Caroljo Henderson would be the first to warn you.

Her soon-to-be republished book about Middlesex contains no tales of historical battles being waged or of George Washington pitching a tent and spending the night in the once sleepy, rural community.

"Merrie Olde Middlesex," which is being reprinted and sold by the Butler County Historical Society, instead puts the spotlight on the "humble folk" who were among the first to call the Butler County community home.

But it seems safe to say that Mrs. Henderson's subjects, while perhaps unassuming, were not exactly boring.

From murder and an 1800s oil boom to kidnappings and a custody case that turned so ugly that even the 6-month-old baby at the center of it spent two days in jail, Mrs. Henderson found much more than she originally bargained for when she started the book.

As a result, what was to be a short book that would take only a few months to write, turned into nearly a five-year endeavor that ended with a 357-page, 3 1/2 pound opus. The book was originally published in 1976 under Mrs. Henderson's former name, Caroljo Forsythe Lee.

"The book just kept growing," said Mrs. Henderson, 74, who has had a home in the township since 1955. "The more people I talked to, the more attics opened to me. And I just couldn't stop."

The idea for the book was born when Mrs. Henderson started including stories about the history of Middlesex in the monthly newspaper she published from 1962 to 1976. The paper was called the "Middlesex Monitor."

She found the details of one story in particular, a slander case from 1825, to be too lengthy -- and risque -- to include in the newspaper.

In the case, which was know as the "adultery case" and played out before the congregation at the Middlesex United Presbyterian Church, Sally Maxwell accused William Little of ruining her reputation by telling members of the community that she had been intimate with him and a number of other men.

During what church elders recorded as a "trial," numerous witnesses testified in great detail about the couple's encounters.

Ultimately, church elders ruled that Mrs. Maxwell was guilty of "improper conduct in suffering Wm. Little to bed with her at different times," and that Mr. Little, a teacher, was guilty of slander and of "barely attempting fornication" with Mrs. Maxwell, according to church documents reprinted in the book.

Both were suspended from the church and told they could not return until showing "satisfactory evident of repentance."

To collect information for her book, Mrs. Henderson traveled as far as Philadelphia and spent weeks in dark and dusty areas of courthouses and homes across the state, looking at brittle, yellowing documents that had gone long untouched. She also spent hours interviewing the township's elders, many of whom were offspring of the township's original settlers.

While the book contains mostly stories of those who would never achieve fame outside the community, in at least one case, three somewhat infamous characters did come to town.

Convicted killers Ed and Jack Biddle, who became known simply as the "Biddle Boys," passed through Cooperstown in Middlesex and had breakfast in a hotel there after escaping from the Allegheny County Jail in January 1902 with the help of the warden's wife, Kate Soffel. Mrs. Soffel reportedly had fallen in love with Ed Biddle and accompanied the brothers during their escape.

The trio, later caught in Butler, made headlines in papers throughout Western Pennsylvania at the time and their story was told in the 1984 movie, "Mrs. Soffel," which starred Mel Gibson and Diane Keaton.

And then there are the tales that kept the Middlesex community riveted, like the Monks-Harbison case of 1888. The custody dispute between Cassie Monks and her husband, Robert Harbison, began after she left him and took off with their 6-month-old baby, Charles.

In what ultimately came to be a showdown in the Butler County Courthouse before a packed audience of spectators -- many armed with shotguns -- Mr. Harbison was awarded custody. However, when no one could pull baby Charles from Mrs. Monk's grip, the judge ordered Mrs. Monk, Charles, and two of Mrs. Monks brothers to be taken to jail.

After seeing his son in jail for two days and then watching his estranged wife return to court with her son chained and padlocked to her person, Mr. Harbison dropped his case, reportedly because he could not bear to see his son suffer further.

While putting the book together was a lot of work, Mrs. Henderson credits many with helping her collect the data. And although she never ended up turning a profit on the original printing of 2,000, which sold out, she doesn't regret the time and money spent.

"It was never about money, it was about saving a chunk of history," said Mrs. Henderson, whose ancestors stem from Chester County and are not part of the Middlesex story. "Middlesex [in 1976] was on the cusp of being a thriving community and we all felt things were disappearing. It was a labor of love."

Mrs. Henderson, who after shutting down her newspaper worked in public relations for several Pittsburgh organizations, including the Carnegie Science Center, was happy to learn the book would be reissued. She has regularly received requests for a copy of it in the 32 years since it was first released.

It is precisely that interest that gave the historical society the idea to send the book to the printer again. The book will be republished exactly as it was in 1976, minus the dust jacket.

"We constantly get requests from people who want to buy a copy of the book," said Pat Collins, a member of the historical society. "Caroljo did a wonderful job of researching every facet of our ancestors' lives and has included a lot of background information. ... It is a good source of Butler County history and a great in-depth look at the history of Middlesex Township."

Mrs. Henderson said she didn't hesitate to grant permission for the book to be published again and allow all the proceeds to go the historical society. Her only regret is that she didn't get a chance to write a new forword and correct the grammatical errors that slipped through the first time around.

"I'm just very happy that people will be able to get a copy of it again, " she said. "That book is very close to my heart."