A Day to the Bay

Ii is not everyday that you get the opportunity to meet a Cousin (3rd Once Removed)) and so Gail and I high-tailed it down the road -- 85 miles worth -- to meet Lila (Myki) & Dale. Myki and her husband were on a cruise -- lucky people -- and one of the Ports-of-Call was San Francisco. And we had not been to the City for some time and this was a great opportunity:

The above shows some of our day around the Bay. Myki & Dale are in the middle photo taking a cookie break. Above is a portion of their Sapphire Princess ship that seemed to dominate the pier -- 2600 passengers were listed as on board.. We had a very enjoyable visit and got to know one another a little with the promise that we would continue via online communication and you never know, maybe a trip to visit where they are in Michigan (at some point).

The day was beautiful and Gail (who was doing all the driving) got to renew her feelings about the "streets of San Francisco". After the cookies above we drove over to Lombard Street and drove down the "crookedest" street and it did not disappoint.

Before we linked up, Myki & Dale (and the nine other relatives of Dale who were on the cruise together) all went to tour Alcatraz and then to Muir Woods -- we on the other hand had a high priority mission of purchasing a dozen (plus two) BBQ Pork Buns from our favorite location on Clement Street -- that mission was accomplished . . . mmmm good.

The visit was brief but very nice. We headed home across the bridge and back to Healdsburg in time still to hit The Wurst for dinner (sausages and hot dogs). And then for both of us to unwind from the more high level intensity of the day.

Dino's Day (not around the bay)

While we were doing our thing, Dino was enjoying his day at the local "SPA" or Veterinary Lodging. He was slated for a nice bath and getting his nails done. We left him with his favorite chewing bone -- a Nyla bone --
and the correct portion of his favorite food.

It was unusual to not have Dino around the house when we returned as we were picking him up the next morning. Every so often that night we thought we'd "take Dino out if he wanted to" . . . NOT.

The above is where Dino relaxed and then we picked him up . . . he almost pulled the attendant off her feet when he came out into the lobby and saw us. There are only so many moments like that . . . he quickly has gotten back into his routines and enjoying the moment. I am sure he was spoiled at the SPA -- Auggie before him always loved going there too . . .

Genealogy Things

I did have a chance to do some Genealogy and it seems like whenever you get back from being "away" even though it was just a day, everything looks different and somehow more doable than before, if that makes any sense.
I was off and running around the branches of the tree and then I attended another webinar -- this one on Land Records. There are four main categories of records -- Census, Vital, Land & Probate. I pretty much am working with the Census and Vital every day -- Land & Probate, not-so-much . . .

Mary Hill delivered a great webinar -- she is very knowledgeable on the subject and encouraged us all to "seek that deed". Many of our ancestors did in fact own land and the records show so much about them and their lives. I will diligently try to find more of those records.

Later in the week I came across a picture of land one of my Great Grandmothers -- we each have four of them -- this one the wife of Captain Samuel Martin, Elise. She is seated with several of her Great Grandchildren -- not me nor any of my siblings, but Cousins:

I thought it nice to share this photo of Elise with 6 Cousins of mine, some of her Great Grandchildren:
Leslie Hiles, probably Vivian Hiles in her lap, the other one I do not know, and then standing, Helen Clifton and seated in front, Doris & Ruth Clifton. The photo was probably taken around 1936 in Racine, Wisconsin.

Tool(s) of the Day

I renewed my involvement with a great tool used by many genealogists (and so many others). This comes from the fact that I have a new computer up and running (on the web too) and I have room again to have Google Earth loaded again.

I have probably spent the better part of two days this week just trying to locate every address that I can find for relatives just to get a picture of their homes. In the meantime I have "driven" around most of my old neighborhoods and loving it.

When we drove down the "crookedest" street earlier in the week I saw a Volvo honking at some sightseers who were in the way of their driveway and I knew which house it was going to and I thought that I had just seen that earlier but I realized it had been on a "Google Earth" trip that I had seen that Volvo before -- you can check it out yourself . . .

Take a few trips around the places that you know and have fun. I am going to take another upcoming webinar on how best to use Google Earth for genealogy . . .


It Could Happen . . .

There are a lot of things out there that "could happen" and some of them are even nice to think or dream about. Of course what else could I be teasing about -- the lotto and specifically POWERBALL. This day someone or more than one someone may win $600 or more million . . . if no one wins this week, then next week the jackpot will be close to One Billion Dollars . . .

But you cannot win IF you have not purchased a ticket -- or two . . . I have made the purchase and was surprised that there was no line. I have heard of California locations where there was a two-hour wait . . .

Above is a portion of my ticket and some of the whoopla . . . it is probably too late to buy a ticket now though. This is the first year for California to have the Powerball, nice and supposedly Education in our state will benefit as well. I am going to "listen" for the winner.

That was a part of our week, see you in a few!

Cousins Who Met Online -- Will Meet in San Francisco

This past week started out the way the previous week finished -- with massive difficulties getting online related to the problems associated with the new Netgear Router. As a matter of fact it was only til late Wednesday evening that things "were lookin' up" . . . actually like every thing's coming up Roses:

These are actually the roses alongside of our garage and they are fully in bloom and beautiful. Sadly they don't last forever and will soon start to deteriorate some. But in the meantime we do enjoy them. Now back to the router issues -- why does it take so much effort to have this device work properly and allow our computers and associated devices the online access to enjoy the web.

At the moment and for the last three days now all is well and it feels great to have all up and running -- again.

Great Strides Outside

While I was tethered to the telephone with numerous (very polite) folks from India, Gail was working in the yard quite a bit, partly because she knew it was "the thing to do" and partly because it kept she and Dino outside, where the livin' was easier. She planted the garden with vegetables (not as many as last year though) and several flower replacements.

A dwarf (with lantern) was actually placed at the corner of the garden to oversee the progress -- we're old. Some of the progress is shown above, we love the red flowers and the one flower in the yellow pot above is actually a "bug eating" plant that comes in at night . . . usually with it's fill of gnat-type things stuck to it's branches.

Webinar Break

It was not until Friday that I had the chance to watch/listen to a webinar -- and this one was just what the doc ordered -- it was on digital images of which I have a few (20,000 give or take). Geoff  from Legacy Family Tree Webinars  did a webinar that was not scripted so-to-speak. He demonstrated several things to do and handle digital images and we got to see the process (a few mistakes and all) as it took place.

All in all, a very good way to learn -- and I did learn several things that will at first slow me down but over time will save me a ton of time.

If you have the time -- or even if you don't -- check out these free webinars. I always learn something from them. When you view them live they are free and then are available to view for usually a week or so later also free -- eventually they are put on CDs and are available for purchase and also for a pay-for-view.

I look forward to the next "live" performance as the demonstration and steps really help.

Dino's Deck

Besides the tech mess this and last week -- we had the challenge of assembly this and last week. This week though we had ordered two gates to place at the end of the deck -- mostly in case we "get" another Guide Dog for the Blind Puppy -- but also because it keeps Dino where we can see him as he loves soaking up the sun on the deck and then often disappears around the yard . . .

Pleasantly, the two free-standing gates were perfect for what we wanted AND only one bolt to add to each completed the assembly that we required. Dino is content and we are thrilled. The red gliders are last week's challenge. It was rainy a couple of days this week but today it is supposed to be hot -- 90s -- so we are inside with the a/c on . . . Dino did spend some time "sunning" in his neck of the deck.

Genealogy on TV

We don't have a huge amount of shows on TV related to genealogy -- but that may be changing. There is one show on HBO starting tomorrow night that, while it is not a "how-to" show it sounds like it might be fun to watch -- we'll record it and watch it on our schedule.

"Family Tree" has a great name and I hope that it lives up to that. The second one, "Genealogy Roadshow" is slated to begin in the fall on PBS -- that really sounds good. The above two were featured on Dick Eastman's Blog and as always he is on top of the doings concerning genealogy.

I have heard too that "Who Do You Think You Are" has been picked up by I think, TLC and will be appearing later this year too. That is really good news because I enjoyed that show a lot.

Los Angeles Times (Along with the Chicago Tribune) May be Sold

I mention the sale partly because both papers I "grew up with" and because I read them both daily for years, AND also delivered both for awhile. But the following article was printed in the LA Times last week -- and while hardly surprising, it further adds to the interest shown in things genealogical:

I have had my DNA sent in to two different companies and have had several different tests run and judging from the huge number of  "hits" that I get, albeit several cousin layers deep, it is becoming apparent that the above story re DNA testing gets better and better.

