Faded love

I wonder if the biographies of ordinary people that appeared in those county history books from the nineteenth century were written by the ordinary people. Or did they fill out a questionnaire, pay a fee, and let the information be "set to music" by writers working for the publisher?

Here are a couple of verses from the story of a Missourian.
He has the entire confidence and affectionate regard of a boundless circle of friends. The Doctor married ... Miss Lucy ... , but after a few years she faded away ...