George W's blog

Radios are so much a part of the driving experience, it seems like cars have always had them. But they didn't. Here's the story. http://aths.com/content/story-car-radio-worth-read-0

Story of the Car Radio (Worth the Read)

Radios are so much a part of the driving experience, it seems like cars have always had them. But they didn't. Here's the story.

SUNDOWN

One evening in 1929 two young men named William Lear and Elmer Wavering drove their girlfriends to a lookout point high above the Mississippi River town of Quincy , Illinois , to watch the sunset. It was a romantic night to be sure, but one of the girls observed that it would be even nicer if they could listen to music in the car.

Lear and Wavering liked the idea. Both men had tinkered with radios - Lear had served as a radio operator in the U. S. Navy during World War I - and it wasn't long before they were taking apart a home radio and trying to get it to work in a car. But it wasn't as easy as it sounds:
automobiles have ignition switches, generators, spark plugs, and other electrical equipment that generate noisy static interference, making it nearly impossible to listen to the radio when the engine was running.

SIGNING ON

One by one, Lear and Wavering identified and eliminated each source of electrical interference. When they finally got their radio to work, they took it to a radio convention in Chicago . There they met Paul Galvin, owner of Galvin Manufacturing Corporation. He made a product called a "battery eliminator" a device that allowed battery-powered radios to run on household AC current. But as more homes were wired for electricity, more radio manufacturers made AC-powered radios.
Galvin needed a new product to manufacture. When he met Lear and Wavering at the radio convention, he found it. He believed that mass-produced, affordable car radios had the potential to become a huge business.

Lear and Wavering set up shop in Galvin's factory, and when they perfected their first radio, they installed it in his Studebaker. Then Galvin went to a local banker to apply for a loan. Thinking it might sweeten the deal, he had his men install a radio in the banker's Packard. Good idea, but it didn't work - half an hour after the installation, the banker's Packard caught on fire. (They didn't get the loan.)

Galvin didn't give up. He drove his Studebaker nearly 800 miles to Atlantic City to show off the radio at the 1930 Radio Manufacturers Association convention. Too broke to afford a booth, he parked the car outside the convention hall and cranked up the radio so that passing conventioneers could hear it. That idea worked - he got enough orders to put the radio into production.

WHAT'S IN A NAME

That first production model was called the 5T71. Galvin decided he needed to come up with something a little catchier. In those days many companies in the phonograph and radio businesses used the suffix "ola"
for their names - Radiola, Columbiola, and Victrola were three of the biggest. Galvin decided to do the same thing, and since his radio was intended for use in a motor vehicle, he decided to call it the Motorola.

But even with the name change, the radio still had problems:

When Motorola went on sale in 1930, it cost about $110 uninstalled, at a time when you could buy a brand-new car for $650, and the country was sliding into the Great Depression. (By that measure, a radio for a new car would cost about $3,000 today.) In 1930 it took two men several days to put in a car radio - the dashboard had to be taken apart so that the receiver and a single speaker could be installed, and the ceiling had to be cut open to install the antenna. These early radios ran on their own batteries, not on the car battery, so holes had to be cut into the floorboard to accommodate them.
The installation manual had eight complete diagrams and 28 pages of instructions.

HIT THE ROAD

Selling complicated car radios that cost 20 percent of the price of a brand-new car wouldn't have been easy in the best of times, let alone during the Great Depression - Galvin lost money in 1930 and struggled for a couple of years after that. But things picked up in 1933 when Ford began offering Motorolas pre-installed at the factory. In 1934 they got another boost when Galvin struck a deal with B. F. Goodrich tire company to sell and install them in its chain of tire stores. By then the price of the radio, installation included, had dropped to $55. The Motorola car radio was off and running. (The name of the company would be officially changed from Galvin Manufacturing to "Motorola" in 1947.)

In the meantime, Galvin continued to develop new uses for car radios.
In 1936, the same year that it introduced push-button tuning, it also introduced the Motorola Police Cruiser, a standard car radio that was factory preset to a single frequency to pick up police broadcasts. In 1940 he developed with the first handheld two-way radio - the Handie-Talkie - for the U. S. Army.

