From left, Butler author Kathy Smith; her mother-in-law, Mary Patricia Forcht; and her husband, Tom Smith, show off a copy of Kathy's book about Forcht's grandfather, Thomas McNulty. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Butler author Kathy Smith found her in-laws’ stories so fascinating that she turned them into a book.

“I married into a family who is related to the man who wrote the song, ‘The Old Gray Mare.’ They moved from Baltimore to Butler decades ago,” Smith said.

“My mother-in-law, Mary Patricia Forcht, is the granddaughter of the main character, Thomas McNulty. She is 94 and helped me in writing the book by telling me stories of her grandfather and his family,” she said.

“She was only 4 when he died but she remembers holding his hand while he lay in bed in the last several months he was alive. She had lots of stories of the sheriff's daughters and wife, who lived until 1960.”

Smith’s latest book is called “The Singing Sheriff of Baltimore: The Old Grey Mare and the Stolen Election.” She self-published it in October. It is available on Amazon and by emailing the author at kmstks@hotmail.com.