UP, DOWN -- ALL AROUND

This week has brought a mixture of weather and happenings including many connections with cousins and friends across the country -- so considering all, a very nice week! It was so nice this morning that I took a few minutes to photograph the many bright spots in the yard and landscape brought about by the lengthy March showers:

So this is a collage of around the yard -- so colorful -- those that still have snow, sorry . . .

But real life and everyday things go on including this week for me two full days off-line due to router/modem issues. I know how much I use and enjoy the web but was not prepared for the empty feeling of not being able to log on to my favorite sites and communicate with others. The good side to this though was I got a head start on Spring Cleaning -- the master bath is gleaming and a few other spots in the house that I have neglected got attention -- like my desk area. And as mentioned in earlier posts I have been trying to whittle down the huge inventory of screen shots that need to be filed or deleted and I actually worked through about 1000 of them. I could still use my computer just not go on line.

Now for the fun stuff -- this coming Friday would normally mean the LAST day to file one's income taxes before the deadline. But because April 16 is the anniversary of the signing of Emancipation Day by Abraham Lincoln and it falls on Saturday that holiday is moved to Friday April 15th -- good news for filers -- the deadline is moved to Monday April 18. Bad news to those who work in the tax prep business . . .extra days of work and the office where my wife is the manager has added even additional days to the 22nd . . .

Oh well, let's talk genealogy related things. Last issue two post Civil War groups were featured. The GAR and the SUVCW. The GAR my maternal Grandfather always talked about. Dayton Bumgardner though was not a member of either group -- but he was in fact a very active member of the Masons. Many of our presidents were members of those groups. The Masons are still very active as is the SUVCW though we see more about the Masons.

Dayton Bumgardner was born in Iowa but moved to Chicago as a young man. He owned and operated the Farnum Dental Labratory. He held several dental related patents (shown on www.danhiles.com) and was involved with the Chicago Masonic Lodge during the WWI years and beyond. He was the Worshipful Master of that lodge in 1918:

Dayton is the man in the top hat in the above photo -- if you click on the photo it should enlarge. He is about 36 years old in this photo. Here is how Dayton fits into my tree:

Dayton Bumgardner had a very positive influence on those around him, including his children and grandchildren. In coming posts more will be shared about him and his family.

Now -- I am still taking the online class "Social Networking for the Wise Genealogist" and enjoying that. It is causing me to go further "out of the tree" via exploring so many different sites. One of those sites this week that I thoroughly enjoyed was the LibraryThing -- some of you I know are members but if you have not looked at this site -- it is worth investigating. I joined it and have started my library collection and look forward to collaborating with others to some degree. We have authors in our family -- you know who you are -- and there are currently almost 5,000 authors who are members of LT and share their books and libraries. Here is a feature from that site for today that I found interesting since I just read a book about Bonhoeffer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the German theologian who was involved in the plot to rid Germany of Hitler and paid the ultimate price for his involvement at the hands of the Nazi's.

So that's some of my week. Again it is Saturday and that means -- Slider Saturday Night at our house.

See you in a few!