The Evidence Trail

Births of Henry Hamall & Mary McMahon

Henry Hamall (about 1817) and Mary McMahon (about 1820) were born in County Monaghan, Ireland. No baptisms have been located for either.

The estimates come from Henry’s age of 37 at his 1854 burial in Montreal and Mary’s age of 54 at her 1874 burial there.

Source Burial records, Basilique Notre-Dame, Montreal, 1854 and 1874  ·  Gallery Part 3, #75, #77

Tithe Applotment Record

A Henry Hamil is listed in Edengilrew (Edengilrevy), parish of Donaghmoyne, County Monaghan.

Our Henry was about seven in 1824, so this Henry Hamil belongs to an older generation: possibly his father or uncle. The relationship is not proven.

Source Tithe Applotment Books, Donaghmoyne parish, 1824; National Archives of Ireland  ·  Gallery Part 3, #79

Marriage of Henry Hamall & Mary McMahon

Henry Hamall married Mary McMahon in Donaghmoyne parish, County Monaghan.

Names Owen’s parents and places the family in Donaghmoyne on the eve of the Famine.

Source Donaghmoyne parish marriage register, 1841  ·  Gallery Part 3, #62

Birth of Owen Hamall

Owen was born in Ireland, probably in Donaghmoyne parish. No baptism has been found. His stated ages do not agree: 18 in the 1861 census (about 1843), 31 at his 1879 marriage (about 1848) and 51 at his death in 1898 (about 1847).

Every estimate places his birth in the hungry years before or during the Famine. The age conflict is analyzed on the methodology page.

Source 1861 Census of Canada East; 1879 Cook County marriage license; 1898 Chicago death certificate  ·  Gallery Part 1, #1, #2, #11, #16

Baptism of Mary Hamill

Mary, daughter of Henry Hamill and Mary McMahon, was baptized in Donaghmoyne parish during “Black ’47,” the deadliest year of the Great Famine.

Ties Henry and Mary to the parish after their 1841 marriage. Mary was Owen’s sister; she would die in Montreal in 1851.

Source Donaghmoyne parish baptismal register, 1847; rootsireland.ie  ·  Gallery Part 3, #66

Emigration from Ireland

Henry and Mary left County Monaghan for Montreal with their children. No passenger list has been located. Michael, born in Ireland about 1850 according to the 1861 census, was baptized in Montreal on 30 June 1851, so the family had arrived by mid-1851.

One family among the hundreds of thousands who left Ireland in the Famine years; Montreal was a common destination for emigrants from Ulster.

Source Inferred from Michael’s 1851 baptism and the 1861 census  ·  Gallery Part 3, #68, #69

Griffith’s Valuation

Hamill households are listed in several Donaghmoyne townlands, including James Hamill in Dian, a Henry Hamill in Edengilrevy and an Owen Hamill in Drumaconvern.

Only James Hamill of Dian (1827–1914, married Anna Gartlan) is confirmed as kin. The Henry and Owen in the valuation are other men: Owen’s father Henry had died in Montreal in 1854.

Source Griffith’s Primary Valuation, County Monaghan, Donaghmoyne parish  ·  Gallery Part 3, #78

Death of Mary Hamall

Mary, child of Henry Hamall and Mary McMahon, died in Montreal at about age four.

She survived the Famine and the crossing, and died within a year or two of the family’s arrival.

Source Montreal Catholic burial register, 1851  ·  Gallery Part 3, #67

Baptism of Michael Hamall

Michael, “born about a year ago,” son of Henry Hamall, journalier (day laborer), and Mary McMahon, was baptized at the Basilique Notre-Dame, Montreal. Sarah McMahon was sponsor.

The documentary anchor for the family’s arrival in Montreal.

Source Basilique Notre-Dame, Montreal; Drouin Collection  ·  Gallery Part 3, #68

Birth and Baptism of Mary Ann Hamill

Mary, daughter of Henry Hamell, journalier, and Mary McMahon, was baptized at the Basilique Notre-Dame, Montreal, on April 10, “born the day before yesterday.” She is Mary Ann at her 1879 marriage; the 1901 census gives her birth as March 17, 1856.

Owen’s younger sister. Her descendants are the DNA matches that later corroborated the family.

