This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: ftraynor11 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.ireland.arm.general/9463.1.1.3.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Brigid, My family (wife Maureen McDevitt) and sons Ryan and Sean are from suburban Philadelphia in a little town called Yardley,PA. The town is very close to where George Washington crossed the Delaware River and attacked the Germans in Trenton NJ who were fighting for the British when we had our little rebellion over here. Where are you and your people from ? I am currently trying to get more on the Garvey boys who came to Philadelphia where they all became priests.Do you know anything about them? Some material is posted on ancestry Garvey page. My grandmother who I never met(died in '45) was Bridget Quinn.He Mom was Mary Garvey,sister of Patrick and Hugh etc the priests. Those priests gave Bridget work when she first came to America,they were all at Mt St Mary's Seminary in various jobs when she came across and landed not in NYC but Baltimore. Then the whole crew went to Philly and St Charles Borromeo Seminary where Patrick was the rector. My youngest son Sean (23) is a filmmaker. He studied film at Temple University where he graduated last May. He has been making films since grade school. He too has an interest in the Garvey priests. He plans to see the Thomas Eakin's portrait of Msg Patrick Garvey in the private gallery at St Charles Seminary here in Philly. The portrait as you know was painted by Eakins and given to Patrick who thought it was too stern looking and hid it under his bed. It then went to my grandmother Bridget Quinn Traynor who put it under her bed because it scared her six children. Bridget died in 1945,her husband Owen Traynor(from Cullyhanna also but the two met in Philly) apparently gave the painting to a Garvey nephew,also a priest who locked it in a closet at his rectory and it was found after his death and given back to my grandfather Owen who died shortly after.My mother recalls that at Owen's wake the painting was discussed and the family decided to give it to St Charles Seminary where it hangs today. This link will take you to the book about Eakins where Dr Patrick J Garvey is mentioned and how Eakins wished for the painting to be recovered and hung at the seminary...... http://books.google.com/books?id=0ZM7O5neeZgC&pg=PA472&lpg=PA472&dq=thomas eakins and patrick j garvey&source=bl&ots=bKI-XH9DV-&sig=bZe0Qlg2z-jxx-DGlIMMq53qjxo&hl=en&ei=mGWdS9zEOIH58Ab9lI38DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CA8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=&f=false Now the cousins who are my age,late 50's to early 60's wish they had kept the painting,we probably could have sold it and purchased a family beach house! The mystery,the Garvey brothers and cousins who all served the church in Md and Pa serve as a compelling story that would be nice to tell. If Hugh Garvey came here first and worked in the mines to pay for his brothers to come across and study that is a powerful story that speaks volumes about our family values. Sean wants to do a film about all this called "Hiding Garvey" if he can get funding to finance his efforts. He wants to draw up a proposal to submit to the Connelly Foundation in Philadelphia which gives grants to Catholic organizations and causes in the Philadelphia area. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.