Indentured: A Pathway to America

On a bright summer day in 1746, ten-year-old Ulrich Kessler stands at the bow of the wooden ship Webb, scanning the horizon for a longed-for glimpse of colonial Philadelphia. Desperate to leave the poverty and strife of the family's homeland in Germany, Ulrich's father, Johann, has signed an indenture contract for his family, expecting that they will be placed together on a Pennsylvania farm to work toward a free and secure life in the New World.

But the Kesslers' Atlantic crossing is marked by unforeseen cruelty, disease, and death. When they arrive in Philadelphia, they are put on auction blocks and sold to unscrupulous masters. Soon, Ulrich finds himself alone in the world.

Indentured: A Pathway to America, a work of historical fiction based on the Kesslers' true story and written by their descendants, describes betrayal, fear, and grief — even a tragic double murder — but it is ultimately a story of hope and love. Ulrich and the generations that followed him persevered, eventually settling in frontier Kentucky, creating an American family that came of age with the new nation.

About the Authors

Larry Kessler is a retired executive from Pitney Bowes, where he worked for thirty years. He holds a bachelor's degree from Eastern Kentucky University in education, attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and completed corporate classes at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business. When he is not writing or doing charitable work with a number of organizations, you will find Larry at the YMCA or on the golf course.

Maggie Kessler is an accomplished artist who majored in art at the University of Kentucky. She has won several awards for her work in watercolors, oils, and acrylics. Maggie's paintings have been featured in many art shows and displayed in Nashville's York & Friends Fine Art Gallery, in an HGTV "giveaway" home in Nashville, and even in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC.

Larry and Maggie have been married more than fifty years. They reside in Louisville, Kentucky, having moved back after many decades away to be close to their seven grandchildren. Indentured: A Pathway to America is their first book.