Three Generations of Shrinking and Expanding
How the Hamall Family Nearly Went Extinct—and How One Generation Saved It
Thomas Kenny Hamall with his six children. This photograph represents the survival of a family line that came within one generation of complete extinction.
That's how close this family came to extinction. That's how much one generation can change everything.
Generation 1: Kate's Six Children
1900 U.S. Federal Census, City of Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Kate Hamall, widowed head of household, age 47, with her two surviving children: Thomas Henry (age 20) and Mary (age 15). Absent from this census: William, Lizzie, Katie, and Owen Eugene—all dead by 1893, seven years earlier.
In the late 1800s, Kate Hamall gave birth to six children. She was a working-class woman in Chicago, married to Owen Hamall, an Irish immigrant iron molder who would go blind and die at age 51.
Kate raised her children through poverty, illness, and loss. She watched four of them die.
Kate's Six Children:
- ✓ Thomas Henry Hamall (1880-1938) — Survived to age 58
- ✕ William Hamall (1883-1893) — Died at age 10 from pneumonia
- ✓ Mary Hamall Holland (1885-1959) — Survived to age 74
- ✕ Elizabeth "Lizzie" Hamall (1887-1893) — Died at age 6 from diphtheria
- ✕ Catherine "Katie" Hamall (1889-1892) — Died at age 2 1/2 from meningitis
- ✕ Owen Eugene Hamall (1892-1893) — Died at age 10 months from laryngitis
The Year of Unthinkable Loss: 1893
Kate didn't lose her children gradually over decades. The tragedy was concentrated, brutal, and swift.
In 1892: Little Katie died at age 2 1/2 from meningitis.
In 1893: Baby Owen Eugene died at age 10 months from laryngitis. Then 10-year-old William died from pneumonia. Then 6-year-old Lizzie died from diphtheria.
This wasn't unusual for working-class families in the 1880s-1890s. Diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles, typhoid, pneumonia—childhood diseases were everywhere, and there were no antibiotics. Poor sanitation, crowded housing, and limited medical care meant that child mortality rates were devastating.
Kate's survival rate: 33%. Two children out of six lived to adulthood.
Generation 2: Small Families
1910 U.S. Federal Census, Cook County, Illinois. Kate's household now includes her son-in-law John Holland, daughter Mary Holland, and grandchildren Edward (age 3) and Emmett (age 1), along with son Thomas Henry. This census captures all three of Generation 2—the last time they would all appear together. Edward and Emmett Holland would eventually die childless, ending Mary's line completely.
Kate's two surviving children—Thomas Henry and Mary—both married and had families. But the families were small.
Generation 2: Three Children Total
Thomas Henry Hamall: 1 child (Thomas Eugene)
Mary Hamall Holland: 2 children (Edward Francis, Emmett John)
All three survived to adulthood. Better medicine, early 1900s, improved public health—the survival rate was 100% for this generation.
But the family was shrinking. Six children became two. Two children had three. The numbers were declining.
Thomas Henry divorced Thomas Eugene's mother Emma in 1907 when Thomas Eugene was just 3 years old. He never remarried until 1922, fifteen years later. By then, his opportunity to have more children had passed.
Mary married John Holland and had two sons: Edward (born 1906) and Emmett (born 1909). Both boys grew up knowing their cousin Thomas Eugene. They would later live with their Uncle Thomas Henry for two years (1936-1938) when he was dying.
The family was small, but it was intact. Three children in Generation 2. All healthy. All survived.
But what happened next would nearly end the family line entirely.
Generation 3: Down to One
Thomas Eugene Hamall (1904-1967), the only child of Thomas Henry. He would have only one child himself.
Generation 3 is where the family line nearly went extinct.
Generation 3: One Child Total
Thomas Eugene Hamall: 1 child (Thomas Kenny, born 1932)
Edward Francis Holland: 0 children
Emmett John Holland: 0 children
The Holland line died out completely. When Edward died in 1995 and Emmett died in 1998, Mary Hamall Holland's descendants ceased to exist.
The Holland Line: Extinct
Mary's two sons—Edward and Emmett—both lived long lives. Edward died at age 89 in 1995. Emmett died at age 89 in 1998. Both men presumably knew family stories. Both had memories of their Uncle Thomas Henry, their cousin Thomas Eugene, and the cottage in Riverside.