Source Basilique Notre-Dame, Montreal; Drouin Collection  ·  Gallery Part 3, #71

Death of Henry Hamall

Henry Hamall, journalier, died in Montreal at about age 37 and was buried from the Basilique Notre-Dame.

He left Mary McMahon a widow with Owen, Michael (about four) and Mary Ann (one).

Source Basilique Notre-Dame burial register, 1854  ·  Gallery Part 3, #75

Marriage of Mary McMahon & Patrick Thornton

Mary McMahon, “widow of the late Henry Hamall,” married Patrick Thornton, bachelor, at St. Patrick’s Church, Montreal.

The link between the two surnames. Owen, Michael and Mary Ann gained a stepfather, and the children of this marriage would be their half-siblings.

Source St. Patrick’s Church, Montreal; Drouin Collection  ·  Gallery Part 3, #76

Birth and Baptism of William Thornton

William Thornton was born in Montreal to Patrick Thornton and Mary McMahon. His baptism names Mary McMahon as his mother.

Owen’s half-brother through their shared mother: the “Hammil, Thornton” of the 1880 census.

Source Baptismal register, Montreal; age 5 in 1861, 24 in 1880, 44 in 1900  ·  Gallery Part 2, #51

Census of Canada East: One Household, Two Surnames

St. Anne Ward, Montreal, on one page: Pat Thornton; M. Thornton (Mary McMahon); O. Hamel (Owen, 18, apprentice, born Ireland; the index reads “C. Hamel”); M. Hamel (born Ireland, 11, believed to be Michael); M. Hamel (born Montreal, believed to be Mary Ann); and W. Thornton (William, 5).

Read with the 1855 marriage, this is the household that explains the half-brother relationship. It is also the last record of Michael with the family.

Source 1861 Census of Canada East, Montreal, St. Anne Ward; Library and Archives Canada  ·  Gallery Part 1, #2  ·  Gallery Part 3, #69, #73

Owen Learns the Molder’s Trade

Listed as an apprentice in 1861, Owen appears in every later Chicago record as a molder or iron molder.

A skilled foundry trade, in demand in the industrial cities of the United States.

Source 1861 census; Chicago directories and censuses

Owen Moves to the United States

Owen crossed from Canada into Minnesota, then in his early to mid twenties. No border crossing record exists for this period.

The third country of his life: Ireland, Canada, the United States.

Source Inferred from the 1868 declaration of intention, Blue Earth County, Minnesota  ·  Gallery Part 1, #3

Declaration of Intention, Minnesota

Owen Hamall declared his intention to become a U.S. citizen in the District Court, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, giving his birthplace as the British Dominions.

His first record in the United States.

Source Blue Earth County District Court naturalization records; Minnesota Historical Society  ·  Gallery Part 1, #3

The Griffith Plot at Calvary

Elizabeth Griffith, Kate’s mother, bought Lot 17, Block 14, Section D at Calvary Cemetery, Evanston.

Nine years before Owen married Kate, the plot that would hold Owen, Kate, four of their children and Thomas Henry.

Source Calvary Cemetery plot record  ·  Gallery Part 1, #49

Naturalization, Cook County

Owen completed his naturalization in the Cook County Criminal Court, Chicago.

Places him in Chicago by 1872.

Source Cook County Criminal Court naturalization records; Illinois Regional Archives Depository  ·  Gallery Part 1, #4

First Chicago Directory Entry

“Hamill Owen, moulder, bds. 19 Bremer.” He is still boarding there in 1878.

The start of a run of directory entries, 1874 to 1898, that follows Owen across the Near West Side.

Source Chicago city directories, 1874 and 1878  ·  Gallery Part 1, #5, #6

Death of Mary (McMahon) Thornton

Owen’s mother died in Montreal at age 54 and was buried on September 21, recorded as “Mary McMahon, widow of the late Henry Hammel.”

Twenty years after Henry’s death she was still recorded by his name. Some family trees place her death in Chicago in 1897; the Montreal burial record settles it.

Source Basilique Notre-Dame burial register, Montreal, 1874  ·  Gallery Part 3, #77

Marriage of Owen Hamall & Catherine “Kate” Griffith

Owen, 31, and Catherine Griffith, 24, both of Chicago, were licensed and married the same day at Holy Name Cathedral by D. M. J. Dowling. Daniel Callahan and Mary Griffith were witnesses.

