I have not spent a great deal of time on my Verner ancestors since there are others that have compiled detailed histories which appear to be fairly accurate. I found one of these histories in my grandmother's files that appears to be dated in the 1960s or 1970s. This history was compiled by Clara Verner Wallace [1]. I have made Clara's book available here. [2] In addition to Clara's work, we also have an extensive study by Gerald H. Varner who published a two volume book entitled "Varner Families of the South". In Volume 1, published in 1994, he covers the Varner family and in Volume 2, published in 1995, he covers our Verner family. According to Gerald, the Southern Varners and Verners are all related and descend from John Verner and Mary Pettigrew (see below) - they simply spelled their names differently. Gerald's book is copyrighted so I cannot reproduce it here but it is available in many libraries and a digital copy may still be available online through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints website. If you are interested in the Southern Varner/Verner family, I strongly suggest you locate his books as they are a great resource for detailed information on the Verner family. Lastly, there is a book entitled Varner, Verner, Werner Families of America by Janice B. Palmer written in 1995. It contains over 700 pages of family research on the family.
There is no proof of where our Verner ancestors were living before arriving in America. Some say they were in Northern Ireland. Before that, they might have been in France or Germany. The French spelling would have been Vernier or Le Verne or something similar. The German spelling would have been Werner. Another spelling of the name appears to have been Varner. [2a] Regardless of where they were before arriving in Ireland, they were likely Protestant refugees, most likely Presbyterians.
One thing that seems to be clear however is that the progenitors of the southern USA Verner family are John Verner, Sr. and wife Mary Pettigrew. According to Clara Wallace, John and his family immigrated to America from Northern Ireland with his future father-in-law James Pettigrew and they arrived in America at New Castle, Delaware about 1740. He then lived in Pennsylvania (Lancaster County) before moving to Virginia (Lunenburg County) and then North Carolina (Granville County). According to his son's Revolutionary War pension application[3], they left NC about 1774-1775 and headed south where they settled along the Savannah River near present day Calhoun Falls, SC. They then moved to the western part of South Carolina on Richland Creek (Near Westminster, present day Oconee County).
I believe this info was taken from the Will of James Pettigrew that was dated 1784. James lists his daughter "Mary Verner" but her husband is not listed.
The graves of John Sr. and his wife Mary Pettigrew have not been located with any certainty. Some say John Sr. is buried in the Old Pickens Presbyterian Church cemetery.[4] Others claim that he is buried in Anderson County near his son David in the historic Providence Church cemetery. Mary was still alive in 1827 and might have been living with one of her children when she died so she could be buried in Habersham, Franklin or Stephens Counties (GA) or alongside her husband, wherever that may be. There are several Pettigrews buried in the Providence Church cemetery - born in the 1800s.
John, Sr. left a Will in 1799 naming his wife and children. This Will can be found in the Anderson County Probate Court records.
Wife -Mary
Children:
- George
- James
- David
- John, Jr.
- Jenny
- Nancy
- Dianah Wakefield
- Sarah Montgomery
- Mary Ewing
- Charles
Note that John Verner, Jr. became a lawyer and his name can be found on many of my Blair and Harrison family records as well as living close to them in Pendleton District (later Pickens and Oconee Counties) SC. His name can be found on hundreds, if not thousands, of documents for early Pendleton District families - not just my own ancestors.
His wife was Anna Maria Verner, daughter of John Verner, Jr. and Rebecca Dickey
A grandson of John Verner, Jr., Colonel John Verner Stribling, was intimately involved with the design of the first automobile. See article here.
Another of John's descendants, Samuel Philips Verner (1872-1943), was largely responsible for the exploitation of the African pygmy named Ota Benga. Interestingly, Samuel was a devout Presbyterian and a Missionary to Africa. Also of interest to me personally is that Samuel is buried in the same cemetery in close proximity to my paternal 5th great-grandfather Benjamin Davidson (Davidson River Cemetery in Brevard, NC). I found no link between these men and their families except that they were both devout Presbyterians. Benjamin's son-in-law (Rev. Samuel Davis) was a Presbyterian minister in western NC and SC in the late 1700s to the early 1800s.
