Category: Uncategorized

TM 37-305 Typewriter Maintenance.

TM 11-333 Telephones EE8ab MAR 1945

I thought it might be a good time to start some articles on my site about my family’s history. I don’t want to say too much but there are some interesting nuggets worth sharing.

Great-Great Uncle John Noonan – Paternal Grandma’s side

I am related to John Noonan (grandma’s side of the family) who was the brother of Sara Noonan. Sara Noonan (who married and became Sara Noonan Curly) was my grandma’s, Virginia Costa, grandma.

Great-Great Uncle John Noonan fought in the Civil War. He enlisted Oct 1st, 1861 in F company, 47th Regiment out of Peoria Ill at the age of 24. He was 5’11 with blue eyes and light hair. He was born in 1837 in Ireland.

According to the roster, he achieved the rank of Corp. and was mustered out of service on Oct 11th, 1864.

He may have been wounded in some battle and/or spent time in the Andersonville Prison camp. However, he would have to have been paroled at some point. Though, prison exchanges seemed to have stopped by June of 1864. So it’s unlikely.

Far more likely is that since he is supposed to have signed up at the start of the war the original terms of his enlistment ended on Oct 11th, 1864 and he was discharged. If that’s the case then he saw lots of action under Grant as he moved to take Vicksburg and beyond.

Great-Great Uncle John Lieb – Paternal Grandma’s side

I am related to John Lieb (might be written as Leib; grandma’s side of the family). He was born in Austria in 1834 and ended up in The Town of Lake which was eventually absorbed into Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He became a private in the Union Army on Oct 13th, 1864. He was with Company D, 12th Wisconsin Infantry. For a complete military history of the unit see: Chapter XX: Regimental History -12th Infantry.

We think he enlisted either as a substitute and/or to gain citizenship.

He likely came to the unit as a replacement and just marched with Sherman to the Sea. Then turned north into South Carolina and North Carolina. Mostly engaged in a handful of minor skirmishes. Was at the Battle of Bentonville but was not engaged. 

He was mustered out on June 16th, 1865.

At some point, he ended up at the Northwest Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (DVS) in Milwaukee. This is now essentially the modern-day Milwaukee VA Medical Center location.

He died around 1:32 am on Feb 14th, 1904 at the intersection of National Ave at 40th St in Milwaukee. We think he left his home and walked a mile to the saloons that were once located on the street. Got drunk and passed out on the tracks.

He was buried at SECTION 14 SITE 75 of the Wood National Cemetary in Milwaukee Wisconsin.

Coroner’s Report of Death

Below is a transcript of the report:

At 1:30 am on the morning of Feb 14th, 1904 a streetcar of the Milwaukee Electric Railway was heading west on National Ave at 40th St. It was a dark night. There were no street lights on this segment of the tracks and all the saloons along the way had closed for the night.

The streetcar (trolly) was described by Andrew Burns, the motorman as “one of the new large double-truck cars.”. It was empty of passengers except for the motorman and the conductor. The motorman had his front window opened. It had snowed earlier in the evening and now had turned cold. “I could get a better view of the tracks that way, he said.

It was 1:32 am as the #294 car headed downhill towards the Veterans’ home. “We were going about 5 or 7 miles an hour”, the conductor Gustau Will testified. The headlights on the car were working and as the streetcar rolled along the motorman said, “I saw a man lying lengthwise between the two rails that I was running on.” Too late to use any safety devices, the streetcar struck and killed the man. The body was taken to the home but they could not revive it. The body was taken to the coroner’s office on Sycamore St. and East Water.

At the inquest the company commander, Cpt Edwin R. Parks identified the clothing from the victim of the accident as those belonging to John Leib, a member of the Veterans’ Home residence. The Captain described John as a “quiet man at the home”, however, he did have a reputation of “going out and getting full”. The death was listed as accidental.

My Notes on the transcript

1. East Water Street is now called North Water Street.
2. See the Milwaukee Electric Railway Wikipedia article for more information.
3. Double-truck trolley cars were developed around 1900 so Milwaukee got some a couple of years later to replace single truck ones. These double-truck cars are bigger and can hold more passengers.
4. According to a trolley map, it looks like there was a stop nearby along the route. Not sure if it means anything just something of interest.