One of the two marriage records the research began with in 2018.

Source Holy Name Cathedral marriage register; Cook County marriage license no. 41765  ·  Gallery Part 1, #11

Marriage of Mary Ann Hammell & William F. Byron

In Montreal, Mary Ann Hammell, daughter of the deceased Henry Hammell and Mary McMahon, married William F. Byron, brass finisher.

The Byron line through which her descendants were later identified for DNA comparison.

Source Church marriage register, Montreal, 1879  ·  Gallery Part 3, #72

Birth of Thomas Henry Hamall

Owen and Kate’s first child was born in Chicago and baptized on May 16, 1880. His birth date comes from his 1938 death certificate; no civil birth certificate has been found.

One of two of Owen’s six children to reach adulthood, and the researcher’s direct ancestor.

Source Baptismal register, 1880; 1938 death certificate  ·  Gallery Part 1, #34, #38

U.S. Census: “Hammil, Thornton”

Owen’s Chicago household: Owen, iron molder; Kate; their son Thomas, age 1/12 (one month); and “Hammil, Thornton,” 24, born Canada, relationship “brother.”

The entry that launched the research. The surname column holds Owen’s surname and “Thornton” sits where a given name belongs, for a man found in no other record under that name.

Source 1880 U.S. Census, Chicago, ED 194, p. 28 (stamped), dwelling 211, family 273; NARA T9, roll 208  ·  Gallery Part 1, #12

Marriage of William Thornton & Mary Jane Lynch

At Granby, Shefford County, Quebec, William Thornton married Mary Jane Lynch. He is recorded as the adult son of Patrick Thornton and the late Mary McMahon.

Confirms both of William’s parents and that his mother had died before 1881.

Source Granby marriage register, 1881; BAnQ  ·  Gallery Part 2, #52

Birth of William Hamall

Owen and Kate’s second child was born at 634 W. 14th Street, Chicago.

Possibly named for his godfather, Owen’s half-brother William Thornton.

Source Cook County birth register, vol. 7, p. 112  ·  Gallery Part 1, #18

Reciprocal Baptism Sponsorships

Two baptisms, one year: Owen’s son William, baptized at Holy Name Cathedral on March 25, 1883, with William Thornton as sponsor; and William Thornton’s daughter Mary Margaret, baptized in Chicago with Owen Hamall as sponsor.

Catholic families chose sponsors from their closest kin and friends. Each man standing for the other’s child pointed to a family tie, and gave the research a full name to carry back to Montreal.

Source Holy Name Cathedral and Chicago Catholic baptismal registers, 1883  ·  Gallery Part 1, #19  ·  Gallery Part 2, #53

Birth of Mary Hamall

Owen and Kate’s third child was baptized at the Church of the Holy Family on February 19, 1885. Her 1959 death record gives her birth date as February 5, 1885.

Owen’s only daughter to reach adulthood; later Mary Hamall Holland.

Source Holy Family baptismal register, 1885; Cook County death index, 1959  ·  Gallery Part 1, #41, #45

Deaths of William Thornton’s Children

William and Mary Jane Thornton lost their daughter Mary M., age 3, on July 31, 1886, and their son Eugene M., 16 months, of cholera infantum on August 19, 1886. Both were buried in a new Thornton plot at Calvary, Section T.

By 1900 none of William’s three children was living, a loss that foreshadowed Owen’s own.

Source Death certificates and Calvary Cemetery plot card, 1886  ·  Gallery Part 2, #54–#58

Birth of Elizabeth “Lizzie” Hamall

Owen and Kate’s fourth child was born in Chicago and baptized in 1887. No civil birth record exists; her cemetery card age of 6 years, 0 months, 1 day at her death points to late March 1887.

Source Baptismal register, 1887; Cook County Clerk “No Record Found” response  ·  Gallery Part 1, #22, #24

Cook County Voter Registrations

Owen registered to vote in Chicago in 1888 and again in 1892.

Tracks his addresses between the censuses and confirms continued residence.

