SOON JUNE . . . ALREADY

It was pretty warm a few days this week -- yesterday and today (so far) have been more acceptable in that it is way less hot. We did not even turn on the a/c yesterday opting to open up the windows and doors and let the hefty breeze in. I tried out a new camera indoors this week -- I'm hoping for some picture opportunities outside in the coming days.

The feathers above we bought in Idaho a few years back and they are filled with color as is the ring on the bottom right. The bottom left is actually an apron given to me last year and the other truck is a needlepoint just finished yesterday and to be framed for Father's Day . . . the flag is also a needlepoint that we have on the wall. Gail is needlepointing up a storm . . .

The clock proudly advertises "HILES" Private Label Premium and Dino has an internal clock that reminds him when to be "noticed" for feeding time . . .

Dates From the Tree

Happy birthday & best wishes to all those celebrating next week:

Click on the above to check out who may be close to you . . .

And Now Dogs & Cats Cars from our Tree

I'll search throughout the pictures for cats at another time though I already know that we only have a handful of them -- I did though include one in the "dog collage".

Rarely if ever did I NOT have a dog living in the house with me -- though there was one stretch -- in San Francisco for about ten years when I was dogless. I have made up for that now with first Auggie and now Dino.

But going through the tree pictures I managed to pull out a few pictures to commemorate some of the many many dogs in our lives. There are more than what is pictured in this collage and I hope that I can put them together for a later post:

Click on the above to see if you can identify some of the many dogs (and one cat). They belong to various folks from our tree.

And another thing that I have found ever-present in our tree is the love and attention given to our autos. The following is just a sample of the many automobiles belonging to various branches in the tree:

Hopefully you can identify at least a couple of the above -- I know I have memories of some as do some other members of different branches. One of the above is a Hudson, there is at least one Pontiac, two Buicks, an Oldsmobile, a T-Bird and a '48 Mercury Coupe . . .

Lastly, Well Said

Speaking of autos, the following is apropos. After I grew up in the Chicago area and moved away a comic strip appeared in the Chicago Herald newspaper (among others) in the '70s & '80s. So I never saw it until much later.

The strip was titled "BUMGARDNER" and judging from the characters they looked very much like the Bumgardners from my maternal branch -- but alas, I did have email contact with Jim Smith the originator of the comic and apparently there is no known connection to our Bumgardners.

Actually Jim shared with me that the name originated as "Blumgardner" and as Wallace Bumgardner was relating to his Grandson, Leonard, the family originated in England and when they were going to leave England for America they were told to get the "L" out . . . so that's the derivation of this branch of Bumgardners . . .

And so that was a bit of our week -- it is Saturday and there will be burgers tonight . . . see you all in a few!

Springtime Memorables

It is hard to believe that it is still "Spring" given the weather lately. Today it will be in the 90s and it has been on again off again warm to hot with no rain in the forecast. As a kid I loved those kinds of forecasts, today not-so-much . . .

Some of the color mostly in the front yard. The Iris opened just for a few hours and has remained closed again so far today. The "donkey-tails", at least these three look pretty good and the roses are fast fading.


Important Dates Coming Up

The marriages for the upcoming week almost but not quite equal the number of birthdays for that week:

I guess it has to do with the climate . . .


Continued From Last Post

Last post I was exhibiting the various censuses and other paper trails that our James Hiles left in his lifetime.

Recall, that I am the "coal-miner's" Gr Gr Gr Nephew . . .

On to the next census:

1870 -- Federal Census -- back from the Civil War, living in Harrison, Perry County, Ohio, now with his wife Sarah and 3 children, David, Charles & William. It says James is a "laborer".

1880 -- Federal Census -- living in Harrison, Perry, Ohio with his wife and children but also his widowed Mother, Nancy, is living with then as well.  And it says James is a "coal miner".

1890 -- Special Sched -- for surviving soldiers etc. Gives the dates of James' Civil War service and in the 

             bottom line mentions that his right thumb "shot off", I guess in the Civil War.

1900 -- Federal Census -- living in Salt Lick, Perry, Ohio with his wife Sarah and two of his kids and he

             is listed as a "coal miner" and his son John is also listed as a "coal-miner".

1910 -- Federal Census -- James' last census that he appears in (he died in 1917). He is a widower and is 

             living in York, Morgan, Ohio with his son John. They are both listed as laborers in the coal mines.