A lot of the communications technologies that we take for granted today were born in Motorola labs in the years that followed World War II. In 1947 they came out with the first television to sell under $200. In 1956 the company introduced the world's first pager; in 1969 it supplied the radio and television equipment that was used to televise Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon. In 1973 it invented the world's first handheld cellular phone.
Today Motorola is one of the second-largest cell phone manufacturer in the world. And it all started with the car radio.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO..

The two men who installed the first radio in Paul Galvin's car, Elmer Wavering and William Lear, ended up taking very different paths in life.
Wavering stayed with Motorola. In the 1950's he helped change the automobile experience again when he developed the first automotive alternator, replacing inefficient and unreliable generators. The invention lead to such luxuries as power windows, power seats, and, eventually, air-conditioning.

Lear also continued inventing. He holds more than 150 patents.

Remember eight-track tape players? Lear invented that. But what he's really famous for are his contributions to the field of aviation. He invented radio direction finders for planes, aided in the invention of the autopilot, designed the first fully automatic aircraft landing system,

And in 1963 introduced his most famous invention of all, the Lear Jet, the world's first mass-produced, affordable business jet.

(Not bad for a guy who dropped out of school after the eighth grade.)

1.  Steve Raffertry -  President of Ancestral Trails will be presenting how to use family resources in researching your genealogy. 

2.  Hubert Merrell (Mel) Arnold, Ph.D and past President, of the Louisville Genealogical Society is making a presentation on "Using DNA in genealogical Research".   Following is the outline of this presentation:
What is genealogical DNA research?
How does DNA research work?
What is the essential terminology for the family historian?
How does one participate in a DNA project?
How is the analysis communicated?
What are the potential results? 
How do I use  the reported results?
How do I decide which program to use? 

3.  Join living history reenactor, Phillip Williams, as he tells the story of the frontier long hunters and market hunters who worked the American frontier and survived and made their living with skill, courage and their flintlock rifles.

Mark your calendars for April 21, 2012.  We have a great lineup of presenters and book vendors scheduled for this years 10th annual Book Fair.  Vendors please check out our calendar for detail information about how to register for the Book Fair also there is a map providing directions to the Pritchard Center.

For more information on our speakers:  http://aths.com/content/aths-speakers-2012-book-fair

by Ann Sipes, #49
ATHS Member #812, Wathena Miller, was honored on Saturday, June 6, 2009, by being named one of two Alumni of the year along with Robert Clinton Roberts.  Both Mrs. Miller and Mr. Roberts are native Meade Countians.  Robert Clinton Roberts is a centenarian now living in Mississippi with his wife of over 71 years.  Long known as a teacher and coach in the Meade County School System, (particularly at the old Ekron High School) two of his nephews received his plaque on his behalf.  Two other nephews, Jim and William H. Roberts, have long been members of ATHS.

To read the complete article:  http://aths.com/content/wathena-kennedy-miller-honored-meade-county-alumni-association

by Ann Sipes, #49
ATHS Member #812, Wathena Miller, was honored on Saturday, June 6, 2009, by being named one of two Alumni of the year along with Robert Clinton Roberts.  Both Mrs. Miller and Mr. Roberts are native Meade Countians.  Robert Clinton Roberts is a centenarian now living in Mississippi with his wife of over 71 years.  Long known as a teacher and coach in the Meade County School System, (particularly at the old Ekron High School) two of his nephews received his plaque on his behalf.  Two other nephews, Jim and William H. Roberts, have long been members of ATHS.
The annual Meade County High School Alumni Association banquet was held this year at the Brandenburg United Methodist Church.  This setting has special significance to Wathena’s own heritage.  Behind the church is a cemetery long known and recorded as the Walker Cemetery. It had been grown up in weeds, but was restored by the Methodist Men’s Club in 1973.  The cemetery was dedicated and renamed the Wathen Cemetery in 1988 because of Wathena’s research of and documentation of her Wathen forebearers’ activities in early Meade County.  She proved that the cemetery had first been established in 1835 by Gabriel Wathen when he set aside a piece of his land to be used as his family’s final resting place.  It had become known as the Walker cemetery, probably because the last person to be buried there was John C. Walker, who had married into the Wathen family.  Gabriel Wathen was Wathena’s second great grandfather.
Mary Stephenson, a member of the selection committee for the Alumni Association, introduced Wathena to the participants at the banquet as “the genealogist of Meade County.”  Wathena was fondly called “my wife, the genealogy nut” by her late husband, Bill Miller.

