For
Muscatine County Iowa
1879
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1879 | |
Here is what the abbreviations in the bios stand for: far: farm; Co.: company or county; dir: dealer; IVA: Iowa Volunteer Artillery; IVC: Iowa Volunteer Cavalry; IVI: Iowa Volunteer Infantry; P.O.: Post Office; S. or Sec.: section; and st.: street.
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Biographical Section, 1879, page 621
J. W. Varner, proprietor of the Commercial Hotel; is a native of Greenbrier Co., near the White Sulphur Springs, Va.; when only 2 years of age, his parents removed to Stanton, Va., where they lived until he was 10 years of age; then removed to Portsmouth, Ohio, where he was brought up; he and his brother were engaged in contracting when the war broke out. His brother, afterward Col. Sampson E. Varner in October, 1861, was commissioned Major of the 56th Regiment Ohio V. I.; he was promoted and served with distinction during the war; he died in Portsmouth, Ohio, in June, 1877. John W. was engaged in Steamboating for seventeen years; the last boat that he commanded was the "Navigator;" he afterward engaged in the hotel business at Savanna, Ill.; was proprietor of the Griggs House; he came to Muscatine and became proprietor of the Commercial House April 27, 1876. He married Miss Caroline L. Noel, a native of Portsmouth, Ohio; they have three children--Emma (now Mrs. Van Patten of this city), Caddie and Allie both at home.
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