LEE WILLIAM BARNEY

Lee comes from a long line of Barneys in the United States.  The Barney’s originally were Quakers living in England and came to America in the late 1600’s.  They originally settled in Massachusetts.  Later generations moved to Rhode Island and New York. Lee was born 3 March 1903 in the Town of Johnsburg, New York To Lewis and…

Bella Ruozzo Leardi

On November 30, 1907 Bellonia Ruozzo left the port of Naples aboard the steamer the S. S. Roma with her husband, Vitoliano Leardi and their four year old son, Luigi, to embark on a new life in America.  On their ships manifest they stated that their birthplace was in the Province of Caserta, Campania, Italy.  When Vitoliano…

Ivan Walter Holm – Trains

My grandfather, Ivan, was born in 1899 in Aspen, Colorado.  His father was a miner and had moved from Leadville, CO to Aspen about 1890.  The family lived in Oklahoma Flats, along the Roaring Fork River. The family consisted of Charley, Ivan’s father, Anna, Ivan’s mother and his siblings: Oscar, Alfred, Eileen, Carl, Edwin, Richard, twins Ruth…

A Guy Named Joe

Below is a story, written by my father – his own biography. This is a story of a guy named Joe.  Joe, that’s me. I was born on April Fool’s Day in 1932.  I was born in a small hospital in a small town called Whitinsville in the southern part of Massachusetts.  When I was born, I…

Grandfathers

I was the daughter of a military man.  That meant we lived where the US Air Force decided we’d live.  As such it was never anywhere near where my mothers’ parents were, they lived in Los Angeles, CA or my father’s parents, who lived near Boston, MA.  That being said, I knew and remember my grandfathers.  We would occasionally…

VIERSTRA HISTORY

Meinte Gerben Vierstra was born on August 7, 1863 in the town of Sneek, Friesland, the Netherlands. He migrated to Kathaus (Koontz) Germany. This is a small town near the city of Trier on the Mouselle River. From Germany, he came to Canonsburg, PA United States of America. He died in Whitinsville (Northbridge), Massachusetts on…