 Photo courtesy: Renee Miller
Wathena has been a genealogy angel to many people through her help to so many potential DAR members tracing their lineage to become members of that society.  She served either as Co-registrar, Registrar or Genealogical Records Chairman for the Ambrose Meador Chapter in Brandenburg for many years. She was State Genealogical Records Chairman for six years and served on the State Credential Committee for three years.  While working in the Ambrose Meador Chapter, Wathena sent over 1200 pages of local records on to the state.  She remains active in that organization even though she has become more confined after Bill’s death in 2003.  When Wathena joined the DAR in 1984 she “went in on” the patriot, Ambrose Meador.  She has researched and proven descent from seven additional patriots since then:
Nathaniel Lightner, Leonard Wathen, Justinian Mills, William Childs, Christopher Bewley, John Board, and John Dent.
Wathena also became a member of Ancestral Trails in 1984 and served one year as our vice-president under President Jack Bewley in 1989.  She served as Meade County representative for several years and has written and published an article about early Meade County history. This was printed in the 1991 Summer Issue of Ancestral News.  Her transcriptions of Meade County Court Minute Records have been published in this newsletter beginning in 1998 and again continued in 2006 and 2007.  The complete compilation of those Court Minute Books from 1824 through 1828 can also be found in the John Fox Memorial Library in the old Duncan Tavern in Paris, Kentucky. The old Duncan Tavern houses the offices of the Kentucky State DAR headquarters. Through her efforts as Genealogical Records Chairman, she has contributed many volumes of other Meade County records to DAR, to include Bible records and family records, as well as her published books.
Her biggest legacy to Ancestral Trails and to Meade County researchers encompasses the publication by the society of three books of Meade County vital statistic records which Wathena transcribed from the microfilm herself and also two census record books compiled with her cousin, Jane Meador Newton.  Those publications include:
Meade County Records, Vol. I, Births 1852-1908, published in 1987 Meade County Records, Vol. II, Marriages, 1824-1884 published in 1988 Meade County Records, Vol. III, Marriages, 1885-1934, published in 1989 Meade County Census, 1870, published in 1991 Meade County Census, 1880, published in 1995
Wathena maintained a stock of these books in her own home and sold many of these books to people who had corresponded with her for many years.  We continue to sell copies of the Meade County Record series, and have reprinted several times. Because of the availability of the federal census through several internet venues, the Census Records have been allowed to go out of print.
Sometime during this busy transcription period, Wathena and her cousin, Jane Meador Newton, also wrote a family research book about their ancestor, Ambrose Meador from Bedford County, Virginia to Breckinridge County, Kentucky.
This immense amount of work has been accomplished by a very plucky lady. Wathena and Bill started their family in the mid-1950's, having their two oldest children, Keith and Yvonne, within the first few years of their marriage.  As a young  wife  and mother aged only 22 years, Wathena was struck with Polio in 1958.  This devastating disease left her partially paralyzed and unable to walk very easily for many years.  After experimental surgery in 1966, she was able to use special crutches for several years,
but used a hand-powered wheelchair many times to save her strength (since 1994 she has used a motorized wheelchair).  With help, she continued to care for their two small children, Keith and Yvonne, in the early years of her illness. A third child, Dawn, was born to Wathena and Bill four years after her contracting the disease.  Her second child, Yvonne, became very ill at age 5 and ½ with a rare neurological disorder and required careful and loving care until her death at age 15 in 1972.
Several years after Yvonne’s death, Wathena  began her family research. Sometime in the mid 1980's she learned to use the microfilm viewer and the computer to read many rolls of microfilm and then transpose her written notes into typescript. She learned to use Brian Harney’s indexing program and indexed her own work. We still benefit from her careful transcriptions because of her knowledge of so many of Meade County’s families and her skillful interpretation of very “difficult to read” handwriting.  Many people have benefitted from Wathena’s work compiling county records that can be easily used, and from her help to others to accurately record and document their family history.  Many of our members who live far away from Kentucky have had no idea about the challenges that she has overcome to benefit so many of us in our own research efforts.  She is one of my heroes.  Wathena’s and Mr. Robert’s portraits will be added to others already displayed at Meade County High School.  There is no one more deserving to be a member of the Hall of Fame of the Meade County Alumni Association.  Wathena, all of us in Ancestral Trails Historical Society congratulate you. We salute you and we thank you!

