His father called him Detail Dan. Relying on his memory, and correspondence with scattered cousins, the author of this book compiled the statistics of 16 branches of his own family from the time the first of them came to Canada around 1800. By 1991, they had scattered across Canada and the United States. He distributed loose leaf copies to them. In 1995, at the urging of a nephew, he began to flesh out the unusual lives of his immediate family, and their adventures in 20th century America.