Le Sacre du Printemps

It is springtime and it is in evidence all around us. I think back to my "Music Appreciation" class in college and remember very well learning about "Le Sacre du Printemps" performed by Igor Stravinsky -- I still enjoy that piece and am thankful for being exposed to that.

In the above collage are some photos taken this week as we get into the full bloom of spring. Of course, there are the flowers and the blossoms but then again there are those who are visiting on spring break and then too there is Dino . . .

The temperatures reached into the 80s this week and today are moderate but sunny & bright. The drought though is another matter. We did have a very little sprinkling one day this week just enough to moisten the ground.

So -- How Did I Spend My Time This Week?

After last week's great discovery -- of finally determining that there WAS a connection between Gail's family and Millard Fillmore's family (he is a second cousin to Gail), this week I started the process of maybe finding a presidential connection in my branch.

There has been a rumor about a presidential connection to the Harrison family. This was shared to me by my brother and it would be nice to determine if that has any credence.

Of course, there have been two Harrison presidents -- pictured to the left -- and the
whole Harrison family has been one of influence and wealth and upper class folks.

Looking into my tree, I only found one "Harrison" listed (the same way when I started looking for Fillmores) last week.


As you can see above, Louisa Harrison married into the HILES family by marrying my 3rd Great Uncle -- Jeremiah Hiles. This is the only connection -- so far -- to any Harrison that I know about.

It is NOT where I was thinking that I would start. According to my brother, our Grandfather, Dayton Bumgardner had claimed that somewhere the Bumgardner family was related to the Harrison family.
And that may ultimately be where we find a connection.

For now I am climbing the Harrison tree starting with Louisa. Her father is a "William" Harrison and
that is just one of the many "William Harrisons" that I am seeing. All the Harrison branches use many of the same given names throughout their branches making it very confusing.

I have started to accumulate a "ton" of Harrison info, but because I was sidetracked this week doing "other things" I will have to resume the Harrison search in the coming weeks.

What Sidetracked Me

In a nutshell, it is the items shown to the right:

And these are just some of the forms that I was working with this week.

There were also numerous telephone calls seeking information and advice regarding various topics relating to things "taxing".

The major hassle is not so much filling in the forms, it is finding the various numbers that are
to be put into the forms. These numbers are hidden in a variety of places. Some are actually paper documents that are "filed" in our home office. Many others are documents waiting to be retrieved from the Internet.

This week then has been a nose-bleed session -- but hopefully one that will result in a better approach next year and for a decent effort this year.

What I'd Much Rather be Doing

It isn't hard to guess what the answer for me would be . . . I enjoy filling in and discovering the names and families that populate these forms.

And as soon as I can feel assured that the "other" forms are satisfactorily filled-in, I will resume my research with vigor.

I do take a few minutes away from taxes to check a few names and/or fix a photo, but

I have not been able to put my full attention to that just yet. So it is the old principle of "delayed gratification".

Here is one example of taking a few minutes away from taxes:

Using the program "Charting Companion" I created a fan chart for part of Gail's branch. It starts with Isaac Pine Calhoun (in the center) and expands out to show the descendants.

It is quite colorful and interesting to examine. This is so much more fun than filling in a 1040 . . .

Lastly

My working day is pretty much like when I actually did have to leave the house each day to spend time in my career job -- that is usually daytime hours -- the evening hours are for personal time.

Though, some of my personal time relates to my "work" efforts:

I find it interesting to watch genealogy related TV shows -- which of course relates to my "work".

WDYTYA is on each week on Sunday evenings. Last week featured Angie Harmon and this coming Sunday night will feature Sean Hayes.

I find it amazing the things that they can uncover each week no matter who is featured. They are almost half way through season 5 so far and I'll just be looking for the next genealogy show to start.


That was a glimpse into our week -- it is Saturday and we'll have something "fun" for dinner!

See you all in a few!