But neither man had children.
When they died in the 1990s, Mary Hamall Holland's entire line ended. No grandchildren. No descendants. No one to pass the stories to.
Thomas Henry's Line: Down to One Thread
Meanwhile, Thomas Eugene—Thomas Henry's only child—married Margaret Kenny and had one child: Thomas Kenny, born July 1932.
Thomas Eugene and Margaret divorced around 1940-1942. Thomas Eugene moved to Miami. Thomas Kenny stayed with his mother's family, the Kennys.
Thomas Kenny was the ONLY descendant carrying forward Thomas Henry Hamall's line.
The Visual Pattern: Shrinking Toward Extinction
Kate (1850s-1919)
6 children born • 4 died young • 2 survived (33% survival rate)
Thomas Henry & Mary
3 children total • All survived to adulthood
Thomas Eugene, Edward, Emmett
1 child total (Holland line extinct, Thomas Henry's line down to 1)
Thomas Kenny
6 children! • Pattern broken • Family explodes back to life
Generation 4: The Explosion Back to Life
Thomas Kenny Hamall married Barbara Ann O'Brien in 1957. Together they had six children. The family line that had narrowed to a single thread exploded back to life in one generation.
In 1957, Thomas Kenny married Barbara Ann O'Brien. Their marriage would last 53 years.
Together, they had six children.
Six.
The same number Kate had borne in the 1880s.
The family line that had come within one generation of complete extinction—that had narrowed from six to two to three to one—suddenly exploded back to life.
How Close Did the Family Come to Extinction?
If Thomas Kenny had not married Barbara…
If Thomas Kenny had remained divorced like his father…
If Thomas Kenny had not had children…
If Thomas Kenny had died young like Kate's four children…
The entire Thomas Henry Hamall line would have ended.
Every descendant alive today—every grandchild, every great-grandchild—exists because Thomas Kenny and Barbara had six children.
Barbara's Role in Survival
This story isn't just about Thomas Kenny. It's about Barbara Ann O'Brien Hamall.
For three generations, Hamall men had struggled marriages, divorces, and small families:
- Thomas Henry: Divorced, remarried late, 1 child
- Thomas Eugene: Divorced, never remarried, 1 child
- Thomas Kenny: Married Barbara, 53-year marriage, 6 children
Barbara broke the pattern.
She built a stable marriage that lasted over five decades. She created a large, thriving family. She welcomed her mother-in-law Margaret into their home for 19 years when Margaret needed support.
The family didn't just survive with Barbara—it flourished.
The Mothers and Sons Pattern
Throughout these generations, there's another pattern worth noting: mothers living with their sons.
Kate and Thomas Henry (1911-1919):
After Owen died and Thomas Henry divorced, Kate moved in with her son. She loaned him $400 to buy the cottage at 291 Lionel Road in Riverside. They lived together for 8 years until Kate died in 1919. Thomas Henry was her only surviving son, and he was her only family after her husband's death.
Emma and Thomas Eugene (1930s-1960s):
Emma Guilbault, Thomas Eugene's mother, lived with her only child multiple times. They lived together in 1930 at the McVickers address. Years later, they lived together in Miami in the 1950s-1960s. Emma moved to a nursing home before Thomas Eugene died in 1967. She outlived him by three years, dying in 1970 at age 87.
Margaret and Thomas Kenny (1966-1985):
Margaret Kenny, Thomas Kenny's mother, moved in with her only child and his family in 1966. But this was different: she didn't live in a two-person household with just her son. She lived with Thomas Kenny, Barbara, and their six children. She had her own space in the household, and the children visited her after school for conversation. She was more a resident than an active caregiver—but her presence mattered.
The pattern: Economic necessity, small families, and mutual support meant that mothers and sons often lived together. But Barbara's inclusion of Margaret into a large, thriving family household transformed what that meant.
What This Story Teaches Us
The thirteen grandchildren of Thomas Kenny and Barbara Hamall today. One generation changed everything.