Source Cook County voter registers, 1888 and 1892  ·  Gallery Part 1, #13, #14

Birth of Catherine “Katie” Hamall

Owen and Kate’s fifth child was born at 179 Desplaines Street and baptized on January 9, 1890.

Source Cook County birth register, 1889; baptismal register, 1890  ·  Gallery Part 1, #26, #27

Birth of Eugene Owen Hamall

Owen and Kate’s sixth and last child was born in Chicago and baptized on June 9, 1892.

Born and died between censuses, he appears in no enumeration.

Source Baptismal register, 1892  ·  Gallery Part 1, #30

Death of Katie Hamall

Katie died of acute meningitis at 1009 W. 21st Street and was buried the next day in the Griffith plot at Calvary. The Inter Ocean’s notice of July 29 calls her the youngest daughter of Owen and Catherine Hamall (née “Griffin”), aged 2 years and 7 months, as her birth register does; her certificate and cemetery card both say 2 years, 3 months, 7 days.

The first of four children lost in ten months.

Source Death certificate no. 6850; Calvary Cemetery interment card; The Inter Ocean, July 29, 1892, p. 7  ·  Gallery Part 1, #28, #29

Death of Eugene Owen Hamall

Eugene, ten months old, died at 302 S. Desplaines Street of oedema of the glottis (membranous laryngitis) after four days’ illness. His certificate is dated March 30; his cemetery card, headed “Owen Hamil,” gives March 20.

Source Death certificate no. 7814; Calvary Cemetery interment card  ·  Gallery Part 1, #31, #32

Death of Lizzie Hamall

Lizzie, about six, died at 302 S. Desplaines Street; the cause appears to read laryngeal diphtheria. She and Eugene were buried together on March 31.

Two children of one household lost to throat illness within days, consistent with diphtheria.

Source Death certificate no. 7443; Calvary Cemetery interment card  ·  Gallery Part 1, #23, #25

Death of William Hamall

William, ten, died of pneumonia at 302 S. Desplaines Street and was buried on May 2, 1893.

Owen and Kate were left with two of their six children: Thomas Henry, 13, and Mary, 8. In 1900 Kate would report six children born, two living.

Source Death certificate; Calvary Cemetery interment card  ·  Gallery Part 1, #20, #21

Chicago Directories

Owen is listed at 57 Damen in 1894 and at 94 Sholto Street in 1897. A Michael J. Hamall, bridgebuilder, boards at 94 Sholto in 1897.

Michael J. may be the Michael of the 1861 Montreal household; that identity is not established.

Source Chicago city directories, 1894 and 1897  ·  Gallery Part 1, #8, #9  ·  Gallery Part 3, #70

Chicago Tribune List of Destitute Families

The household at 94 Sholto Street appears on the Tribune’s list of destitute families, which describes Owen as blind and unable to work.

A skilled molder brought to charity in the year before his death.

Source Chicago Tribune, January 26, 1897, page 4; Newspapers.com  ·  Gallery Part 1, #15

Death of Owen Hamall

Owen died at 94 Sholto Street of meningitis, age 51, a married moulder. The birthplace line is blank and, like other Chicago certificates of the period, the form has no fields for parents.

He left Kate a widow with Thomas Henry, 17, and Mary, 12.

Source Report of Death no. 2414, Chicago  ·  Gallery Part 1, #16

Burial of Owen Hamall

Owen was buried in the Griffith plot, Lot 17, Block 14, Section D, Calvary Cemetery, with his four children. The 1898 directory lists Kate as his widow at 94 Sholto.

Source Calvary Cemetery interment record; Chicago directory, 1898  ·  Gallery Part 1, #10, #17

U.S. Census: Kate as Head of Household

Katie Hamall, widow, 47, born April 1853 in Illinois, a dressmaker, heads the household at 201 Washburne Avenue in a home owned with a mortgage. With her are Thos., 20, Mary, 15, a bakery clerk, her mother Lizzie Griffith, 75, and her brother Jno. Griffith, a street car conductor. She reports six children born, two living.

Six born, two living: the figure the cemetery cards explained. The census gives Thomas’s birth as January 1880, against May 7, 1880 elsewhere.