The more people that get tested the better the results will be. I have had a few good leads on just where my (our) ancestors came from -- now I guess just about everywhere . . .

Speaking of Cousin Layers

I have found new cousins in a variety of ways -- but most of the ones that I have communicated with and have proven some real connection I have found "online".  And that is true with the following cousin who -- if all goes right -- I will meet in about 48 hours:

Click on the above to learn more about the "cruisin'" cousin coming to a port in San Francisco on Monday and Gail and I are headin' that way to hopefully link up (between Alcatraz and Muir Woods and other points of interest).

We are looking forward to meeting and getting to know -- another cousin that we should already have met or at least known about . . . we'll fill you in on our adventure (Dino will be visiting a "salon" for the day).

Lastly -- the Second Sunday in May . . .

How could we not recognize a very special day for us all. When I worked in the telecommunications world, tomorrow would be one of the all time busiest calling days of the year.  Some calls were obligatory and some were actually made through free choice. Whatever the reason, mostly they were appreciated.  A lot of us can only "recall" the experience and look back having a hard time realizing "it was so long ago" and that the time went fast.

And so, keeping it simple, a kiss, a gift and some flowers says it all.

That's a bit of our week, see you all in a few!

Ahhh Summer-Like in Healdsburg

Our week started out so well -- and then for me it changed rapidly due to "technology". And this experience has supported the love-hate relationship with tech devices. I got up Monday morning and after the usual of eating breakfast, catching up on the news and peeking outside:

The above is how I saw the day and week -- beautifully. It continued throughout the day as I went about actually changing out the old computer for the new AND INSTALLING A NEW ROUTER . . .

Physically I had to piece by piece disconnect both computers and then re-position each one so that the new computer would be where I usually work and the old one on the edge of the desk until I am sure that I have everything from it. I was able to accomplish that eventually and both were up and running, though I could not get the old computer connected to the net -- but I felt that was okay since I did not need that to be connected.

Enter the next phase of Monday:

When I ordered the new computer I also ordered a new router -- I did not look forward to changing out the router but I felt it was necessary to give us more capacity and freedom within the range of our house. Also
I read the reviews which for the most part told of relative ease with which they installed the router and how well it worked.

I have had 5 routers in the last 5 or 6 years -- none of them were easy -- mostly taking about two days of hassling to get them to work right -- I would gladly now accept the two days -- but instead this router took 4 days to work right.

Monday night after I installed the router, all worked well and I was connected to our wi-fi and so were some of the other devices . . . Tuesday morning came, a beautiful sunny day, none of the devices or computers would connect to the internet even though the symbol on the computer said it was connected both locally and to the internet.

Jumping forward it took until Thursday evening to get things up and running. (I missed two webinars) this included speaking with maybe 10 different techs (mostly from India, the politest people ever) and finally after crawling between our desks, connecting and reconnecting cables and wires, the router worked as it was designed to work . . . and all is well so far.

As usual, each party involved -- the Computer Manufacturer (Dell), the router people (Netgear) and the internet provider (Comcast) all pointed fingers at the others. Why has it been so hard to install a router and have it work . . . I hope NEVER to have to do it again.

Some Progress in Other Areas

While I mess around with the computers, Gail continues working on getting things organized in the house and the garage. The many boxes that populated our living quarters have been put away -- mostly. There are a few stragglers that should be taken care of this week:

This is one area of progress and it looks better than the backrooms of some grocery stores that I have worked in -- this is our "Costco" backup area and it gives us a glance at things as we use them.

I did have a few minutes of genealogy time in-between the router mess. I was able to document some vitals connected to another Gillett -- this one a Great Grand Uncle of mine (ours):

I actually visited this cemetery about 8 years ago -- but I was so excited about finding our HILES line there that I did not look for others, like William. Now when I visit a cemetery I am sure to look for other possible names that are from our tree. I hope to visit that cemetery again at some point to make sure that I visit all the possible markers or spaces . . .

I also pulled the information on who was born on this date and who was married on this date:

So on the 4th of May there were 5 people from our tree born on that day and one couple married on this day. If you wonder maybe as to who some of these folks are -- you can always visit the HILES website and delve into that a bit:       HILES WEBSITE    there is a lot to see and explore.

An Attempt to Unwind after the Tech Mess . . .

So on Friday, Gail and I both were looking for some respite from the router mess. We decided on a lower tech project and to do that on the back deck starting when the sun was in the front (it did get close to 90 at some point this week).

We had ordered two chairs that arrived on Thursday in two large flat containers -- that meant only one thing, "some" assembly was required:

If you click on the above you can see what we unwrapped . . . we just stared at the document for several minutes and then decided "how hard could it be". We both have education and experience going for us, just not so much in the schematic picture-type docs that we were looking at . . .

We struggled with the pieces and then started but nothing said where to actually begin -- there was a step one (on the left above) and a step two (on the right). We pushed around the parts and then started working on the inside and pieced together parts towards the outer edges . . . that seemed to work but was very slow going and we had to break several times to go inside for coolness.

We eventually were able to assemble the first chair and after all was done we had one bolt leftover -- and we felt that that was better than one short . . .

After lunch we tackled the second chair. Now feeling vastly capable after our success with the first chair. However, we did have to remove pieces a few times and reverse them but got down to one of the last connections AND found that we were "one washer short" . . .  how bad could that be -- we'll just go into the garage and pour through the many jars of miscellaneous nuts, bolts and washers and we did and found one that might work -- however it did not.

We made a run to the hardware store and looked through numerous drawers of washers and even got the assistance of two clerks and eventually decided on two possibles which we purchased for 30 cents . . .

We were elated that the washer worked and we now had two chairs that we could sit in and GLIDE:

Gliding to me has always had a nice connotation as my Grandparents had a porch glider that we always loved gliding on whenever we had the chance. In the days of the late 40s and 50s porch gliders and wicker furniture played a big role in the social lives of folks (especially screen-in porches) in the Midwest.

We plan to glide a bit each day this summer to get away from the tech part of the day. I sure enjoyed the sensation. However, while gliding I did spy the missing washer on one of our wicker chairs . . .

Speaking of the late 40s here is an ad for gasoline from 1949 -- Wow!

Apparently it was a good price then and it would be a sell out today for sure -- my Father always pulled up to the pump and ordered $2 ethyl . . . that lasted awhile too in those days and that was full service too, don't forget those tires and windows . . .

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Tomorrow is the day that is celebrated in pretty big way here in California, but a little of me feels like the web post below:

It is often mis-represented as Mexican Independence Day -- but we are on our way out to buy some avocados  . . . when I first came to California I rented a small house that was shaded by a few beautiful trees. However, often we would hear thumps on the roof and they would annoy us and we would go out and throw away those "ugly" looking fruit . . . I would love to have those thumping ugly fruit now -- they are usually around a dollar each at the store . . . we love avocados now . . .

And Lastly

We live a few blocks from the Russian River here in town. One of the big attractions is to rent a canoe and take a trip on the river and that has already started in a big way this season -- we have only one big piece of advice:

So that was bit of our week -- see you in a few!

Mixed Days/Transformation in Healdsburg

Another different type week -- maybe it has to do with the changes implemented at home, e.g. "both of us home" all day again -- nice, but a change. The kitchen up and running but not quite put together yet totally. Gail has been going room to room, as is her custom this time of year -- Spring cleaning only this time the added challenge of putting things away from the remodeling. And a chance to reassess things like storage in the garage and all. Some of what the week is like can be expressed in:

That is kind of "how it feels" . . . the above is a "Wordle" and is rather fun to do -- if you'd like to do one yourself go to WORDLES and have fun . . .

Speaking of Transformations

I finally was able to put the kitchen transformation into a video of sorts -- if you are interested in viewing that,
continue on down to the bottom of this post where you see the following:

Click on that link and you can view a short (7 mins) "video" of the process of our kitchen transformation. The process is still going on what with filling the cabinets and rearranging them once we see how they work or do not work . . .

So Why is this Post a Day Late

And maybe a $ short too . . . but the reality is that I was "away from my post" most of the day yesterday. I have a written excuse though -- I was attending my first "social" event since the GBS incident.  I was driven there -- to the Luther Burbank Center in Santa Rosa for the annual "Spring Seminar" for the Sonoma County Genealogical Society:

Above you can see the schedule for the day and while it was only from 8 to 4 I was fairly tired when I did get home from sitting all day listening to lectures . . . It was a well spent day for me as I like to listen to "things" genealogical AND I met some very nice folks and hope to meet up with them again at the Society's monthly meetings.

As is customary, I look for one or two good ideas from a meeting to deem it beneficial and in this case I found several. The speaker -- Barbara Renick -- was excellent and had many good ideas that I can use in my day to day searching, especially her "ZLinks" . . .

Also This Week/Genealogical Efforts

I contributed several new Scandinavian (Norwegian) relatives into GENi. Those connections have been hard for me to follow because of the naming convention in that country . . . but I am mostly taking the researcher's word from Norway on the spelling and the relationship for the folks. At any rate it is fun to look at the possible relatives:

GENi has recently been bought by "My Heritage Company" and many enhancements have been made. You can check out some by logging into the site:    GENi   AND look at some of the recent "tree" changes.

And now for some of my other research this week:

As I have written about in earlier posts, John Hiles Jr is my (our) Gr Gr Gr Grandfather and it was his misfortune as a father to have lost three sons in the Civil War. In searching for records of those sons, one of them -- George -- I have found the request for a pension by his widow, Martha Angeline Lacey Hiles:

Here is the Pension Request:

A lot of important information can be gleaned from this document. It is always amazing to see things about our relatives from sooo many years ago.


And the next document is one that I really value. While I do not have photos of John Jr and many other HILES ancestors -- I do have something that I value nearly the same:

On the above you can see the "signature" of my (our) Gr Gr Gr Grandfather John Hiles Jr. To me that is special, seeing that. Often during this period we only see "Xs" for where signatures go . . .


And From the Lighter Side (Sign)

Somewhere probably close by, this arrangement may be found -- I have not actually seen the location but I found this while looking at "Stumble Upon" . . .

I may have missed the turn . . .

And Lastly, Birthdays from the Tree

There were several birthdays from our tree and from several different branches:

Click on the above to enlarge


That was a peek at our week -- enjoy your week and see you in a few . . .

Marathon and other Moments

This week has been like no other. What should have been the complete relief of 100 days of the tax season ending on "Patriots Day" -- which is a holiday in Massachusetts and Maine celebrated on the third Monday in April just like the Boston Marathon is run on that date as well, partly in remembrance of Paul Revere's ride back in 1775 -- AND this year it just so happened that "Tax Day" fell on the 3rd Monday in April as well.
The relief of the tax season being over was being replaced by the events that occurred in Boston:

What should have looked like the above turned into anything but -- the images that we have seen on the news all week have been ingrained into our heads like many other horrific events in history that we have witnessed. Some sense of closure came with the capture of the second bomber late Friday evening shortly after which we had to stop watching for awhile. Enough is enough.

Distractions from the Events

Part of the process of dealing with the above events for us involved the "digging" into the tasks at hand. For me that meant mostly dealing with the computer issues of migrating one to another -- which continues still. And a break of attending a webinar presented by Legacy -- on Irish research -- even though we have not identified too many Irish ancestors, the webinar addressed methods of research that could be applied to any ethnicity or nationality.
For Gail, digging into the process of migrating the countless items from the old kitchen (spread around three rooms) into the spaces of the new kitchen pretty much filled most of every day since the end of the season.

For Dino:

When Dino gets "over taxed with issues" he takes to the nearest comfort zone, in this case his bed in the office. He may be on to something as I have always agreed with the notion that when those thoughts of "having to do something" creep into awareness it is time to take that nap until those thoughts go away . . . I believe that is what Dino is doing as he gets plenty of rest.

And surprise, surprise -- we now have an  additional orchid blossom arising from the chaos of the kitchen stuff . . .

A Memorial Day from Our Tree

Today, April 20 marks the 76th anniversary of the death of my (our Cousin) James Norris Gillett, the 22nd Governor of California. To me it always amazing that James who was born in Viroqua, Wisconsin (where we still have living relatives) found his way to Eureka, California (where we have living relatives) to wind up in Sacramento as Governor.

In the above you can see how James is related. After being in politics (he chose to leave) he returned to practicing law once more. He was married twice and at his first wife's grave is the "cenotaph" (a tomb where the deceased is buried elsewhere). His first wife Adelaide and his young son Horace are buried at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California. It is there that they list James as being "at rest" in Oakland, actually at the Chapel of the Chimes and from the picture a beautiful site.
I have mentioned James Norris Gillett in other posts -- most recently December of 2010 -- you can always do a search in the "Google search" at the top of this post for this information or other requests.

One Perspective View

Looking for things to relate to this week I actually "stumbled upon" the following. I guess a variety of reactions to the weeks events can be related to the picture -- which I found fascinating:

I found the above on "Stumble Upon", an interesting site that provides a huge variety of expression depending on your mood or interest.  In this case it seemed to mesh with how my mind was relating to the week . . . I'm not sure exactly what that means though.


That was a bit of our week, we sure hope that the next week brings us to where we want to be.

See you all in a few!

Issaquah to Healdsburg and Beyond . . .

From 1979 to 1989 I lived in Issaquah, Washington, a small (then, +30,000 now) town of a few thousand folks. In 1979 there was one traffic light and hardly any "franchise" type of businesses in town. The biggest store in town was the Safeway and then the Ben Franklin (Sam Walton used to own a few Ben Franklins, though not the one in Issaquah). So our family of four made frequent trips into Bellevue to shop for "stuff".
We lived 6 miles outside of the downtown of Issaquah -- so almost any trip to shop would be about 30 miles roundtrip or so . . .

But not all trips from Issaquah were made to go shopping:

I made a trip in the fall of 1986 (27 years ago) with my new camera looking for suitable scenes to photograph. Around the Seattle area there are an abundant variety of places to take pictures and because of the frequent moisture, vegetation almost always looks great.

The above two photos I found this week (from one of the many shoeboxes) and found myself wandering back to that time period. It is difficult to remember the exact day -- I wish I had the ability to recall the details of every day like Mary Lou Henner e.g. who can do that -- but it takes a photograph and some serious reflections for me to remember generally the time period.

(Issaquah happens to be the Headquarter City of Costco Wholesale)

The Electronic Week . . .

This week has been a nightmare of sorts. I have owned a variety of computers over the years (always investing heavily into the technology world . . .)  The first "regular" comptuer that we owned was the  Atari 800 with 48k memory -- we actually had other computer type devices prior to that but they were really primitive  for example programming was done on a calculator sized keyboard and saving any programs to a cassette tape drive and the time it took to do the most simple of tasks . . .

So, in 1979, our family drove the miles to Bellevue to a little computer store in the Factoria section of town. We spent a couple of hours in the store with several demos and both kids urging us to "get it" (just like at an auto showroom).  I asked the clerk -- after we had pretty much decided to go for "the whole package" and about to spend well over $1000 -- if he would throw in one of the $20 Instruction Books. He replied that there was "no way" that he could do that . . . so for the cost of a $20 book, he lost our business -- much to the disappointment pretty much of all of us -- but we have our pride and dignity . . .

The above is what we wound up ordering on the telephone and having it shipped -- no local store was involved. We actually got a bit better deal and the time waiting for delivery was a nice reflection on "delivery times" to come in the future years. Of course we had the monitor, such as it was and the external floppy drive.

If you want to get nostalgic take a peek at the Old Computers Site  it has tons of things to explore . . .

It was a lot different on my recent purchase of a new computer -- and I am still waiting for a couple of items that have been back-ordered -- but I have the "waiting for delivery" moment that is always sort of nice.

In the meantime all this week I have been transferring files -- a large quantity of pictures and related genealogical things. None of the so called "easy transfer methods"  are working for me. So I am taking bits and pieces from the old computer and putting them on the new. The old computer transfers at a much slower rate than the new -- so a chunk of material may take 2-4 hours to download to the drive I am using to transfer with and then take maybe less than an hour at the new, including deleting from the thumb transfer drive.

It is a tedious job and I keep promising myself that I'll "take a look" and maybe get rid of some photos that are either duplicates or are not worthy of saving -- I think though that I did that the last time that I transferred things . . .

I've used all of the above during the process this week. While waiting for the transferring to take place I am trying to get rid of some of the physical paper and things that I have accumulated over the years. I keep saying that "if it is available on the web" why should I keep a copy in a "filing" system of sorts in the home. I am actually getting into files that I have no memory of ever creating and have not accessed for years.

Besides all the files -- the physical addition of another computer system on my desk is really difficult to work with and makes it easy for me to say as soon as I can -- it will be "out with the old" -- but that can be sooo difficult to do. We'll see.

