I have been searching for information on my Irish ancestors, the Magarvey/McGarvey's, who lived in Mercer County, Pennsylvania for a number of years. Francis Magarvey immigrated about 1773. The spelling of the name has changed through the generations as Francis was unable to write his own name, so the Magarvey spelling was as others penned it for him. This is what I do know: Francis Magarvey and his family can be found in the 1800 US US Federal Census living in Mercer County, with "1" son under the age of 10, "1" son between the ages of 10-15, "1" son between the ages of 16-25, and himself, over 45 years of age. The census indicated that there were "2" daughters under the age of 10, "1" daughter between the ages of 10-15, and his wife, between the ages of 26-44. The 1800 Pennsylvania Mercer County Census provides the same data, so it appears that our Irish Francis was in fact the father of at least 6 children. Later documents tell me that he lived to at least the age of 83. His wife's name was Rebecca, however, I do no know of her maiden name or date of birth. A document from September 4, 1834, tells me again that he was living in Mercer County as he granted Power of Attorney to his lawyer Mr. Boggs, to receive his final pension payment for his service in the Revolutionary War. One of the witnesses to the doument w! as an Oliver Magarvey. This Francis (I shall call him Francis I) cannot be found in the 1840 census data. This Oliver could be a son. Of his children, I know the name of one son, Francis, and I shall call him Francis II. I have not learned the names of the other children, and I speculate that Oliver could have been another son, as the name was used again in future generations. I'm not certain, but it seems that Francis II may have been born in Mercer County. He did marry an Isabelle Gillaspie (spelling variations again) on October 21, 1830 according to a Family Bible. They had nine children who I believe were all born in Mercer County. The 1840 census lists him at Delaware Township in Mercer County, PA where he is also listed in the 1850 census, age 50, along with the rest of his family, wife Lisbel (Isabelle) - age 50, Issac - age 18, Oliver - age 16, Wesley (John Wesely) - age 14, Hannah J. - 12, Joseph - age 10, Mary - age 8, Rebecca - age 5 and Nancy - age 3. Francis' occupation is listed as that of farmer and son, Issac, as that of laborer. I now know that Francis II and his family moved to ano! ther state although I do not pick them up for a number of years. Census data tells me that John Wesley McGarvey married a Charlotte and their first child (Roderick) was born in Pennyslvania in 1861, although I do not know if that took place in Mercer County. It has taken some time to collect this amount of information and I know I have provided you with a lot of data. My interest at this point is learning about Francis I and Rebecca's other children and their descendants. It appears that the family was not of the Catholic faith but beyond that I do not know where to look next. I do not know where Francis I or Rebecca were buried. Any direction or help that you may be able to provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance, Vickie Simon [email protected]