The Jacob and Mary Stauffer Varnes family of Dunbar Twp., Fayette Co., PA has  been a challenging and fascinating family.  It is not known where Jacob or  Mary were born or where they married.  Jacob Verns first appears as a "single  freeman" in the tax listing for Fayette Co., PA in 1799.  His family appears  in the 1800 census of Fayette Co. under the same name.

Jacob and Mary had thirteen children.  The family was nicely documented in  Floyd Harold Leighty, Sr.'s book entitled, THE FAMILY OF JACOB LEIGHTY OF  FAYETTE CO., PA (1980).  Since Jacob and Mary's first daughter, Margaret, was  married to Henry Leighty, a Varnes section was included in the book.

Jacob and Mary had three sons and ten daughters and lived in Dunbar Twp.  The  sons settled in MO, OH, and IN; the daughters who grew to adulthood  remained in PA.  Because PA did not require counties to record marriages until  the mid-1880's, it has been difficult finding last names for the persons the  Varnes children married.  In addition, many of the records for East Liberty  Presbyterian Church, attended by several of the Varnes children, were stolen.   With Varnes researchers working together, we now have most of the last names  for spouses of the Varnes children--SECHRIST, LEIGHTY, BOYER, MARLEY, ASHTON,  HAIR, OGLEVEE, STRICKLER, ROBINSON, MARTIN and MOORE. Wendy Saxe, in  researching the Joseph and Mary Martin family of Fayette Co., PA, recently  located an OH Death Certificate for their son, James Martin.  It showed his  mother's maiden name as Mary Varnes.  A huge thanks to Wendy for her  contribution in connecting the Martin and Varnes families!

Jacob Varnes died in 1841.  Mary died in 1865.  It is not known where either  one of them are buried.  Several of their descendants are buried at East  Liberty Presbyterian Cemetery.

Varnes researchers are eager to learn the names of the parents of Jacob and  Mary.  In 1880 and 1900 census records for the Varnes children, the  birthplaces shown for their parents vary greatly.  From census records and  local histories about Varnes descendants, there does seem to be some  connection with Canada for Jacob and Mary; one of them may have been born  there or they may have lived there for a time.  It is hoped that one day we  will learn more about their lives and their ancestry.