Attorney, journalist, publisher, and editor. Born on February 26, 1854. Son of John B. Varnum, Union General and later Adjutant General of Florida during the Reconstruction period of 1870-1877. Early documentation shows John P. Varnum (son) held jobs as citrus grower, Deputy Marshal and Postmaster of Eau Gallie, Florida. In 1878, he was practicing law in Jacksonville, Florida, under the partnership of Cheney & Varnum. In May 1882, he formed a partnership with the brothers C. H. Jones and George W. Jones, as Jones, Varnum & Co., to publish the newspaper, The Daily Times. In 1883, the firm bought the newspaper, Daily Florida Union, later merging it with the Times to become the Times-Union, with Varnum as City Editor.
In February 1884, Varnum was appointed the first Secretary / Treasurer of the Jacksonville Board of Trade, at a salary of $125.00 per month. He resigned this position on June 1, 1885, and in 1886, after selling his ownership in the Times, he established the Jacksonville Morning News, later the News-Herald (1887), which was absorbed by the Florida Publishing Co. into the Times-Union fold in 1888. He also managed the Florida Literary and News Bureau and represented the United Press in 1888.
Varnum had four children, with wife Josephine L. Dyer: Charles Archibald, Grace, Edith, and Norah. After leaving Jacksonville in May 1888, he died in Massachusetts on December 5, 1888.
From the guide to the John P. Varnum Family Collection, 1841-1927, 1877-1888, (Thomas G. Carpenter Library, University of North Florida)
