Carl Sebastian Kayser was born January 16, 1726 in the village of Möckmühl, Duchy of Württemberg (Germany), the son of Andreas and Anna Catharina (Schuhmacher) Kayser.  At the age of 23, he emigrated to the colony of Pennsylvania on board the ship "Patience" arriving at the port of Philadelphia on September 19, 1749.  Carl then became an indentured servant to Johan Jacob Eichholtz who owned an inn and butcher shop in Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  It was here that he met and married Mary Shelly, daughter of Christian and Magdalena Shelly, about 1751.  He Americanized his name to Charles Keyser and later removed his family to the Shenandoah Valley where he purchased 108 acres along the Shenandoah River near present day Luray, Page County, Virginia.  He died here in the Spring of 1778 leaving 10 children.