My maternal grandmother, Virginia sketched out a brief family tree below:

John Lieb

The John Lieb who fought in the Civil war as noted above had a child named John Lieb. He was born in 1873 in Fond Du Loc Wisconsin. According to my grandma, a John Leib and his wife are mentioned as founders of the city. I’m not sure it’s the Civil War John Leib as he was born in 1834 in Austria…and Fond Du Loc was founded in the 1840s. It could civil war “John Lieb”‘s dad (who probably was named John Lieb), though.

The John Lieb who was born in 1873 became a master plumber and had a contract to lay the water/sewer lines in Milwaukee County. He likely died in the Spanish Flu pandemic. He married Jeanette Slipper (born 1876 and died in 1928).

In the image above, it is a picture of Civil War John Lieb’s offspring. The people listed are from left to right:
Annie (Lieb) Wirshern born 1878
Sadie (Leib) Schaefer born 1866
John Leib born 1873
Rose (Leib) Alberty born 1879
Mary (Leib) Gasper born 1870

The plumber John Lieb would go on to have a kid and name him John Lieb. This John Lieb was my grandma (Virginia)’s dad. This John Lieb was born in 1897 and died in 1963. He married Gertrude Curley (born 1896 and died 1971).

Great-Great-Great Grandmother – Paternal Grandma’s side

I am related to Mary (or Marie) Kohler who married Charles Slipper. Their daughter, Jennette Slipper married John Leib. According to my grandma, Virginia (maiden name Leib), Mary was born in a monastery that made beer. Mary’s mother’s name was Babbette Lehmann. Mary’s father was named Christian (probably had the last name of Kohler) who was a brewer.

According to my grandma, most of my German ancestors came from Neuenburg, a small city in Bavaria.

In the letter, my grandma seems to say Mary was born in the Heiborn Monastary but that doesn’t seem to exist? She might be referring to the Heilbronn as the city? That city has a Maulbronn Monastery. But Heilbronn isn’t located in Bavaria, it’s located in a different German state.

Great-great-great grandpa Giacinto Menoldi – Paternal Grandpa’s Side

On my maternal Grandpa’s side, there is a great-great-great grandpa called Giacinto Menoldi (who married Philipina Santoro) who was a duke in Milan. But the spelling of his name may not be clear…and there’s not much of a historical record of it?

Great Grandpa – Emmanuel Costa

When Costa First Appeared

The first time, according to Virginia, Costa appeared in records was in 1436 when Costa become a writer/recorder for the Vatican.

Costa Family Tree

My dad created this Family tree based on his knowledge. It’s meant to be read from left to right. You can download the images to get a clear picture of the tree.

Some images from California Avocado’s Direct on how to store, ripen and tell which kinds of Avocados are in season.

How to tell which avocados are in season:

How to Store and Ripen Avocados

TPS-L2

The kind seen in Guardians of the Galaxy. Sony’s first model. Came out in July 1979

WM-41

Came out in 1986.

For a collection of articles that highlight specifically the urban/rural divide see: What’s Up With Rural America and How to Fix It.

There is so much misinformation out there about the Trump administration’s new “zero tolerance” policy that requires criminal prosecution, which then warrants the separating of parents and children at the border. Before responding to a post defending this policy, please do your research.

Myth 1: This is not a new policy and was practiced under Obama and Clinton –

FALSE. The policy to separate parents and children is new and was instituted on 4/6/2018. It was the brainchild of John Kelly and Stephen Miller to serve as a deterrent for undocumented immigration, approved by Trump, and adopted by Sessions. Prior administrations detained migrant families, but didn’t have a practice of forcibly separating parents from their children unless the adults were deemed unfit. https://www.justice.gov/…/press-rele…/file/1049751/download…

Myth 2: This is the only way to deter undocumented immigration –

FALSE. Annual trends show that arrests for undocumented entry are at a 46 year low, and undocumented crossings dropped in 2007, with a net loss (more people leaving than arriving). Deportations have increased steadily though (spiking in 1996 and more recently), because several laws that were passed since 1996 have made it legally more difficult to gain legal status for people already here, and thus increased their deportations (I address this later under the myth that it’s the Democrats’ fault). What we mostly have now are people crossing the border illegally because they’ve already been hired by a US company, or because they are seeking political asylum. Economic migrants come to this country because our country has kept the demand going. But again, many of these people impacted by Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy appear to be political asylum-seekers. https://www.npr.org/…/arrests-for-illegal-border-crossings-…

Myth 3: Most of the people coming across the border are just trying to take advantage of our country by taking our jobs –

