A 1908 newspaper notice confirms that James Hamill of St. Louis visited "his sister, Mrs. Susan McCanna" in Joliet—documentary proof of their sibling relationship. His 1910 death certificate identifies their father as James Hamill of Ireland, while Susan's certificate adds their mother's name: Catherine Dougherty. Most intriguingly, James's obituary requested that "Chicago and Joliet (Ill.), and Buffalo and Tarrytown (N.Y.) papers please copy"—revealing unknown Hamill relatives in these locations waiting to be discovered.

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

Charles Francis "Frank" McCanna was the seventh child of Irish immigrants Charles and Susan McCanna, born in Joliet in 1869 and baptized at St. Patrick's Church. A skilled molder at Joliet's stove factories, he raised his family at 829 Cora Street for over sixty years with wife Mary Reilly. At 87, Frank became the longest-lived of all Susan's ten children—and through his son William R. McCanna, DNA evidence connects the family to the broader Donaghmoyne Network.

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

Ellen B. "Nellie" McCanna Sheridan was the sixth child of Irish immigrants Charles and Susan McCanna. After her 1897 divorce, she built a remarkable career as manager of the National Hotel in Joliet, Illinois—raising two sons as a single mother in an era when few women held such positions. Her descendants provide the strongest DNA evidence linking the McCanna family to the broader Donaghmoyne Network.

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

Throughout this series, we traced Charles McCanna and Susan Hamill from their 1857 marriage in Donaghmoyne, County Monaghan, through their settlement in Joliet, Illinois. Now we bring together the genetic evidence. DNA testing across 9 descendants from three children's lines confirms their shared ancestry. More intriguingly, some matches appear with other documented Donaghmoyne families—though at levels that require careful interpretation. This episode presents the DNA evidence, explains what the match levels mean, and explores the McCanna family's potential place within the broader Donaghmoyne Network.

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

Mary Ann McCanna was the first of Charles and Susan McCanna's children to be born in America. Baptized at St. Patrick's Church in Joliet on December 22, 1861, just days after her birth, she would spend her entire life in the city where her Irish immigrant parents had settled. Today, Mary Ann McCanna Kelly is one of three children whose descendants carry DNA connections to the broader Donaghmoyne Network—through her son John Joseph Kelly (1898–1943), DNA matches link this branch of the family to the other documented Donaghmoyne couples.

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

Among the Irish immigrants who settled in Joliet, Illinois, Charles McCanna and Susan Hamill built a life spanning six decades and ten children. Their story emerges through census records, a ship manifest, and—most significantly—Susan's 1917 death certificate, which preserved the names of her Irish-born parents: James Hamill and Catherine Dougherty. This single document opens a research pathway back to County Monaghan, where the McCannas are one of four couples whose descendants share DNA matches—the Donaghmoyne Network.

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

Throughout this series, we traced Owen Hammel and Ann King from their 1846 marriage in Donaghmoyne through their settlement in Wisconsin. Now we examine the DNA evidence connecting their descendants to the Henry Hamall family of Chicago. Matches of 10-34 cM across two platforms, combined with documentary evidence of same-parish marriages and shared naming patterns, support a compelling hypothesis: Owen and Henry may have been brothers. But DNA evidence at these levels requires careful interpretation—the search for definitive proof continues.

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

Mary Anna Hammel was just eight months old when her father Owen died in June 1858, leaving her widowed mother Ann to raise four children alone on an isolated Wisconsin farm. She never knew her father, yet her life would become one of the most thoroughly documented among Owen and Ann's children—and her descendants would provide crucial DNA evidence linking the Wisconsin Hammels to the broader Donaghmoyne Network. Her 1881 marriage record explicitly names her parents as "Owen Hammel" and "Ann King," providing documentary proof that corroborates the guardianship records from 1865.

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

ames Hammel was the eldest child of Owen and Ann Hammel — and the only one born before the family emigrated from New York to Wisconsin. His 1876 marriage record to Mary Ann Sherron explicitly names his parents as "Owen Hammel" and "Annie King," providing crucial documentary evidence of the family's Irish origins. He signed his own name on court documents at age 16, demonstrating literacy unusual for children of Famine immigrants. After raising seven children on a Nebraska farm, James lost everything to foreclosure in 1892 and relocated his family to Oklahoma. He was documented there as late as 1910, but his death record has not yet been located. His children scattered across the Oklahoma oil fields and Wyoming, leaving traces that help reconstruct his story.

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

Henry Patrick Hammel was the younger son of Owen and Ann Hammel—his older brother James had been born in New York before the family moved to Wisconsin. His 1885 marriage record to Lizzie Long explicitly names his parents as "Owen Hammel" and "Ann King," providing crucial documentary proof linking this Nebraska pioneer family to their Irish origins in Donaghmoyne parish. Remembered in his 1926 obituary as "one of those sturdy pioneers who have paved the way for the builders of a nation," Henry's story is now DNA-validated through his daughter Rose Anna's descendants.

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

Mary Elizabeth Hammel was five years old when her father Owen died in 1858, leaving her mother Ann to raise four children on an isolated Wisconsin farm. In 1875, she followed her widowed mother to Nebraska, where she married Edwin L. Bucklin and raised eight children—all of whom survived to adulthood. Her sudden death in 1927, captured in vivid detail by her local newspaper obituary, provides crucial genealogical documentation connecting this family to the broader Donaghmoyne Network through DNA-validated descendants.

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