George Kracha is born in a small village in Hungary. He decides to immigrate to America at the age of twenty-one in order to find a better life and escape the poverty and oppression he suffers under the regime of Emperor Franz Josef. George is naive and falls for a married woman on the boat and spends his money on a party for her so he arrives in America with fifty cents in his pocket and walks to his sister's in Pennsylvania, where he rooms with Joe Dubik. When his wife arrives, he moves into quarters with her and they move around as the railroad company needs them to. They have three daughters: Mary, Alice and Anna.
George begins his own business after the death of Joe. He buys a butcher shop and becomes successful until he loses it all. When his wife dies, he marries Zuska. One night he beats her and is arrested. When he is released from jail, the bank has foreclosed on the lots he owned, his house and furniture and belongings are gone, along with Zuska. Then he returns to work in the steel mills, where he remains until he retires. He eventually moves in with his grandson Dobie and his wife Julie and his pension helps them make ends meet financially. He dies of a stroke.
Mary Kracha is the daughter of George and Elena. She is born at the White Haven camp. Mary begins to work for a wealthy family at the age of fifteen and stays there until she marries Mike Dobrejcak and has a son, John Joseph in 1903 and then a daughter named Pauline. There are two more children, Mikie and Agnes. Mary supports the children after the death of her husband until she is diagnosed with consumption and has to go to a sanitarium. She dies in the sanitarium after a little more than a year.
These two generations show that while things may get economically better for them (and politically) than the original country, there are still issues pertaining to generational views, customs, and ways of viewing money, gender roles, and living in a new country.