AHNENTAFEL OF WATHENA KENNEDY MILLER
1.  Wathena Kennedy, b. 28 Apr 1936 m. William N. “Bill” Miller on 20 Aug 1954. Bill died 28 May 2003.  He was the son of Christopher Edward Miller and Lucy Vashti Brown.  Wathena and Bill are parents of three children: Norman Keith Miller, Peggy Yvonne Miller (1957-1972), and Dawn Renee Miller.  They have four grandchildren.
2.  Wathen Richard Kennedy b. 17 Nov 1894, Breckinridge Co., KY, d. 26 Mar 1977, Hardin Co., KY, bur. In Cap Anderson Cemetery, Brandenburg, Meade Co., KY. He m. 19 Feb 1919, Jefferson Co., KY
3.  Beulah Jane Mills b. 19 Oct 1895, Meade Co., KY d. 5 Feb 1988.  Wathen and Beulah Jane Kennedy are buried in Cap Anderson Cemetery in Brandenburg, KY.
4.  James Richard Kennedy b. 25 Sep 1866, Breckinridge Co., KY d. 21 Jan 1941, Meade Co., KY.  He m. 27 Dec 1893, Breckinridge Co., KY
5.  Anna Board Wathen b. 7 July 1963, Meade Co., KY, d. 23 July 1938, Meade Co., KY. James Richard and Anna Board Kennedy are both buried in Cap Anderson Cemetery, Brandenburg, KY.
6.  Charles Henry Mills b. 9 Feb 1849, Meade Co., KY, d. 19 June 1922, Meade County, KY, m. 30 Sep 1891, Jefferson Co., KY
7.  Sarah Elizabeth Neafus b. 1 Jun 1867, Meade Co., KY d. 20 May 1965, Jefferson Co., KY, buried in Meade Co., KY.  Charles Henry and Sarah Mills are buried in
Salem Baptist Church Cemetery, Meade County, KY.
8.  Stephen B. Kennedy b. 22 Nov 1838, Breckinridge Co., KY, d. 10 May 1914, Breckinridge Co., KY, m. 31 Oct 1860, Breckinridge Co., KY
9.  Letitia Jane Bandy b. 8 Jun 1843, Breckinridge Co., KY d. 6 Jul 1902, Breckinridge Co., KY.  Stephen B. And Letitia Kennedy are buried in Sandy Hill Cemetery near Guston, Meade Co., KY.
10.  Horace Gates Wathen b. 6 July 1828, Meade Co., KY d. 29 Dec 1890 m. 24 Nov 1853. He is buried in the Wathen Cemetery, Brandenburg, KY.
11.  Seana “Seany” Mary Little b. 24 Nov 1836, Green County, KY d. 20 Aug 1921, Hardin Co., KY. She is buried in Hardin Co., KY, cemetery not named on her death certificate.
12.  Joseph Mills b. 30 Oct 1824 d. 19 Mar 1891, Meade Co., KY m. 24 Nov 1846, Meade Co., KY. He is buried in the Salem Baptist Church Cemetery, Meade County, KY.
13.  Rebecca Ann Childs b. 21 Jun 1830, Meade Co., KY d. 27 Jun 1900, Nebraska City, NE.  She m/2 a Hayden and moved away from Meade County.
14.  Cornelius Neafus b. 18 Mar 1817, Nelson Co., KY d. 1 Sep 1882, Meade Co., KY
m. 2 May 1848
15.  Mary Jane Bewley b. 25 Mar 1833, Breckinridge Co., KY d. 15 Jun 1885, Meade Co., KY. Cornelius and Mary Jane Neafus are buried in Sandy Hill Cemetery, Meade County, KY.
16.  James Kennedy b. 24 Feb 1816, Breckinridge Co.,. KY d. 7 Sep 1905, Breckinridge Co., KY m. 5 Nov 1835, Breckinridge Co., KY
17.  Polly Ann McCoy b. 24 Nov 1816, Bedford Co., VA d. 12 Dec 1901, Breckinridge Co., KY. James Kennedy and Polly Ann are buried in the Freedom Presbyterian Cemetery, Breckinridge Co., KY.
18.  Richard Bandy, Sr b. 16 Dec 1799, Bedford Co., VA d. 29 July 1845, Breckinridge Co., KY m. 25 Jan 1818, Breckinridge Co., KY
19.  Elizabeth Adkisson b. 7 Jan 1799, Bedford Co., VA d. 21 Jul 1878, Breckinridge Co., KY
20.  Gabriel Wathen b. 25 Jun 1789, Montgomery Co., MD d. 17 Apr 1857, Meade Co., KY m. 19 May 1814, Hardin Co., KY
21.  Charles Seany Little b. 28 Feb 1798, Berkley Co., VA d. 25 Sep 1835, Meade Co., KY
22.  John Parrot Little b. 15 Jul 1801