Samuel Philips Verner's father, John Samuel Verner (1849-1912), was the Controller General for the State of South Carolina (1886-1890). Another son of John Samuel Verner was William Henry Verner who had the distinction of being the first South Carolinian to receive the distinguished Cecil Rhodes Scholarship. Unfortunately, William H. Verner committed suicide at the young age of 26. Interestingly, just a year before, William's uncle David Pettigrew Verner who was a Judge in Greenville, SC, committed suicide at age 49. Another son of John Samuel Verner was Ebenezer Pettigrew Verner who married Elizabeth Quale O'Neill who is known as one of Charleston's most famous artists. Her artwork has been found at the Boston Metropolitan Museum as well as the Library of Congress. The daughter of Ebenezer and Elizabeth married into the Hamilton family which has ties to the signer of the SC Ordinance of Secession (Civil War).
Death of William Henry Verner
David Pettigrew Verner death
(Greenville Daily News, August 1904)
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The author has a double dose of Verner DNA being a descendant of two of John's Sr's children: David & George. My grandmother, Rubye Lois Bailey Blair descends from David Verner and my grandfather, Henry Lee Blair, descends from George Verner. Thus, my grandparents were 4th cousins. Based on Revolutionary War pension applications, there is no doubt about the descendants of David and John Verner.
1. David Verner married Esther (lnu)
- Their daughter Mary Verner married John Ledbetter.
- Their son John Ledbetter married Susan Williams
- Their son Joel Ledbetter married Mary Miller
- Their daughter Rosa Murl Ledbetter is my great grandmother
2. George Verner married Mary Dobson
- Their son Robert P. Verner married Susan Moss daughter of Frederick Moss and Barbara Berry
- Their son George E. Verner married Anna/Annie Guest
- Their daughter Sarah E. Verner is my great grandmother
(Charleston Courier, June 1852)
My 2nd great grandfather, George Edwin Verner, was a Minister of the Gospel, Justice of the Peace and a soldier for the Confederacy. He was with the 3rd GA Cavalry (State Guards), Company E. His unit appears to have been headed by Colonel Robert Toombs and it was only active 6 months. Of course, he may have served in other units for which there are no records. He signed a reconstruction oath in 1867 while living in Franklin County, GA. According to my great grandmother who was born in 1860, she remembered his return home. She was in the yard and saw a man hiding behind some clothes that were drying on a clothesline in the yard and it turned out to be him playing a game with them. George married Annie Guest, granddaughter of Captain Moses Guest the Revolutionary War soldier.
Here is a link to a great online article about the Verners and the Bachelor's Retreat area.
The following information was found in the files of my mother and it is likely that these records were obtained by her or her mother - both of whom did research on our Verner ancestors. I have compiled these records into one PDF file.
>>Click here to view the PDF file<<
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[1] Unknown date - probably written in the 1960s. Clara is a descendant of John Verner, Jr.
[2] The copy I have available is not easy to read: It appears to be a copy of a copy and which I then scanned. It was in my grandmother's files.
[2a] While watching an "Isle of Man TT" motorcycle documentary on television recently, the author saw a mention of a "Verner Bridge" and a "Vernersbridge" railway station in Northern Ireland in County Armagh - just west of Belfast. This could be a clue as to where our Verner ancestors were before arriving in America. Note that the "Crilly House" of my Pettigrew ancestors is located in this same general area.
[3] S7793, John Verner
[4] Note that when Ms. Clara Verner Wallace wrote this history, she thought the church would be flooded; However, the church and cemetery remain intact. The church and cemetery are adjacent to the Duke Power Company's nuclear power plant and the Keowee River and Highway 183. This may also have one time been the location of the old Pickens County Courthouse. The numerous graves are spread out all across this property.
[5] Captain James Pettigrew died of smallpox in Charleston as a British POW.
[6] William apparently wrote a Pettigrew family history about 1820 which was published in the Pettigrew family newsletter "Pettigrew Family Quarterly" which apparently is in the library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Utah.
(This page was created on 8/7/2023; Last modified on 11/3/2024)