52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Technology

Week 8: Technology. What are some of the technological advances that happened during your childhood? What types of technology to you enjoy using today, and which do you avoid?



Technology has changed quite a bit in my life time.  Some of the major things I recall include:


8 Track tapes.  My first real albums were 8 tracks, though it didn't take to long for cassettes to replace them.


My parents were never the types to buy the newest item, whatever it was.  The one exception was when my father came home with the video game Pong.  When we got it, it was the coolest thing ever.  Later on, when the coolness wore off and our friends were getting Atari's and intellevision's, my parents never upgraded no matter how much we pleaded and whined.  Of course, that may be why I have very little interest in gaming these days.  I think have the personality to have been a serious gamer, but frankly, I'm nerdy enough as it is.


When I attended college far enough away from my parents so I couldn't easily use my dad's typewriter, I bought a word processor.

I had that machine for years until I graduated with a history degree with no clue as to what I wanted to do.  As I worked a few retail jobs and looked into  various options, I bought my first computer, an Apple Mac.  

After that, I had a series of PC's until last month I finally went back to Apple and bought a MacBook.

As for something I avoided, I really can't think of anything.  It did take a while for me to get a cell phone, but now that I have one, I don't think I could go back to a landline.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History: Week 7-Toys

What was your favorite childhood toy? Is it still being made in some form today?


For some reason when I saw this weeks item, the first thing that came to mind was Col. Steve Austin, a man barely alive...

I remember watching the Six Million Dollar Man as a kid and wishing that  I could be in a horrible crash and have various body parts replaced with bionics.  Fortunately one year for Christmas, I got the action figure and suddenly being in a disfiguring accident was no longer on the top of my list of things to do.


A little later Maskatron was added and what made him awesome is that you could give him the face of Steve Austin or Oscar Madison, who never did get an action figure if I recall correctly, and do dastardly things until good ol' Steve showed up to put a stop to it.  He would often kidnap my sisters dolls since we never did get the Jamie Somers figure and they'd end up tied to trees and all manner of objects and wait for Steve to come and rescue her.  In hindsight, all Mascatron needed was a cape and black mustache to twirl, but then the disguises wouldn't really have worked.  

I don't believe any of us got the Bigfoot action figure which in hindsight seems like a terrible oversight on my parents part.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History: Week 6

Week 6: Radio and Television. What was your favorite radio or television show from your childhood? What was the program about and who was in it?

TV: 
Doctor Who-I grew up with the Tom Baker Doctor on PBS.  Then for the longest time, I lost track of him only to be re-introduced in 2005.  Since then, I've been going back and catching up on all the Doctors that I've missed over the years.  I even managed to get my granddaughter interested in it.  She was about 2 when I was watching some early black and white episodes.  One time when she was at home, her parents were watching a black & white movie and she asked, "Doctor Who?"  I realized my work was done.

Star Trek- The original show. I began watching it because I thought Spock was cool and wanted to be him.  Later on, I realized green aliens were hot and wanted to be Captain Kirk.

B-movies- On weekends and afternoons I spent time watching many low budget movies that were often shown on UHF stations from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms to Christopher Lee Dracula  to giant mutated insect movies and the like.  To this day, I'd rather watch an old B movie than many of the newer/current releases.  Unfortunately, I never saw a local horror host show while I was growing up in the DFW area.  I don't know if the market didn't have any or if I just somehow missed it as a kid. 

Radio:

The main show that impacted me was Doctor Demento- He always had good song paradies which many times I preferred over the actual songs they were spoofing.  I remember listening to it late at night on Sunday, probably around 10:00, and my parents fussing at me about going to bed because it was a school night. It was a happy day when I picked up a white single earphone cord so I could quietly listen to Weird Al Yankovic's newest tune.

Madness Monday: Sealy Autrey

My current genealogical nemesis is my great grandmother Sealy (Celia, Celie, Clie) Autrey (1859-1907). 

 According to the Lincoln Parish Louisiana Marriage Records 1873-1901 compiled by Willie Huffman Farley says that Sealy E. Autrey married J. H. Sample on 7 July 1878.  I also have the marriage certificate that verifies this.

The 1880 and 1900 US Census shows that J. H. Sample was married to Celia Sample, who was born about 1860.

Also, on the same page of the 1880 census is listed John Autrey’s family with both Tereanna and Sarah living at home.

However, according to Absalom and Elizabeth Autrey and Their Descendants a Tereanna Autrey, born in 1875 in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, married Joe Sample. It is possible that Sealy is a nickname for Tereanna, but the 15 year gap in birth dates seems suspect.

I have also seen online sources where Teranna Autrey married Joe Samples.  This source also lists a Sarah E. Autrey born in 1859. 

While Tereanna did have a sister named Carrie born in 1860, references I’ve seen indicate that she married a Colvin.

There is also a 10 year old Elizabeth in the household of John and and Dianacy in 1870.  This could be either Sealy , Carrie or someone else. 

I have found sites online that indicate Ainsley H. Colvin (1858-?) married Carrie Elizabeth Autrey and lists her birthdate as about 1860 or 1862, born in Hico, Lincoln Parish, LA..

This is a very tangled mess.  I’m thinking if I can find a death certificate, obituary or something similar it might help resolve this matter.