A Peek at the Genealogy

I still have time to delve into the tree and this week I have done just that.What is so true about our tree is that there are so many first names that repeat themselves over and over again. For example I have always said that there are way too many "Johns" in our line. But this week I can say the same thing about "Andrew".

Taking a look back at the farthest in the tree that I have been able to go (in terms of HILES) there is my Gr Gr Gr Gr Grandfather John Hiles and his wife Mary.

Growing up I only knew back to my Grandfather Lloyd. I never remember ever hearing about his father nor any one else in the line -- if my Father knew of my Gr Gr Grandfather Daniel, it would have been nice to know that . . .

So, getting back to Andrew(s) -- both John Sr., and John Jr., had sons named Andrew. And since they lived in the same approximate areas and both were alive at least part of the same time, the records got crossed at times if you didn't watch the particulars . . .

This week I looked at John Jr.s Andrew, he was one of many siblings -- 10 children with Charity Reed and 3 children with Nancy Susie Crosby. Unfortunately John Jr lost three sons to the Civil War -- and I believe Andrew was one of them. The other two were John III and George:

This Andrew would be my Gr Gr GrandUncle as you can see he is the brother of Daniel, my Gr Gr Grandfather.

And this Andrew had a wife and family:

Andrew's wife is Lydia -- and I am not sure of her last name as yet -- I have seen Sturgeon and/or Spurgeon, hopefully we will be able to determine that.

I was able to find Andrew and family in the 1850 Census, living in Zanesville, Ohio. Many of our direct ancestors lived in that area. The interesting fact is that in 1850, Andrew would be about 35 years of age, so that in 1860 he would have been in his mid 40s at the start of the Civil War. Later I have found indication that Lydia applied for a Civil War Pension -- I'll have to follow up on that -- it only takes time and in this case, money . . .

Above is part of the 1850 Census page showing Andrew and his family. This is the first Census where all the family members are listed -- thank goodness.  Above shows Andrew, Lydia and four children. The bottom name is Mary Jane Hiles, a sister of Andrew.

So there you have the "one" Andrew of many --  and one of the children is also named Andrew as well born about 1848.  I did take a look at Sarah a bit. She was known as Sadie in some documents which helped to trace her.

This Andrew's children are First Cousins three times removed (because they are 3 generations separated from me). Sarah or Sadie was not found in another Census -- but rather she turned up in Find-a-Grave search as Sarah Ann Hiles Sobel. Sarah died in Columbus, Ohio and was buried in  Greenlawn Cemetery there in Columbus. Doing a search for any other person named Sobel buried at that cemetery listed a Samuel Sobel buried there in 1899 and born in 1840. Sarah was found in several city directories in Columbus listed as the widow of Samuel Sobel.

Sarah died on 27 November 1925 and I have only found one possible child -- a Harry G Sobel -- with no other leads at the moment.  We'll keep looking . . . it is amazing how far afield one gets in just a few generations of searching. Who would have thought that we had relatives with so many different surnames, Sobel being just one of them.

And Lastly Because it is a Current Issue

The gun control battle goes on -- kind of like the abortion issue that never seems to be finalized. No matter what side of these issues you find yourself the following ad is amazing to me -- that our country less than 80 years ago could run such an ad:

Did adults actually believe this sort of thing -- kind of like the ads extolling the virtues of cigarettes . . .

That's a bit of our week -- next week we are really looking forward to -- Gail will be through with another tax season -- this was a particularly rough year for a variety of reasons (me being one of those).

Have a nice week -- see you all in a few!

Buses?, Bunting, Bumgardner & Baseball

Being pretty much a shut-in, I dug into my old photos again -- this time from twenty-five years ago. It seems like just yesterday that I snapped the following picture near Bellevue, Washington in mid Spring of 1988. It was such a different photo in that I don't think I had ever seen that many school buses parked on a hillside before nor really parked any place before . . .

Almost for as far as I could see were the familiar yellow vehicles. I realize that this has nothing to do with Healdsburg, genealogy or current happenings around town, but a slow photo op week -- or so I thought.

I Did Get Out (about 20 feet or so)

I did manage to get out into the front yard today, just far enough to shoot a picture of the flowering (dogwood?) in the front yard. The whole street looks green and fresh just like you expect Springtime to look. On the inside too I managed to shoot the remaining bloom of the orchid that we have only seen bloom every few years.