FALSE. Most of the parents who have been impacted by Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy have presented themselves as political asylum-seekers at a U.S. port-of-entry, from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Rather than processing their claims, they have been taken into custody on the spot and had their children ripped from their arms. The ACLU alleges that this practice violates the Asylum Act, and the UN asserts that it violates the UN Treaty on the State of Refugees, one of the few treaties the US has ratified. This is an illegal act on the part of the United States government, not to mention morally and ethically reprehensible. https://www.nytimes.com/…/meatpackers-profits-hinge-on-pool…

Myth 4: We’re a country that respects the Rule of Law, and if people break the law, this is what they get –

FALSE. We are a country that has an above-ground system of immigration and an underground system. Our government (under both parties) has always been aware that US companies recruit workers in the poorest parts of Mexico for cheap labor, and ICE (and its predecessor INS) has looked the other way because this underground economy benefits our country to the tune of billions of dollars annually. Thus, even though the majority of people crossing the border now are asylum-seekers, those who are economic migrants (migrant workers) likely have been recruited here to do jobs Americans will not do. https://www.upi.com/…/Donald-Trumps-wall-ign…/2621477498203/

Myth 5 : The children have to be separated from their parents because there parents must be arrested and it would be cruel to put children in jail with their parents –

FALSE. First, in the case of economic migrants crossing the border illegally, criminal prosecution has not been the legal norm, and families have been kept together at all cost. Also, crossing the border without documentation is a typically a misdemeanor not requiring arrest, but rather a civil proceeding. Additionally, parents who have been detained have historically been detained with their children in ICE “family residential centers,” again, for civil processing. The Trump administration’s shift in policy is for political purposes only, not legal ones. See p. 18: https://www.aclu.org/…/ms-l-v-ice-plaintiffs-opposition-def…

Myth 6: We have rampant fraud in our asylum process the proof of which is the significant increase we have in the number of people applying for asylum.

FALSE. The increase in asylum seekers is a direct result of the increase in civil conflict and violence across the globe. While some people may believe that we shouldn’t allow any refugees into our country because “it’s not our problem,” neither our current asylum law, nor our ideological foundation as a country support such an isolationist approach. There is very little evidence to support Sessions’ claim that abuse of our asylum-seeking policies is rampant. Also, what Sessions failed to mention is that the majority of asylum seekers are from China, not South of the border. Here is a very fair and balanced assessment of his statements: http://www.politifact.com/…/jeff-sessions-claim-about-asyl…/

Myth 7: The Democrats caused this, “it’s their law.”

FALSE. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats caused this, the Trump administration did (although the Republicans could fix this today, and have refused). I believe what this myth refers to is the passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which were both passed under Clinton in 1996. These laws essentially made unauthorized entry into the US a crime (typically a misdemeanor for first-time offenders), but under both Republicans and Democrats, these cases were handled through civil deportation proceedings, not a criminal proceeding, which did not require separation. And again, even in cases where detainment was required, families were always kept together in family residential centers, unless the parents were deemed unfit (as mentioned above). Thus, Trump’s assertion that he hates this policy but has no choice but to separate the parents from their children, because the Democrats “gave us this law” is false and nothing more than propaganda designed to compel negotiation on bad policy. https://www.independent.co.uk/…/trump-democrats-us-border-m…

Myth 7: The parents and children will be reunited shortly, once the parents’ court cases are finalized.

FALSE. Criminal court is a vastly different beast than civil court proceedings. Also, the children are being processed as unaccompanied minors (“unaccompanied alien children”), which typically means they are sent into the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS). Under normal circumstances when a child enters the country without his or her parent, ORR attempts to locate a family member within a few weeks, and the child is then released to a family member, or if a family member cannot be located, the child is placed in a residential center (anywhere in the country), or in some cases, foster care. Prior to Trump’s new policy, ORR was operating at 95% capacity, and they simply cannot effectively manage the influx of 2000+ children, some as young as 4 months. Also, keep in mind, these are not unaccompanied minor children, they have parents. There is great legal ambiguity on how and even whether the parents will get their children back because we are in uncharted territory right now. According to the ACLU lawsuit (see below), there is currently no easy vehicle for reuniting parents with their children. Additionally, according to a May 2018 report, numerous cases of verbal, physical and sexual abuse were found to have occurred in these residential centers. https://www.aclu.org/…/aclu-obtains-documents-showing-wides…

Myth 8: This policy is legal.

