A history of the Brunner family of desperate German immigrants who came to colonial America in 1729. After years of likely indentured servitude in Pennsylvania, they moved to Frederick County, Maryland and rose to a level of affluence. Their lives and times typify the many German immigrants who helped build the United States. The book also offers a tour in words and pictures of the large stone home that the Brunners built in Frederick Town in 1758 and named Schifferstadt, after their home town in the old country. Today it is the oldest building in the county open to visitors. TheSchifferstadt Architectural Museum preserves such an outstanding example of Germanhome-building design and technology that in 2017 the U.S. Department of theInterior awarded it elite status as a National Historic Landmark.  The book also has a fictionalized account of "A Year at Schifferstadt," which describes the daily lives of the family living at the farm. The book is thoroughly researched and documented with scores of references to historical sources. A window onto the great migration that gave rise to the single largest group of Americans by national origin. The story of the United States before it became the United States. The family's perilous journey to Philadelphia in 1729. - Their mystery years in Pennsylvania. - Their settlement in the wilderness of colonial Maryland. - Their rise in economic status. - Their participation in the civic, religious and military life of the province of Maryland. - The large, stone home they built in Frederick Town. - A fictionalized "Year at Schifferstadt." Living history in words rather than costumes. PATRICIA OGDEN, a local historian, has devoted several years to digging up key facts from government and church records in Maryland and Pennsylvania. She is retired from the financial sector and lives in Frederick with her husband and one shy cat. BOYCE RENSBERGER is a retired journalist with The Washington Post and The New York Times. He is a Brunner descendant who lived in six states before settling in Frederick and discovering that he had come home. He lives with his wife and two small dogs.