Brady, gives birth to a baby boy in the New York Foundling Hospital in New York City. She names him Ignatius, but knows she cannot keep him. Bessie signs him over to the Sisters of Charity at the hospital, who place lost, abandoned and illegitimate children on "orphan trains" to Catholic families mainly throughout the Midwest. Between 1854 and 1929 about 200,000 children were placed on these orphan trains for a better life. Follow Ignatius as he is sent out several times to families locally for adoption but is returned to the Foundling each time. When Ignatius was six years old, a childless couple in North Dakota requests from the Sisters of Charity a handsome, intelligent boy with brown or blue eyes. The couple promises the Sisters this boy will have everything, including a university education. The Sisters are delighted and select Ignatius to ride the orphan train to North Dakota. Will he be returned to the Foundling, or will he stay in North Dakota with his new parents? Will he be loved and raised as one of their own or will he become an indentured servant as many of these orphans do? And how does he wind up back in New York City and New Jersey during the Great Depression? See how his future unfolds with meeting a beautiful girl, who also grew up in foster homes and orphanages. For A Thousand Generations is a story of loss and return, of love and memories, of faith and a legacy for the generations.