Cousin Fred leaned forward in his chair and stage-whispered, "She left the babies in the bed and ran off with a salesman." So many questions went through my head. What could compel a woman of the 1860s to leave three young boys sleeping in their beds and flee with a stranger? Why did Fred have nothing to say about her husband, my great-grandfather? Where did she go and how did it work out for her?

The reason for Lydia's shocking decision was lost to history for over 100 years-until I stumbled across her yellowed and tattered journals in my great-uncle's trunk. Now the truth can be told.