had a somewhat less than sparkling personality? (See for yourself!)

Or, was he murdered for a boat full of corn and soybeans? That sounded implausible, even when I was ten-year-old!

Ah-ha! Mystery solved years later when we discovered he was actually the maker and transporter of his own rye bourbon. I suppose those who knew the truth thought his image would be tarnished if it was discovered Gramps made and sold booze for a living. These days his reputation is spread far and wide with sales of Bulleit Frontier Bourbon. A couple of decades back a very smart cousin of mine discovered the old recipe and decided to
revive it. Now, it’s one of the leading rye bourbons in the world.

So, what does this have to do with writing, you ask? 

The third book in the Cynthia’s Attic series, Curse of the Bayou, is loosely based on that fateful trip. The two best friends time-travel back to Louisiana to see if they can discover what happened to Augustus, or Beau, as he’s portrayed in the story. Do they find him? Guess you’ll just have to read the book! 

Bottom line is, I wish I’d spent more time “researching” my relatives while they were still alive. Oh, the stories I could’ve written about their childhood, or what they remembered about their parents and grandparents. While I enjoy writing fantasy, I sometimes wonder how exciting the real story could’ve been. Don’t you?

Finding Me On Social Media

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Family - Genealogy in Cynthia's Attic

For someone whose family has been traced back to the late 1300s, genealogy led, quite naturally, to my time travel series, Cynthia's Attic.

Wishing I could travel back in time to find out exactly what happened to my great-great-grandfather, Augustus Bulleit (Boilliat), on his ill-fated trip to New Orleans in 1860, or talk to my great-grandfather about his traveling music business, are just two stories that evolved from the series.

Curse of the Bayou is loosely based on the disappearance of Augustus during the time he took a load of produce down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. It's widely believed he was murdered for the contents and his boat, but he was never found. Being the first in his family to come to America, his death is particularly distressing because information about his French roots apparently died with him.


Great Grandpa Charles, above, is a different story (The Magic Medallion). He started a music business (Conrad's of Corydon) around 1888 and traveled throughout several counties with his horse and buggy selling musical instruments. He was even known to cart around an organ on occasion.

Many more ancestors are portrayed in my books. This is my way of making up for the fact that, when I was young I didn't ask my grandparents questions about their parents and grandparents; something I'd love to do today. Instead, I've sent Cynthia and Gus back in time to have adventures and solve mysteries their ancestors.

It's not perfect, and I'd give almost anything to be able to go back in time. I'd listen for hours and hours to tales about my grandfather's childhood, or my great-grandfather's joy at spreading the sound of music all over Southern Indiana. And maybe, just maybe I could talk Augustus out of taking that ill-fated journey down the Mississippi.

Cynthia had an attic. Not just an ordinary attic. Cynthia’s attic was magic.

Cynthia and I came into the world just three months apart. We grew up on the same quiet, sycamore-lined street, our friendship as close as our houses. Fifty years earlier, our grandmothers were best friends. However, we didn’t realize the extent of their friendship until after our experience in Cynthia’s attic. This is the story of one of our great adventures…the way I remember it.

"This wonderfully imaginative tale will delight readers. I wish I had a magic attic!" - Laura Schaefer, author of The Teashop Girls.

The award-winning series, "Cynthia's Attic" released by Quake (Echelon Imprint)! Buy all four books on Amazon or Echelon Press