Recently moved to upstate New York from the comfort of their Vermont homestead, the Benjamin Steed family makes their way into the established social structure of Palmyra. In their attempt to settle peacefully into the new community they find the help that they have hired to clear their land is at the center of a religious controversy — a controversy that threatens to tear the family apart. Two of the Steed brothers contend for the favor of a wealthy merchant's daughter and they find themselves on opposite sides of the religious question. As the family struggles to smooth the contention they find themselves twisted into deeper issues of family loyalty and the pursuit of truth.