In the shadows of the English Plague of 1625, Jonathan Fairbanks finds himself snubbed in his father's will and thrust into the chaos of King Charles's Puritan persecution and political turmoil. Risking everything, he sails with his young family over treacherous seas to the uncertainty of the wilderness founded as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Jonathan struggles to carve a place for his family in the new inland town of Dedham. Grace, his wife, strives to overcome her superstitions, doubts and hardships while sustaining their family. Just when Jonathan sees security for his family, his son, Jonas, asserts his own ambitions - contrary to his father's. This takes Jonas to Hammersmith and to a new frontier where he finds a way to marry for love.

The Fairbanks family built the oldest standing frame house in America in 1637. It is now a National Historic Landmark. Hammersmith is now the Saugus Ironworks, NPS. The nation is nearing the 400th anniversary of the Boston and Massachusetts Bay Colony in 2030; Dedham, MA, in 2035/36; The Fairbanks House in 2037. This story ties to the Ancient and Honorable Artilery Company, to Lancaster, Massachusetts and ultimately to the King Philip's War.