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[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Varner Family Papers, 1774-1933, SC 0129, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.
This collection is on deposit from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society.
In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017.
The Varner family of Page County, Virginia was of German descent, and their name appears as early as 1801 on records of the Antioch Christian Church near Stony Man Creek, Virginia.
Despite wide-spread anti-liquor sentiment in the Shenandoah Valley in the nineteenth century, the Varners operated a distillery. Documentary evidence of the business begins in 1869 and includes state permits to distill, Internal Revenue "Distillery Gauger" forms, and several orders for brandy.
The Varner Family Papers, 1774-1933, document the Varner family of Page County, Virginia with particular emphasis on correspondence, legal and financial documents, and documents relating to their distillery business.
Series 1: Letters, 1816-1910, contains documents from relatives of the Varners in the Midwest and from other family members within Virginia. Most of these documents date from the latter half of the nineteenth century. In general these letters discuss health, the weather and farming; however, there are several accounts relating to the Civil War and its devastating effects on the family.
Series 2: Legal Documents, 1774-1931, contains a thorough collection of tax receipts dating from 1803-1930; several papers pertaining to John Varner's duties as an executor; a folder of receipts for various financial transactions; and, among other papers in the miscellaneous folder, a Confederate States of America Bond.
Series 3: Distillery Papers, 1869-1893, contains documents related to the Varner's distillery business in Luray, Virginia. Despite wide-spread anti-liquor sentiment in the Shenandoah Valley in the nineteenth century, the Varners operated a distillery. Documentary evidence of the business begins in 1869 and includes state permits to distill, Internal Revenue "Distillery Gauger" forms and several orders for brandy.
The collection is arranged into three series: