Thomas did discover evidence that filled in blanks in the real biography of “Doc” Holliday. She was able to confirm what dental school he attended in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in Philadelphia, and found the date of his graduation, March 1, 1872.

Thomas’ discoveries and efforts led to “In Search of the Hollidays: The Story of Doc Holliday and McKey Families.”

As for Thomas, who remains a prolific historian of local lore through the Lowndes County Historical Society, she reached a saturation point in her “Doc” Holliday research where she no longer had a desire to pursue it further. Still, she is often contacted by authors, researchers and others about her famed second cousin, and Thomas is more than accommodating in discussing him and her work. Shortly after the release of the film “Tombstone” in the early 1990s, producers contacted Thomas and asked if she would participate in a documentary uniting the descendants of the O.K. Corral’s principal characters of the Earps, the Clantons and Holliday. Susan McKey Thomas wasn’t interested, but her son, Bud Thomas, agreed and participated in the documentary which aired on the Showtime cable TV channel.

Of the movie performances, she admits Val Kilmer’s portrayal of “Doc” in “Tombstone” is her favorite. Thomas could see “Doc” having a similar sense of humor. But she is most fond of actor Stacy Keach, who portrayed Holliday in the movie “Doc.” Thomas sent copies of her book to the living actors who had played Holliday, but only Keach wrote her back.

“You can tell the genuine people from the fakes in this world,” Thomas says of Keach, but it is a line that could apply to her research of “Doc” Holliday also. She spent years trying to find the genuine John Henry Holliday buried in the concoctions of “Doc.”