Many people think about history, and the first things that come to mind are kings & battles, inventors & tycoons, explorers & conquerors.

While of course, it’s important to know the major events & players in world history, I’ve always been interested in the day-to-day lives of people from the past, especially my own ancestors. That being the case, it was only natural that when I started working on me and my wife’s family trees, I started to wonder what life was like for these people, whose lives ultimately resulted in my own existence! There are no big names in our family trees (although some interesting and sometimes dark tales). So, how to learn about these forbearers of ours?