The Hamall family story isn't just about near-extinction and survival. It's about:
1. Child Mortality's Long Shadow
Kate lost four of her six children between 1892 and 1893. This wasn't unusual—it was tragically common for working-class families in the late 1800s. But the impact of those losses rippled through generations. Fewer children meant fewer descendants. The family tree that should have been broad and branching narrowed to a single thread.
2. The Fragility of Family Lines
When Edward and Emmett Holland died childless in the 1990s, Mary Hamall Holland's entire line ended. Two men, both living into their late 80s, but no children. No grandchildren. No one to carry forward their memories or their DNA.
This makes genealogical research incredibly difficult. There are no Holland descendants to interview. No cousins to compare DNA with. No family stories passed down. Everything Edward and Emmett knew died with them.
3. How Much One Generation Can Change
Thomas Kenny was the sole surviving descendant of Thomas Henry Hamall's line. If he had not had children, the line would have ended.
But he had six.
In one generation, the family exploded from near-extinction back to thriving life. Thomas Kenny and Barbara's six children had their own children, who had their own children. Today, Kate Hamall's descendants number in the dozens— all stemming from that one generation's decision to have a large family.
That's how close this family came to extinction. That's how much one generation can change everything.
Epilogue: Returning to Riverside
In 1998—57 years after leaving Illinois—Thomas Kenny returned to Riverside with his wife. He wanted to show her the place that had been so important to him as a child.
Riverside. The library. The Saturday visits. The dog in the chair on the porch. The whole thing was special.
He had the photographs. Three images preserved in an envelope marked "Riverside House" in his handwriting. The cottage exterior. His father with the dog. Visual proof that it had all been real.
But he may not have known the exact address. He may not have found the specific property. The cottage at 291 Lionel Road—the one Kate helped buy in 1911, the one Thomas Henry fought four years to protect, the one Thomas Eugene briefly inherited—may have been lost to memory, replaced by a new house in 1989, its precise location unknown.
Thomas Kenny returned to Riverside not to stand on a specific property, but to revisit a childhood that had been fractured by divorce and distance. To show his wife: This place was real. These Saturday visits happened. I had a father. We were together here.
The photographs proved it. The envelope marked "Riverside House" proved someone thought it was important enough to preserve. The 1940 draft card showing his father's address at 291 Lionel Road proved the cottage existed.
But the clearest proof? Thomas Kenny remembered.
He remembered Riverside. He remembered the dog. He remembered his father. He remembered being eight years old on Saturday visits to a place that felt safe and whole.
And then he went home to his wife Barbara, and their six children, and the family that had come within one generation of complete extinction but was now thriving across multiple states and generations.
The Complete Three Thomas Hamalls Series
This post is part of a comprehensive case study documenting three generations of Thomas Hamalls, one cottage in Riverside, Illinois, and 130 years of family history proven through forensic analysis, legal documents, and oral history verification.
1. The Property War
How Thomas Henry Hamall fought a four-year legal battle to the Illinois Supreme Court to protect the cottage his mother helped him buy.
2. They Were Never Photographed Together
How forensic photographic analysis proved three generations of connections when subjects were captured in separate frames.
3. The Mystery Man
Using forensic ear analysis to identify Emmett John Holland in a 1947 photograph—20 years after he died and his memories were lost forever.
4. Mothers and Sons: A Working-Class Family Pattern
Three generations of mothers living with their sons—not dependence, but economic survival strategy in working-class America.
5. The Father Who Tried
Thomas Eugene Hamall's 23-year effort to maintain connection with his son despite divorce, distance, and the barriers of 1940s America.
6. Three Generations of Shrinking and Expanding
From Kate's six children to near-extinction to explosive survival—how child mortality, small families, and one generation's choice saved the family line.
Explore the Complete Case Study
View the Full BCG-Compliant Case Study →Explore the Complete Case Study
This story is part of the comprehensive Three Thomas Hamalls case study, featuring 22 primary sources, forensic photographic analysis, legal documents, and BCG-compliant methodology across 87 years.
View Complete Case Study →Want to see where it all began? The Three Thomas Hamalls story starts with Owen Hamall—a seven-year mystery spanning three countries. Explore the Owen Hamall case study to see how one census entry led to uncovering four generations of family history.
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