The first of two-volumes, this book traces Owen McKean Laughlin's ancestors all the way back to 1633 and his earliest immigrant ancestors in America; they were Puritans from England determined to escape religious oppression by sailing to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His first ancestors in Michigan were Presbyterians who came from Ayrshire, Scotland in 1838, arriving in Lapeer County’s “Scotch Settlement,” the first permanent settlement in the county, and the only one formed primarily from religious convictions. Their stories reveal courageous Christians: Puritans, Quakers, Baptists, Anglicans, and Presbyterians, who came to America seeking religious freedom as well as opportunity. Through the past 400 years, the church has been central to the lives of our ancestors.