Yep, my dad's an amateur genealogist. He's tripped over a number of books about our family history (noting remarkable, mostly local histories). He found one journal that was both completely bland and utterly facinating at the same time. Entries like "The town had a dinner this past week, Ebeneezer brought his fiddle for entertainment, his daughter was unable to attend because she is expecting a child." (the fiddle is still in the family, the child - we think - would have been my great-grandmother).
What's particularly interesting is to see how my kids relate. My oldest visited a local Revolutionary War battlefield. "Booring" was the comment. Then, I mentioned that his 5g-grandfather (who, coincidentally, he shares a name with) was one of the Minutemen at North Bridge in Concord. NOW - we're talking. He can't get enough, and everything always relates back to the Minutemen, and Lexington and Concord, and (especially, right now) Paul Revere's ride.
It's all just a matter of finding the right connection. :-)
Yup. One of the many relatives I had in revolutionary times was a man named William Dawes. He also rode the midnight ride of Paul Revere, but he never made beer so he is less well known.