LIKELY FALSE. The ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on 5/6/18, and a recent court ruling denied the government’s motion to dismiss the suit. The judge deciding the case stated that the Trump Administration policy is “brutal, offensive, and fails to comport with traditional notions of fair play and decency.” The case is moving forward because it was deemed to have legal merit.https://www.bloomberg.com/…/aclu-suit-over-child-separation…

Below are some links to websites that cover issues related to future development and growth for Columbus, Ohio

All Columbus Data

Columbus Underground

Insight2050

Columbus 2020

Columbus Development and Planning

Columbus Biz Journal

Every once and a while I come up with a poem. This page will serve as a repository of them.

Folding Doors are not Mismatched

Folding Doors are not Mismatched

Same wood. Same paint. Same design.

Made together, for each other.

Strong.  Solid.

Folding doors, apart during the day, yet always near.

They see the world that separates them. 

Evening settles and they are reunited.

Doors of equal.

Strong.  Solid.

Folding Doors are not Mismatched

Animals: dog, cat, fish, bird, ‘animal’ (dog/cat/fish/bird = animal), snake, cow, pig, mouse, horse, elephant, tail, wing

Transport: train, plane, car, bicycle, bus, boat, tire, gasoline, (train) ticket

City/Countryside: city, house, street, airport, train station, bridge, hotel, farm, a crowd, court

Clothes: hat, dress, skirt, shirt, T-shirt, pants, shoes, pocket

Colors: red, green, blue (light/dark), yellow, green, brown, pink, orange, black, white, gray

People-related: son, daughter, mother, father, man, woman, brother, sister, family, grandfather, grandmother, husband, wife, king, queen, neighbor, boy, girl, religion, death, money

Beverages: coffee, tea, wine, beer, juice, water, milk

Food/Food Related: eggs, cheese, bread, soup, cake, chicken, pork, beef, apple, banana, orange, lemon, corn, rice, oil, seed, knife, spoon, fork, plate, cup, breakfast, lunch, dinner, sugar

Home: table, chair, clock, bed, lamp, window, door, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, pencil, pen, photograph, soap, cell phone, computer, laptop, camera, television, book, key, paint

Body: head, face, hair, eye, mouth, nose, ear, tongue, back, finger, toe, leg, foot, heart, blood, brain, tooth, knee, sweat, disease, bone, beard, tear (drop)

Nature: sea, river, mountain, rain, snow, tree, sun, moon, forest, plant, wind, soil/earth, flower, valley, root, lake, star, grass, leaf, air, sand, beach, ocean, wave, morning, evening, night

Jobs: doctor, waiter, priest, police, firefighter

Materials, Measurements, Math: glass, metal, wood, stone, clay, meter, centimeter, kilogram, inch, pound, half, circle, square, silver, gold, diamond, copper

Misc: ball, game, price, gun, dream, left, right, straight, bag, box, barrel, map, a dot, poison, needle, consonant, vowel, light, yes, no

Seasons: Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall

Numbers: 1-22, 31, 32, 41, 42, 51, 52, 61, 62, 71, 72, 81, 82, 91, 92, 100, 101, 102, 110, 111, 1000, 1001, 10000, 100000, 1000000

Months: 1-12 (use a calendar and numbers)

Days of the week: 1-7 (use a calendar and numbers) (learning these leads into “Today/Yesterday/Tomorrow”)

Times: year, month, day, hour, minute, second (use a calendar and clock)

Cardinal Numbers: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th

Verbs that are somewhat easy to picture:

to work, to play, to go, to walk, to run, to drive (careful with verbs of motion!), to follow, to think, to speak/say, to eat, to drink, to kill, to die, to smile, to laugh, to cry, to buy, to shoot(a gun), to jump, to smell, to see, to taste, to touch, to hear, to kiss, to burn, to melt, to dig, to explode, to sit, to stand, to love, to drive, to pass, to cut, to fight, to lie down, to dance, to sleep, to wake up, to sing, to count, to marry, to pray, to win, to lose, to mix/stir, to bend, to wash, to cook, to open, to close

Adjectives/Adverbs that are somewhat easy to picture:

long/short, tall/short, wide/narrow, big/small, slow/fast, hot/cold, new/old, good/bad, wet/dry, sick/healthy, loud/quiet, happy/sad, beautiful/ugly, deaf, nice/mean, rich/poor, thick/thin, expensive/cheap, flat/curved, male/female, tight/loose

Links to resources to learn German and Farsi.