There are more documents to be found to put together a better story about James & family, but just from the above records we can see that James lived about 77 years. 

He fought in the Civil War, had his right thumb shot off but made it home to live out his years as a coal miner. And at least one of his sons became a coal miner as well. 

I feel as though I can sense a bit better the kind of life that this family experienced I would love to find pictures and other things associated with them.

So What is on Our Night Stand . . .

We finished the memoir written by Tony Bennett and enjoyed that a lot and feel that Tony is a quality human being and continues to entertain us all.

Now we have made another "celebrity" the focus of our nighttime reading:

While the "jury" is still out, the book has definitely entertained us. And as I say above, relative to the title, the "apple" surely did not fall far from the tree. The book appears on "My Library Thing" as shown in the screen print above.

And -- Who Went Where?

About once a quarter my brother and his wife head up the coast to Portland to visit their kids and grand-kids. That means we drive the airport "limo" to assist in their travel.

Some poses just before the flight at Charles Schultz Airport in Santa Rosa show the mood. While their return flight WAS delayed AND I had just seen the "Herman" joke -- I waited until now to share the sentiment. You have to wonder if there was any connection to reality . . . but you have to admit that there is a similarity to at least one of the principals flying . . .

Lastly

I try to keep "on top" of the relationships that I find in our tree -- this description though makes my head spin a lot:

That actually did appear this week for one of the more distant relatives (and will forever remain distant . . .)

go ahead, figure it out . . .

But one thing is clear -- it is Saturday, Memorial Day Weekend, so enjoy the Holiday!

We are having friends over for lunch (maybe more about that next post) but we think it still will be burgers tonight . . . see you all in a few!

Blogging, Baseball & Burgers -- It's Saturday!

The hot part of the week has passed in terms of weather. We made it through the high 90° days and with little watering of the yard.  The week started of course with Mother's Day and that was celebrated with the appropriate gifting and calling. When I worked in the telecommunications arena -- Mother's Day was the ultimate busy day.

Another benefit of Mother's Day is that we usually have a floral display around for several days (courtesy of Silvia, this time). We enjoyed the tulips and we enjoyed the calls from several "kids" . . . not to mention other gifts:

On the top left is Gail's new bird-bath and below that is the new "Dino" replica. On the right are two doves, I think, that appeared shortly after the bird bath was put into service . . . we had not seen these birds before nor since. They sat on the fence very quietly and calmly and then disappeared . . .

Next Week Dates to Look At

Almost none of the dates next week are for folks that I am "that" familiar with:

There are a couple that I know some things about -- maybe you are better acquainted.

From the Picture Pile

I am much more familiar with the following pics that I grabbed from the pile to present here:

And this week's webinar was very timely and educational. Put on by Maureen Taylor and Legacy Family Webinars. Maureen presented facts about many different web-based applications for working with photos.

Not only do I have a lot of photographs on my computer I have several applications that I use from time to time to make the process more fun and productive -- I have a ways to go . . .

Here are a couple of examples "from the pile":

Above are four pics,  each with Stewart Bumgardner in them. Stewart is my Mother's brother, so my maternal Uncle. These all would be from the late 1920s to early 1930s. I am not sure who the young lady in the third picture is . . . I believe the dog in the last picture might be "Prince". Of course it is Dayton Bumgardner (Stewart's Dad) pictured as well and I'm pretty sure in the yard at 2521 N Bernard St., Chicago.

On the left -- Dayton B. holding Marv Jr., Frank Johnson holding Frankie Jr. Behind them are the three Nelson sisters -- Tada, Hildred & Lillian, all in front of 2521 N Bernard St., Chicago.

The next photo shows Ruth Bumgardner (checkered dress) holding her younger sister Jean alongside an unidentified young girl.

This picture with the names "Nate" & "Date" written on it is a puzzle -- of course I recognize Dayton Bumgardner but I have no idea who "Nate" is . . .

Lastly -- Dayton relaxing in the back yard.

A Coal-Miner's Gr Gr Gr Nephew . . .

The news this week reminds me that I am sooo glad that I never went to work in a mine. The closest that I ever got to even going into a mine was the "mine exhibit in the Museum of Science & Industry" in Chicago during field trips from school.

