Thomas Patrick Kenny was born in Covehead, Prince Edward Island, in 1871—barely a year before his father died. His widowed mother brought him to Chicago, where he joined the fire department at nineteen, served forty-four years, and in November 1909, descended into a burning mine to help rescue twenty-one men trapped underground for eight days. He married twice—both times to sisters from the same family—raised seven children, survived cancer, and retired to Florida where his grandchildren knew him as "Pa," the gentle giant who could fix anything.

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies From Research to Story

In the year James Kenny died—1872—Margaret Connors Kenny was thirty-six years old, widowed, with four children under ten. Five years later, she left everything she knew and traveled a thousand miles to Chicago, a city still rebuilding from fire. She supported her young family by taking in washing, buried a son at fifteen, and lived forty-four years in her adopted city. When she died in 1925, the newspapers called her a "Pioneer."

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies From Research to Story

On November 22, 1890, Hugh Connors died at his farm on Friston Road in Lot 34, Prince Edward Island. He was approximately ninety years old. The Summerside Journal recorded his passing: "age 90, widower, 4 sons, 5 daus. Came from County Wexford, Ireland, in 1832." His will, signed nine months before his death, left the 105-acre farm to his grandson Hugh with instructions that his unmarried daughter Ann "will live with my aforesaid Grandson Hugh Connors and that he will support her while she will live with him." Hugh's death marked the end of an era for the Connors family on Prince Edward Island—and the beginning of a new chapter in Chicago.

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies From Research to Story

On June 25, 1872, James Kenny died at approximately 40 years old. He left behind his wife Margaret, three young children, an unborn son, a leasehold farm on Covehead Road, and a will that wasn't properly witnessed. Margaret was 32 years old and illiterate. Over a year later, she stood before the Surrogate Court of Prince Edward Island, made her mark on a petition, and secured Letters of Administration with the help of two neighboring farmers who stepped forward as sureties. The probate records tell a story of modest prosperity, legal complication, and a widow's determination.

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies From Research to Story

Between November 1866 and November 1868, three weddings transformed two neighboring families on Prince Edward Island into one extended kinship network. James Kenny married Margaret Connors. Three months later, his sister Bridget married Margaret's brother Edward. Two years after that, the widowed Kenny patriarch Lawrence—now 64 years old—married Bridget Connors, his children's sister-in-law. This episode explores what these marriages reveal about family bonds, community structure, and survival strategies in 19th-century Irish immigrant communities.

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies From Research to Story

In 1833, Hugh Connors and Mary Crimmens married in New Brunswick—both described as "natives of Ireland." By 1841, they had settled on Lot 34, Prince Edward Island, just down the road from the Kenny family. Their children grew up as neighbors. Three of them would marry Kennys. This is the story of how two Irish immigrant families became one.

Part of the Storyline Genealogy series: Documentary Biographies From Research to Story