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My spouse is an amateur genealogist. My interest isn't in the 'begats' that seem to be the standard output of genealogists, but rather in the stories behind them. I don't care that my great-great-grandfather, for example, was born in Ohio in 1829 & died in Virginia in 1862, for example, I'm more interested in things like: what did he do? (most people in those days were farmers-but there were storekeepers, laborers, etc). Why was he in Virginia? Did he move or was he in the military (since this was in the middle of the Civil War)? If he moved, why? Was it a single move, or did he wander and simply end up in Virginia?
Of course some of this is answered (or assumed) by checking his family (his wife stayed in Ohio so presumably he ended up in Virginia because he was in the military). But there are many others besides this one (that I made up anyway) about whom I have questions that aren't so easy to answer-and that's what interests me about genealogy, and about history in general-the stories, not the lists of names, dates, and places.
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