Book excerpt: The History of the Wasinger Family and the Leikam Family and the Times They Lived is a genealogy study into the families that have married into the Drake family. This study is based on the families that married into the Earl Rothwell Drake family. This study includes the marriage of Earl Rothwell Drake to both Dorothy Leona Leikam and Wilma Munch Wasinger. The study traces their ancestry back to their origin in Russia and Germany. Particular interest and attention was focused on the Volga River region in Russia, where German immigrants founded their farming communities. The study takes into consideration the hardships they faced in migrating from Germany to Russia. It also identifies some of the political reasons that forced the German colonies to relocate to America from Russia. This book attempts to report the immigration of German-Russian families to Kansas and identifies the ships that they sailed on to immigrate to America. It describes world events that occurred during their lifetimes that had an effect on their existence. The study was developed from family data available to the author. It includes war records for selected individuals drafted into World War II. This study is a dedication to my family.