Anita - May I ask where in Pennsylvania your Varley ancestors moved to in 1870?
By coincidence, my great-great-grandfather, WIlliam Carney (born 1829), married Mary Varley (1831-1914). Acccoding to information the Family Heritage Center in Ballinrobe found for me, William was a shepherd in the Cong area. By 1857 they had moved to Ballinrobe. They had three children that I can document:
- Katherine who spelled her maiden name Kearney (1852 to 1909) married Patrick Kanavy in Cong in 1870. They then immigrated in the early 1870's to the area of Naples, New York and then to Kane, Pennsylvania.
- Mary (1860 - 1932) was my great-grandmother. She also immigrated in the 1870's to the Naples, NY area and then to Kane, Pannsylvania. Katherine and Mary lived just a few doors apart in Kane and the families were very close.
- Patrick (circa 1860 birth) married Bridget Jennings in Cong in 1878 and worked in Cong and then Ballinrobe before immigrating to the United States in 1903. He bought three of his (many) children with him. The other children and Bridget appear to have stayed in the Ballinrobe area although documentation is limited. Patrick's initial stop was Kane (I have a record of his arrival in New York and the notation by the customs official that Patrick had a letter from his sister Katherine, who was vouching for him, and that Patrick was going there to be with his two sisters). His daughter Catherine, who emmigrated with him, married her aunt's son, Charles (yes, first cousins). Catherine, Charles, and Patrick then moved to Portland, Oregan.
I've always been curious as to what drew Katherine and her husband Patrick Kanavy to rural New York and then why they and her sister Mary (and her American husband) moved on to Kane. Any idea why your family chose Pennsylvania?
You mentioned DNA in your post. I have tested through Ancestry.com and have matches with descendants from my Cong/Ballinrobe family. I have gotten to know some through lots of emails. Between our Carney and Varley connections, I suspect we might have DNA connection, also.
If you would like to "chat" further, please feel free to contact me directly at ceh4041@aol.com. I live in Maryland.
Cathy