Patrick Neville and Honora (Mary) Reardon


Patrick Neville and Honora Reardon were both natives of Ireland who came to America sometime in the early to mid 19th Century.  The specifics of their Atlantic crossings as well as their exact places of birth and home towns in Ireland are not known, although the two immigrants appear to have come over before the infamous Irish potato famine of the mid 1840's, their oldest child being born in Pennsylvania around 1842.  Honora may have settled with her own family initially in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, as an 1872 map of that area indicates that there were other Reardon families present.

From the birth dates of their children, we can conjecture that the couple was married sometime around 1840, in an unknown location, and they immediately settled near the town of Little Meadows, in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.  This was an area in which a great many other Irish families had also settled.  Patrick Neville supported his family through farming the land in that remote Pennsylvania County, near the New York border.

Patrick and Honora had 9 children in the next 15 years, their last child being born in 1856.  By 1860, they had seven children still at home, and their son Bartholomew was 19 and teaching school.  The young man presumably taught children living in the area that was referred to as "Neville District No. 4".

The importance of the Catholic religion to this family is apparent in descriptions of them in the later obituaries of their children.  In one example in daughter Nora Neville's obituary, is a reference to the "influence and example of her pious parent's during her early life".  Another daughter, Ellen (Neville) Donnelly was described herself as "a true wife, mother, and sister" and being an example of  "a disciple of the meek and lowly Jesus".   It is also apparent that their son Bartholomew was later very active in the Catholic Church in his own  hometown, and apparently even made donations to the Church back in Little Meadows, his name appearing there as a contributor on one of the stained glass windows.

By 1870, Patrick and Honora still had several children living at home on the farm, two of the boys were helping their father on the farm.  At this time, they also had the 5 year old orphan named John Donnelly living with them, presumably either a grandson or another member of  the family of their son-in-law, Cornelius Donnelly.

Patrick and Honora apparently passed away sometime during the decade of the 1870's and many of their children migrated to other areas, particularly to New York State and to such places as Pittston, and Scranton in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.  

In 1991, after over a hundred years had passed since the original immigrant Neville family lived in Little Meadows, there were still at least one family member  in that small town. Miss Rita Shaughnessy, granddaughter of Alice (Neville) Shaughnessy, lived in Little Meadows at that time and was a member of the St. Thomas Catholic Church parish.