Edward Varner (1790-1869) of Eatonton, Putnam County, Georgia married Emma Dent. Their children included Early (b. 1816), Ann Eliza (1817-1818), Samuel Dent (1820-1868), and Frederick Augustus (b. 1822). Emma Dent Varner died in 1822. Edward Varner ran a general store in Eatonton, some of the account books of which are located in this collection. In 1823, he married Cynthia Hardwick Fitzpatrick Byrom (1798-1882) of Jasper County, Georgia. The Varner family moved to Jasper County where Mr. Varner operated a plantation until about 1850. Their children were: Andrew Jackson (1824-1862), Jefferson Monroe (1826-1862), Clinton L. (1829-1881), Mary Josephine (1830-1831), John Clark (1832-1884), Cynthia Amanda (1835-1915), and Narcissa Josephine (1837-1928). Mrs. Varner had previously married John Byrom (d. 1819) of Jasper County and their sons were William Hardwick (1817-1873) and Seymour Scott (1819-1827). William Hardwick Byrom moved to Dooly County where he founded the town of Byromville. He and his sons organized the Byrom Corporation, a banking and merchandising enterprise in the Byromville farming community. In 1849, Edward Varner and his sons purchased the Indian Springs Hotel in Butts County, Georgia and later renamed it the Varner House. Indian Springs became a popular health and social resort noted for the healing properties of the mineral water of the spring. The hotel had been built by Creek Chief William McIntosh around 1823, and was the site of the signing of the Treaty of Indian Springs in 1825, ceding all Creek Indian lands west of the Flint River to the State of Georgia. Some of the information in the collection concerns the Creek Indians, Indian Springs, and the Varner House, including hotel guest registers and account books. The Varner children were educated at various schools in Georgia and Tennessee. The collection includes references to the education of daughters Amanda and Josephine at Eatonton Female Academy and LaGrange College and of sons Jefferson Monroe and Clinton L. at East Tennessee University in Knoxville. Edward Varner's receipts include receipts for the tuition of students and for books. Josephine Varner taught school for several years, was well read, and apparently had a clever way with words. For most of her life, however, she worked with the management of the Varner House, where she was known to her friends and hotel guests as "Miss Joe." Her brother John Clark and his wife Addie taught in numerous schools near-Indian Springs. The Civil War was a difficult period for the Varner family. Their eldest sons, Andrew Jackson and Jefferson Monroe were both killed in 1862. Miss Joe's diary during this time documents much sadness and disillusionment. After the war, the hotel continued to attract many guests, but was run by Mrs. Varner and her daughters Miss Amanda and Miss Joe. Mr. Varner had suffered much during the war and died in 1869 at the State Lunatic Asylum in Milledgeville, Georgia.
From the description of Edward Varner family papers, 1730-1965 (Georgia Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 212906014
