(March 4, 1787 - Feb. 14, 1844) Came to Texas before 1820, and, in partnership with Henry Jones, operated a trading post in the Red River settlement of Jonesboro. He was a member of the "Old Three Hundred" who settled Stephen F. Austin's first colony. Varner first homesteaded near present Independence in 1822, then moved near Columbia in 1824, where he built the Varner Plantation. He fought in the Battles of Velasco (June 26, 1832) and San Jacinto (April 21, 1836). In 1841, Varner migrated to Wood County, where he was mortally wounded in an altercation over a debt. He is buried 100 yards east. (1975)