“I found a cemetery.”
This is how I’ve started many conversations over the past several years.
At a homeowner’s association meeting in the spring of 2022, I learned there was a cemetery less than five hundred feet from my condo in the southeastern suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky. Hidden behind dense trees and foliage—and a barbed wire fence—I couldn’t see a single headstone. But I couldn’t resist a good historical mystery.
A few days later, a neighbor and I set out to investigate. I needed a partner in crime since I couldn’t navigate my wheelchair through the brush or over the fence. After plodding through the overgrowth, she spotted a headstone and snapped a photo with my phone.
The stone stood in tall, dry grass and fallen leaves, worn by nearly two centuries of weather. A horizontal crack split the face, but the name and date were still readable: Mary Wilcox, born December 25, 1836.
My original goal was simple: learn enough about the cemetery to approach the HOA about protecting it. But the facts—and my imagination—had much more in store.
A little research turned into a passion. The more I learned about Mary Wilcox her family, and the land, the more my imagination took flight. While I had written nonfiction, I’d never attempted fiction. But with the facts from census records, deeds, maps, and other historical documents, I decided to let my imagination fill in the gaps and bring Mary and her family to life through historical fiction.
Where is Fairmount?
My novella, In the Shade of the Sugar Maple, is set in 19th-century Fairmount, Kentucky. Today, the area lies south of the Gene Snyder in the part of Jefferson County, Kentucky, known as Fern Creek, near the Glenmary subdivisions. In the 1800s, however, Fairmount was known for fertile farmland and thriving orchards.
Country stores doubled as post offices, taverns served travelers moving between Louisville and Bardstown, and the Louisville-Bardstown Pike carried wagons, news, and opportunity through the region.
As I researched Mary Wilcox, her family, and the surrounding community, the landscape of 19th-century Fairmount began to emerge from land deeds and wills. Property lines were marked by walnut, sugar maple, beech, black locust, and elm trees. Records repeatedly referenced Floyds Fork and Big Run and orchards. Again and again, the same families appeared together in documents—the Grahams, Wilcoxes, Thixtons, Welshes, and Hayes—neighbors whose lives intertwined in this small community.
The Story
Beginning on the Kentucky frontier in 1797, In the Shade of the Sugar Maple follows the Graham and Wilcox families as their roots take hold along Bardstown Pike and the fertile lands of Fairmount.
Part One introduces Thomas and Susanna Graham, a pioneer couple raising three daughters. Part Two follows their granddaughter, Mary Wilcox, as she survives personal loss and the upheaval of the Civil War. In Part Three, Mary’s son Robert Hillaire Wilcox leaves Kentucky amid rumors surrounding his birth. He heads toward the cities of the American Northwest while maintaining ties to the Thixtons—his childhood guardians—through letters.
The story unfolds across real Kentucky places—Bardstown Pike, Fairmount Falls, Floyds Fork, and Big Run—and alongside historic moments such as the Whiskey Rebellion, the earthquakes of 1811–1812, the rampage of the notorious Sue Mundy, the growth of Fern Creek, and the pull of westward expansion.
The Rest of the Story
In my research, I connected with Mary Wilcox’s great-great granddaughter. Ann provided family stories and memories about her great grandfather Robert, which added the perfect details to bring his “character” to life.
In addition, the cemetery has been cleared and the three headstones repaired by local cemetery expert, Jack Koppel.
Learn More
In the Shade of the Sugar Maple is now available wherever you buy books. At 120 pages, it’s a short read with a Discussion Guide and perfect for book clubs or a lazy day in the shade of a maple tree.
If you love family history, I created a family tree for the Graham-Wilcox family from my research. You can receive a copy of that here.
Sometimes a great story begins with a simple discovery—like a forgotten headstone hidden in the woods.
Buy your copy or learn more at this page on my website.
- Watch how I visited Fairmount Falls in this short video.
