 Her grandfather, a captain in the Confederate Army, became a county judge and was corporate counsel for the City of Jacksonville.Carita Corse combined scholarly research with an ability to describe Florida's historical heritage for a lay audience.She authored numerous historical publications on Florida, the best-known being "Dr. Andrew Turnbull and the New Smyrna Colony of Florida", an account of the founding of the colony based on her research of previously unavailable documents and manuscripts at the British Colonial Office, and "The Key to the Golden Islands", the story of the history and settlement of Fort George Island, located near Jacksonville at the northern end of the St. Johns.