[1][7] In 1879, McGarvey met British engineer and oil operator John Simeon Bergheim when he travelled to Petrolia to recruit men willing to drill in Europe.

[2] The pair formed the Bergheim & McGarvey company in 1883, and introduced the Canadian "pole tool drilling" system to the Galician oil fields, allowing exploration at previously unheard of depths and speed.

[8] The Canadian drilling system sped up the exploration of Galicia's oil fields, and reopened ones thought to have run dry.

[8] McGarvey and Bergheim also brought in Canadian drillers and equipment, which commenced a "technological revolution in the Galician oil basin.

"[8] McGarvey and Bergheim struck their first successful well at Waglowka, Western Galicia, about 1885, and by 1887 they began the construction of a refinery at Miariampole.

[11] In its first year of operations, the company produced nearly 35 million kilograms of crude oil, and employed roughly 2,400 workers by the end of the century.

[14] On July 10, 1867, McGarvey married Helena Jane Weslowski of Mount Clemens, Michigan, daughter of a Polish émigré who had been expelled from the Russian Empire for anti-government activity.

[14] In early 1911, McGarvey's younger brother James, who managed oil properties at Grosny, Russia was murdered by armed robbers who broke into their home while they were eating dinner.

[19] The intruders also killed a servant, a guard, James' colleague Talbot Barnard and wounded a cook, before escaping with 100 pounds in cash.