We had rain a couple of times this week which was fortuitous because the yard was just about screaming for watering which meant climbing over the stored things in the garage to get to the water valves . . . we are saved for a week and that just may be enough time in that the garage is once again slated to be done over as we move things back into the house . . .

And Why Do the Garage?

Because our kitchen project is 99.5% done! Wow! It is almost unbelievable -- the project started (well really last year with planning) but officially on January 16 (two days after I was admitted to the hospital)
and it is fast coming to a pleasant conclusion. We had a painter here on Friday doing the smallest of touch
ups and that is it for the moment. Friday afternoon was sooo nice in that Dino and I were alone in the house for the first time in a while.

In the above, the top row of pics are of the "old" kitchen -- nothing of that is left except for the walls and windows -- oh and that far large chandelier . . . below are some of the pictures of the "new" kitchen which has many desirable features -- one of which you can see Gail utilizing -- mostly for fun at the moment -- it will come into real use when she gets home for the "season".
We are planning to finally move out of our back room apartment kitchen tomorrow -- yes! Little by little we will begin making use of the new facilities but that will probably be another week or so. We have been able to once again watch TV on our bigger screen set which is really nice.

Another Hiles (Bumgardner) Ancestor . . .

Neither my Mother nor my Father really were that keen on talking about our ancestors. For my Father I always figured that he was hiding something about the family (which I have not uncovered as yet) but for my Mother it puzzles me a bit. It may be that she just did not know some of the things that I have uncovered about her side (Bumgardner) or she just did not think it important facts enough to share.

Specifically, I am referring to George Franklin Bumgardner (my Great Great Grandfather). He was born in Bath County, Virginia in 1808 to Adam & Mary (Gibson) Bumgardner. He married Sarah Olive Rider in 1829. It was about that time that they made the decision to "make the move Westward".

The Rider/Ryder family and the Bumgardner family have intermingled quite a bit over the years. But George Bumgardner and three of John Rider's sons rode 600 miles on horseback from Virginia to the Mississippi River and to Muscatine, Iowa scouting out possible places to live and farm.

George and Sarah decided on Muscatine as the place to settle and they arrived there about 1837. George became a prominent citizen and was very well respected. Among his achievements were: first school teacher in Muscatine, city surveyor, successful farmer & Reverend.

Above are some of the things relative to his life. On the left are snippets from his obituary. He died at 65 years of age from Typhoid Fever, which seems young compared to today, though we see examples of some of the same younger deaths today (last week we talked about Grand Uncle Charlie dying at 60).

George had 10 children and most of them had large families as well. Iowa has a lot of Bumgardners descended from George. A lot of detail can be found on my website:    Hiles & Related Family Genealogy
Above you can also see a brief timeline that shows some of the world events occurring during George's life.

What amazes me is that my Mother did not "brag" about George -- he being a Reverend and all. And it may be that she just did not know -- after-all he was her Father's Grandfather -- maybe Dayton kept that secret.

But I do know that we never once made a trip to Iowa as kids to visit family or family places there. Just like we almost never made any trips to Wisconsin for that reason either . . .

Miscellaneous This Week

Gail and I had a quiet Easter -- we did not get to cook the holiday meal that we remember as kids having along with an Easter Basket and eggs and chocolate and marshmellow things and stuff like that -- but the Easter Bunny did leave things for us never-the-less -- two books for me and a time-piece for Gail.

We were just getting low on reading material -- mostly because our back log is packed somewhere. So the two books will make for interesting reading. Especially the Willie Nelson book for me . . .

I also have started the very labor intensive transition from my old computer to it's replacement -- I almost feel guilty -- but not so that on the outside one could tell . . .


Lastly this Week

It was the sound of baseball all over the tube AND all over our back yard. We are lucky to have two well used diamonds behind our house. I can sit on the deck and peek through the arbor and see a game as if I was in center-field . . .

You'd think it was the Fourth of July -- what with all the bunting and all. It was really nice though to see so many folks supporting the little leagues in our community. They moved the fences closer to us and who knows -- maybe a free souvenir or two will be coming our way . . .

Most of today's action and scoring though came from "passed" balls and base stealing . . . it will be fun to see the advancement.

That was a peek at our week. Have a good week as well and see you in a few!