This book is my autobiography. My target readers are my family and my progeny. Over the years I have regretted not talking to my grandparents more about their lives and their parents and grandparents. I hope this book fills that void for my progeny. I have written it, too, for my friends and for my neighbors in Beaverdam who have often asked me about the history and events in Beaverdam that I have witnessed and heard from the "old folks" that I knew. An autobiography must pass through a very strong filter. It is an inherent part of the process. Winston Churchill has been quoted as saying,...