I am a genealogy AND a History buff. I quickly discovered the benefits of combining my understanding and knowledge of history with me genealogy research. Now, my Family Tree is full of people I have come to know, and not just a bunch of disconnected names on a list.

Let me explain what I mean. When beginning my research I learned the my paternal ancestors, Miller and Rogers were primarily from the mid-western farming region. This led me to look at the history of the region during the times that my father's family lived there. I discovered that many of the 'traits' in our family such as hard working,adaptability,studious,crafty, and so on seemed to stem from lives spent working from sun-up to sundown. Adapting to the adversity of farm life and unpredictable weather, a desire to learn how to work smarter not harder, and a need to create many of the tools and other things needed for everyday life.

This is a somewhat simplistic example,but understanding the horrors of the age of the dust bowl and the frustration of dealing with drought and trying to hang on till the rains came, gave me a little more insight.

Similarly, the horrors of WWI and WWII that directly impacted my family, especially my German born mother, Anne Elschner (1927 - 2008) and maternal ancestors, helped me to understand much of the skepticism we all seem to have with regards to politics, our frugality, and a desire to look beyond color or nationality. It explains our love of baked goods as these were a staple in my mother's and her ancestors diets. These are traits and direct lessons, if you will, that our parents learned the hard way and passed along to us.

By connecting the events of history to your genealogical time line and especially, uncovering personal histories and connecting them to the 'accepted known history' of an era or a location, can open your eyes to the people that are represented by those names on your family tree.

Take a look at history - climb your family tree and uncover your roots.