But, I have ancestors that worked in the mines and thanks to the paper trail left mostly by the Federal Censuses taken every ten years I can share a glimpse into the life of one of those ancestors:

James Hiles, son of John Hiles Jr., and Nancy Crosby is my 3rd Gr Uncle. He was born in 1840 and died in 1917 -- so we have seven Federal Censuses in which we find him (I ignored the 1840 one).

And since he was in his early 20s at the start of the Civil War, we found him there as well.

Chronologically:

1850 Census -- living in Harrison, Perry County, Ohio with his parents and siblings.

1860 Census -- still living in Harrison, Perry County, Ohio with his parents and siblings.

1862 through 1865 a detour with service in Company I, Ohio 114th Infantry.

To be continued next post . . . the 1870, 1880, 1890 (Special Sched), 1900 & 1910 Censuses.

The availability of the Federal Censuses really do make it nice for us to better "see" our folks.


So, that was a bit of our week -- it is Saturday and it is burgers tonight! See you all in a few!

Looking to The Way We Were . . .

This week had an ominous start with a call from my sister. I took a few moments to reflect "outback" and that helped a bit. Throughout the week the contents of the call came back into my consciousness. There were a few other calls as well to clarify details.

So far the drought has not taken the above blooms . . .

Julie Diane Swanson Barnett -- 1958 - 2014

She was my Mother's sister's daughter -- my cousin. She, a sister to Charles and a mother of Kelly, Kenton & Matt.

I only met Julie a few times, the last time was at a get-together at my sister Marilee's home in Barrington. Julie was the young mother of a growing family at the time.

We are all saddened by her passing. A poignant remembrance is given by her cousin, my nephew, Craig Rot:

There were services held in the Chicago area on Friday, May 9, 2014.

From the Mailbox

This week I received  several requests for information regarding several of the trees that I maintain. I responded to all of them, but one I will do more research on and include in next week's post.

The response has to do with folks from our tree and their Civil War service -- we are still celebrating the 150th anniversary of that war (1861-1865) so I will post a couple of examples of the latest details for some
HILES Civil War participants.

Dates Next Week

There are many folks celebrating next week! And I want to say a special "Happy Birthday" to my son, Chris who turns 44 next week. And to a Grand Nephew, Dayton as well.

Then not to be outdone my brother Marv & his wife Nancy, celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary -- congratulations to them!

There are many others who may be closer to your branch as well.

Webinar(s)

This week as scheduled I attended the really popular webinar presented by Thomas Kemp who gave us insight to some of his experiences throughout his 50 year climb within his family tree. He had a great story to tell since his climb began before the start of the internet and in the days of snail-mail and microfiche and card catalogs . . .

Next week though will be another opportunity to learn about "photo apps" for all of our devices delivered by Maureen Taylor and hosted by Legacy Family Tree Webinars:

I can't get enough photo management help these days as I am inundated with snaps . . .

What was for Dinner?

Choosing the dinner menu is sometimes tough i.e. to come up with something maybe a little different but also something that will be enjoyed by both of us AND maybe provide leftovers for another meal.

We decided to try our hand at making pizza at home -- one more time . . .

From the top left and around. We started this time with a store-bought thin crust. We used dough last time and while the flavor was good -- the crust was not.

So we picked our toppings -- cheese, pepperoni, sausage, chicken, mushrooms, red pepper, tomatoes, onions, a bit of garlic and sauce.

All in all, it was way better than the last time, but still not quite like a pizzeria pizza. We have restocked and will try again. I am not sure how to make it taste more like "a King Arthur's Special", but we'll try . . .

Little Litter Lovin'

Just a reminder that tomorrow is Mother's Day! And here is a peek at one happy mom:

                                                                                                              (from GDB)


That was a bit of our week -- burgers are defrosting for tonight -- see you all in a few!

Hold de Mayo . . .

This is the "Cinco de Mayo" weekend. Growing up in the Midwest this is not a holiday that I ever recall hearing about. It was only after moving to the "West Coast" that I have become aware of it. It can be very festive and fun to see. I feel that it has lost some of the innocence of the celebration as it is celebrated sometimes aggressively in some towns. But never-the-less the weather is beautiful this weekend, and I might enjoy some Mariachi music . . .

The evidence of Springtime though is everywhere here in Healdsburg:

The white roses in front frame the garage and other parts of the house and they are abundant. The California Poppies are blooming all along the roadsides -- "Oh My" and Dino too.

We enjoyed the high 90 degree weather for two or three days along with the a/c. Most afternoons we played Quiddler, poolside while feeding Dino one of his favorite treats -- ice-cubes.

