History- Local, Regional, National

It is important when researching our families to understand as much about their surroundings as it is to know about the family. By understanding the circumstances that influenced their lives it allows us to better locate sources of information on our families. Failure to do this will prevent us from totally understanding the history of our families. Understanding the impact and creation of the Erie Canal to points west in the 1820's is critical to understanding why our families migrated in this time period when they did. The ability to not only travel at a much faster and safer pace was critical to the migration to the western half of New York and the Northern portions of Ohio in the 1820's. Another large factor was the granting of bounty lands to soldiers that served in the Revolutionary War in Ohio. Looking at the history of the local area is key to learning more about our families. Researching the families that lived around our families is critical in our own family search. This is out of the boundaries in most cases of researching our collateral lines, but can help tremendously to resolve brick walls in our own families. What do they do for a living? Where was the land located? Where did they come from? Our families did not travel alone and did not relocate in areas where they were not familiar with the people around them. Understanding the effects of government policies explains a lot on why our ancestors originally came to this country. Government military service, religious persecution and famine are just a few of the many items that caused our families to leave the old country and come to America. Researching the immigration of ethnic patterns will offer clues on how our families located here. Get your history cap on when you are researching your family. Each area that they lived in is a important research project. Understand why they lived where they did. The information is out there you have to research it.