23.  Joanna Brown b. 31 Mar 1809.  John Parrot Little was a doctor.  John Parrot Little and Joanna moved to Marion County, KY before their deaths and are buried there, exact place unknown.
24.  Joseph Francis Charles Mills b. 24 Aug 1770 St. Mary’s Co., MD d. 1832, Nelson Co., KY m. 2 Nov 1799 Nelson Co., KY
25.  Anne Brown
26.  William Childs b. 14 Feb 1796 Prince George Co., MD d. 6 Oct 1846 Meade Co., KY m.11 May 1819, Nelson Co., KY
27.  Nancy Bridwell b. 20 June 1794 VA d. 26 Oct 1858, Meade Co., KY
28.  George W. Neafus, Sr. B. 1787, VA d. 1844, Meade Co., KY m. 9 Apr 1805, Nelson Co., KY
29.  Sarah Richmire
30.  John Bewley b. 19 Feb 1794 Bedford Co., VA d. 21 May 1866 Meade Co., KY m. 13 Mar 1820, Breckinridge Co., KY
31.  Elizabeth Dent b. 10 Aug 1803, Bedford Co., VA d. 6 Apr 1877, Meade Co., KY. John and Elizabeth Bewley are buried in the Anderson/Cundiff/Bewley cemetery near Guston, Meade Co., KY
32.  Unknown Kennedy
33.  Unknown wife of Mr. Kennedy, but she was b. ca 1783 and d. 19 Nov 1863, buried in Freedom Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Breckinridge Co., KY, according to the church records.
34.  John Paine McCoy b. 17 Feb 1789, Bedford Co., VA d. 8 Aug 1845, Breckinridge Co., KY, m. 14 Feb 1815, Bedford Co., VA
35.  Rachel Smelser
36.  George Bandy b. 1758, Botetourt Co., VA d. 1838, Breckinridge Co., KY, m. in VA
37.  Drucilla Meador b. 1760 Bedford Co., VA d. 16 Dec 1799, Breckinridge Co., Ky. She was a d/o Ambrose Meador.
38.  Lewis Adkisson b. ca 1757, Bedford Co., VA d. 1824/25, Breckinridge Co., KY m. 15 Dec 1782, Bedford Co., VA
39.  Rebecca Ellenton b. 1760 d. 24 Mar 1849, Breckinridge Co., KY
40.  Henry Ambrose Wathen b. ca 1762 in Maryland.  He d. Oct 1806, Washington Co., KY
41.  Bethland Masie Chandler b. 12 Jun 1763.
42.  Richard Little b. ca 1776 VA d. 1801-09, KY, m. 3 Apr 1796, Berkley Co., VA
43.  Caroline Matilda Wintersmith b. 29 Sep 1780, York, PA d. 9 May 1856, Meade Co., KY.  She is buried in the Wathen Cemetery, Brandenburg, KY, having m/2 Henry Yeaky.
44.  Richard Little, b. ca 1776, VA d. 1801-09, KY m. 3 Apr 1796, Berkley Co., VA
45.  Caroline Matilda Wintersmith b. 29 Sep 1780, York, PA d. 9 May 1856, Meade Co.,KY. She is buried in the Wathen Cemetery, Brandenburg, KY, having m/2 Henry Yeaky.
46.  Daniel Brown b. 5 Sep 1765, d. unkn. m. 5 Sep 1799
47.  Theresa Bartlet b. 14 Jan 1782
48.  Justinian Mills b. 2 Apr 1728, St. Mary’s Co., MD d. 20 Mar 1795, MD, m. 26 Oct 1751, St. Mary’s Co., MD
49.  Mary Dant b. 1 Sep 1736 in MD d. 8 Feb 1814, St. Mary’s Co., MD
50.  Anthony Brown
51.  Ann Brewer
52.  William Childs b. ca 1750 Maryland, d. bef 30 Aug 1818, Montgomery Co., MD m. 13 Dec 1781, Prince George Co., MD
53.  Mary Willett b. 21 Aug 1764, Prince George Co., MD d. bef 20 May 1819, Montgomery Co., MD
54.  Unknown Bridwell
55.  Unknown wife of Mr. Bridwell
56.  Cornelius Neafus b. ca 1766 d. bef 6 Oct 1815, appraisal of estate in Nelson Co., KY
57.  Susannah Bozaert
58.  Unknown Richmire
59.  Unknown wife of Mr. Richmire
60.  Christopher Bewley b. 6 Apr 1756, Bedford Co., VA d. 20 Aug 1839, Breckinridge Co., KY m. 16 May 1782, Bedford Co., VA,
61.  Nancy Agnes Patterson b.6 Mar 1765 d. 15 Sep 1822, Breckinridge Co., KY. Christopher and Nancy Bewley are buried near Bewleyville, KY.
62.  William Dent b. 26 Dec 1773, VA d. 3 Sep 1855, Breckinridge Co., KY m. 23 Oct 1800 Bedford Co., VA
63.  Esther Board b. Sep 1783, Bedford Co.,VA, d. 26 Apr 1860, Breckinridge Co., KY

