My grandfather Peter Lawrence, left, and his son Harry operated a welding and blacksmith shop in Erie, PA from the 1920s to 1948, when Peter died. They began by shoeing horses, but with the advent of cars, they switched mainly to heating, tempering and sharpening chisels and other steel devices used by the city workers who operated air hammers in street construction and repair. Peter was a native of Riga, Latvia and never learned to drive or to speak English.