In the evenings we watched baseball that we had recorded which meant that when the last out in an inning was made -- four clicks of the remote started a new inning -- we love that feature. And the San Francisco Giants are doing fairly well so far this spring.

Follow - Up to the Seminar

Last Saturday I spent the day attending the all day Spring Seminar sponsored by the Sonoma County Genealogical Society -- and it was great!

The presenter, Donna, was extremely knowledgeable and a great presenter. She had four lectures that kept our attention for the whole time.

Not only did I learn much -- I won much too. I usually do not win things in raffles but that day I won one of the raffles awarding $25 to be used on Chartmasters ( a website that I enjoy and have purchased many things from in the past).  And then a few minutes later I won another raffle drawing good for $10 off a purchase from the exhibiting bookseller in the lobby . . . I purchased a genealogical dictionary that is excellent and it was on-sale for $10 (marked down from $14.95).

So I wound up netting out my expenses for the day and have a lot to show for it . . .

Dates for Next Week

A lot of important dates for a lot of important folks from the tree:

Best Wishes to all!

And Now --  From the Mailbox:

I received an inquiry from "a cousin" regarding a favorite Uncle of mine so I did some follow-up to "check-it-out":

My Uncle's Uncle . . .

Last post I shared some findings as a result of the 1862 Homestead Act and a land purchase by a HILES relative (Thomas). While searching the BLM site I entered several other surnames into their database to see what I could find and I turned up the following information:

First -- who is my Uncle's Uncle?  Above pictured is my Grandmother's sister, Elsa "Tada" Nelson and her husband Ken Winterscheid.  I always enjoyed being around Uncle Ken & Tada, but that didn't happen all that often. My folks actually in later life moved into their home after Ken's passing to assist Tada in everyday living.
I never knew much about Ken's side of the family until just this past week as I put the "Winterscheid" name into the BLM database.

Up popped "Augustus Winterscheid" who I did not know anything about nor did I know if he was a relative of Ken's. It turns out that he is Ken's Uncle. Above you can see the tree branch showing that.

Augustus was born about two years before Ken's father, George, in Hennepin, Illinois. But it seems that Augustus moved around a lot after growing up.  When Augustus was about 45 years old he was living in South Dakota with his wife and four of their five surviving children.

It was there, in Jordan (Tripp County) South Dakota that Augustus purchased 160 acres of land. The following land description and details came from the BLM site:

It looks like May 8, 1911 the land deal was concluded as described in the above with the legal description appearing in the following:

All under the authority of President William H Taft.

The federal censuses help us keep track of folks every ten years, for which we are so grateful:

Above, from Ancestry.com, is a snippet of the 1910 Federal Census for Jordan, South Dakota. It shows:
"Gust" Winterscheid, wife Nellie, and four children living on the land that was being purchased. Apparently the 160 acres provided a nice farm for them.

However, thanks to the 1920 Federal Census, we find "Gust" and family living on a farm in Manston, Wilkin County, Minnesota.

And then in 1930, Augustus is living with his youngest child, Clayton & family in Waterloo, Black Hawk County, Iowa. Augustus is a widower, retired, and his son Clayton is working in a foundry.

It was an interesting peek into the WINTERSCHEID family branch.

Speaking of "Peeks"

Take a peek at these pups (from GDB):

During this week I attended two great webinars -- one on the details of "Google Glass" and the other on Legacy Family Tree Virtual User Group.

Google Glass looks to be an exciting product and has many applications for genealogists. They are not available as yet for purchase and hopefully they will be priced afford-ably (right now it looks like around $1500) when they are offered to the public.

When you think about the future of technology it is mind boggling. Just a few years ago we (me included) found ourselves in front of micro-film readers advancing pages on film for old documents and newspapers and for which we had to pay per page to copy . . .

The webinar on the Virtual User group was the first of many scheduled this year and tons of great ideas were shared as to how to utilize Legacy Family Tree software.

Upcoming Webinar

Next week the one webinar will be presented by someone that I have heard many times before and it is well worth the time -- Tom Kemp -- who will be sharing his experiences of climbing his tree for the last 50 years:

The webinar is free for live viewing and available for about a week after that to re-view if desired. I look forward to next Wednesday and had to make sure that NO appointments were made to do other things . . .


This being Saturday -- it is burgers tonight! See you all "in a few"!