Source 1900 U.S. Census, Chicago, ED 227, dwelling 11, family 25  ·  Gallery Part 1, #47

Death of William Thornton

Owen’s half-brother died at Metropolis, Illinois, more than 300 miles south of Chicago; his cemetery card gives the cause as exposure. He was buried at Calvary, Section T. Earlier that year the census had recorded him, age 44, with his wife Mary reporting three children born, none living.

No death certificate could be located by the Massac County Clerk (May 2025). His widow Mary remarried as Mrs. Oliver St. Pierre and died at Goffstown, New Hampshire, on December 24, 1936.

Source Calvary Cemetery records; 1900 U.S. Census; Massac County Clerk response, 22 May 2025  ·  Gallery Part 2, #59–#61

Death of Elizabeth Griffith

Kate’s mother, Elizabeth Griffith, widow, died in Chicago and was buried at Calvary the same day. The death index gives her age as 68; the 1900 census as 75. Kate’s death certificate gives her maiden name as Reynolds.

The woman who bought the Calvary plot in 1870.

Source Cook County, Illinois, Deaths Index, 1878–1922  ·  Gallery Part 1, #49

Marriage of Thomas Henry Hamall & Emma Gilbert

Thomas H. Hamall, 24, and Emma Gilbert, 21, were licensed on January 30 (no. 383309) and married the next day in a Catholic ceremony in Chicago.

Source Cook County marriage license and certificate, 1904  ·  Gallery Part 1, #35, #36

Birth of Thomas Eugene Hamall

Thomas Eugene was born in Chicago to Thomas Henry Hamall and Emma Gilbert.

Owen’s grandson, not his son, as some family trees have it.

Source Cook County birth records  ·  Gallery Part 1, #50

Marriage of Mary Hamall & John Holland

Mary, 20, married John Holland, 26, born on Prince Edward Island. Their sons Edward Francis (1906) and Emmett John (1909) followed.

Source Cook County marriage index, 1905; birth records, 1906 and 1909  ·  Gallery Part 1, #42–#44

U.S. Census: Kate with Her Children

Kate, widowed, 55, lives with her son Thomas in her daughter Mary’s household, with John Holland and their sons, at 2639 S. Ridgeway Avenue.

Both surviving children under one roof with their mother.

Source 1910 U.S. Census, Chicago

Death of Kate Hamall

Kate died of pulmonary tuberculosis of two years’ duration at Chicago State Hospital, Norwood Park Township, and was buried with Owen in the Griffith plot at Calvary on November 12. Her son Thos. Hamall of Riverside was the informant; the certificate gives her age as 63, her birthplace as Illinois and her parents as Thos. Griffith and Eliz. Reynolds. Court records (Hamall v. Petru, 1911–1919) place her with her son Thomas at 291 Lionel Road, Riverside, before her hospitalization.

She outlived Owen by twenty-one years.

Source Illinois death certificate, reg. no. 436, 1919; Calvary Cemetery records; Hamall v. Petru  ·  Gallery Part 1, #48

Marriage of Thomas Henry Hamall & Margaret Auslander

Thomas H. Hamall married Margaret Auslander in Cook County. His first marriage had ended by then; how is not yet documented.

Source Cook County marriage index, 1922  ·  Gallery Part 1, #37

Death of Thomas Henry Hamall

Thomas Henry died at St. Anthony’s Hospital, Chicago, age 57, a building watchman living at 2639 S. Ridgeway. He was buried on January 31 in the Griffith plot with his parents and four siblings. His obituary names his sister, Mrs. Mary Holland.

His certificate names his parents as Owen Hamall and Catherine Griffith, and gives Owen’s birthplace as Canada.

Source Illinois death certificate, reg. no. 2980; Calvary interment card; obituary, 1938  ·  Gallery Part 1, #38–#40

Death of Mary Hamall Holland

Mary Holland died at 73, a widow, and was buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery. Her death record names her parents as Owen Hamall and Katherine Griffith.

The last of Owen and Kate’s children.

Source Cook County death record, 1959; Chicago Tribune obituary, 27 January 1959  ·  Gallery Part 1, #45, #46

Death of Thomas Eugene Hamall

Thomas Eugene Hamall, Owen’s grandson, died in Florida.

The documentary trail ends with the fourth generation.

Source Florida death certificate, 1967  ·  Gallery Part 1, #50