DID EUROPEANS VISIT MEADE COUNTY 300 YEARS BEFORE COLUMBUS SAILED WEST?
BY G. KEMPF, C. LUEKEN, R. BRIGGS & C.L. DAWSON

There is compelling evidence that Europeans reached North America hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus sailed west attempting to reach the orient.  Controversial evidence suggests the Phoenicians (from the coastal regions of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel) may have reached the east coast of North America – perhaps penetrating as far west as present Michigan.  There is little doubt among scholars that the Vikings (Norsemen from Scandinavia) arrived in North America 300 years before Columbus.  Controversy arises regarding how far west the Vikings explored from their landing on the east coast.  The most controversial evidence and speculation involves the claim that the Welsh (Wales, England) reached North America and penetrated north from Alabama to the Dakota’s in the twelfth century.  The Welsh explorer who is believed by some to have accomplished this feat was Madoc.  There is evidence, though controversial, that Madoc penetrated from the Gulf Coast to Kentucky and was forced further north by Native Americans (Shawnee, Cherokee and others) in a battle at the Falls of the Ohio at present Louisville, Kentucky; and eventually settled in North Dakota generations later.

Click on this link for the rest of the story:  http://aths.com/content/brandenburg-stone-mystery

This seemingly god forsaken place does contain one unexpected show place to attract tourists.  In the far northern section of the desert, in the blowing sand and rocky terrain of Grapevine Canyon, stands an elegant mansion as out of place as a rose in an onion patch.  It is known as Death Valley Ranch.  It is also known as Scotty’s Castle, in honor of the prospector for whom it was constructed.  The prospector was Walter Scott, a longtime resident of one of the most inhospitable places on earth who became a living legend in bygone time under the nickname of Death Valley Scotty.

For the rest of the story click on the following:  http://aths.com/content/what-connection-between-death-valley-ca-cynthiana-ky

Private John Shields was born in 1769 near Harrisonberg, Augusta County, Virginia. He was the sixth son of Robert and Nancy Stockson Shields, and one of ten brothers and a sister.  Despite the Captains’ rule that they would only consider unmarried men for their exploring enterprise, they recruited Shields. Shields had married in about 1790, while living in Kentucky. He and his wife Nancy (family name unknown) had a daughter, Martha (Jennette).  It is not known where Nancy is buried.  Jennette married John Tipton, a settler and later a Senator from Indiana.  Jennette divorced John and soon after married Charles Cromwell.  It is believe that William Clark’s brother Jonathan helped provide for Shields’ wife, Nancy, and daughter in his absence.

For the rest of the story:  http://aths.com/content/john-shields-%E2%80%93-member-lewis-and-clark-expedition