The first known record of Samuel is a 1722 deed of County Armagh, Ireland (now Northern Ireland). The deed is listed in the microfilm "Index to Irish Deeds 1708-1780" as County Armagh Deed Number 21941, which is the number listed on the original deed. It is listed in the LDS Index #100268, Volume 35, page 197, as Deed #461322. The original deed is apparently preserved in Northern Ireland. The deed refers to two previous deeds, the second of which was in 1713 and might be on the same microfilm under a different name. The first deed was in 1691 and might be available elsewhere in the records at the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI). There are reportedly no records available from 1650-1690.

My transcription of the deed is below. The name of one the towns is now spelled Levalleglish, the county is Armagh, the barony is O'neill Land West, and the parish is Loughgall. Present-day Loughgall Parish is in the northern part of County Armagh and includes the townships of Levalleglish and Loughgall, according to the PRONI website at www.proni.gov.uk/geogindx/geogindx.htm. Another place, presumably a town, is listed in the deed as Ballygahy, but I have done extensive searches and can not find such a place. There is a township in Loughgall Parish named Ballygasey, and it is in the same general area as Levalleglish, which implies that the clerk miswrote the name in the deed. A 1734 lease, discussed below, supports that assumption. The name Armagh is a modern form of the name Ard Mhacha, which probably explains why the clerk included a "d" in the name in the deed. The page numbers apparently refer to the location of the copy on the microfilm, rather than to the page of the original record in Ireland. In the few places that were not clear, I entered comments in parentheses.

Source: Registry of deeds of County Armagh, Ireland (now Northern Ireland)
My transcript:

(LDS Page 197)

	In the left margin is written by the original clerk,
"Varner et al
        to
    Stone
Reg.rd the 13th day of
Oco:r 1722 at half an
hour after 4 aClock
in the afternoon"

The body of the deed reads,

"No 21941. To the Register Appointed for Registering of Deeds Conveyances & Wills
pursuant to an Act of Parliament in that Behalfe

A Memoriall of Articles of Agreem.t made and concluded bearing date the Eighth Day of August in y.e Year of our Lord God One Thousand Seven hundred Twenty Two Between Samuel Varner of Levaleglish purier & Robert Varner of the same Weaver both (illegible; probably "in the") County of Ardmagh (sic) of the one Part and George Stone of Ardmagh (sic) and said County mor.t of the other Part Whereby the said Samuel and Robert Varner for & in Consideration of the Sum of One hundred and Eighty Pounds Sterl(ing) to them in hand paid the receipt whereof thereby is acknowledged as by the said article is mentioned Hath Given Granted Assigned Transferred and made over unto the said George Stone his E?:? (illegible abbreviation) Adm.? (illegible superscript) (probably a reference to heirs and administrator) and assigns their whole right Title Interest & Estate of in and to the Lands of Levaleglish & Ballygahy (underlined) together w.th one other Orchard in Levaleglish situate (sic) lying and being in the Parish of Loughgall Barrony of one Land (sic; O'neill Land West) and County of Ardmagh (sic) afforesd (sic) comenceing (sic) from y.e first day of May last at yearly Rent reserved to Rob.t Cope Esq.r in two Deeds made to the said Sam.l Varner the one bearing date the Eighteenth Day of Oct.er One Thousand Six hundred & Ninety One and the other bearing date the Eighteenth day of September One Thousand Seven hundred and Thirteen over and above all Taxes susbsides (sic) & Country (sic) Charges Quitt & Crown Rent only Excepted Subject to the Payment of the Rents and performance of all y.e Coven.ts. & Clauses & conditions by thes.e (sic) Deeds and Articles menconed (sic) & Expressed and that Herbert Stone & Robert Brennan of Ardmagh, Gen are Witnesses Subscribeing (sic) & attesting the perfection of the s.d Articles Etc George Stone Seale (Seale is circled) -- This Memoriall was Signed and Sealed by the above Geo: Stone In presence of -- Rob.t Brennan -- Herb.t Stone -- The above named Herbert Stone came this day into court and made oath that he saw the above named Samuel Varner & Robert Varner duely (sic) Seal and Execute the above Articles whereof the above writing is a Memoriall and also saw Geo. Stone party to the said Articles Signe (sic) and Seal the s.d Memorial is y.e depon.ts own handwriting

(LDS Page 198)

Writing --- Herb.t Stone --- Jod cor nob apud Session par(?) ten apud Ardmagh tix (dix/dir?) Octobris Anno Dom 1722 --- Tho Dawson --- Tho: Burke "

I have not attempted to translate the terms that appear to be in Latin.

This deed says that Samuel Varner obtained one lease on 18 Oct 1691 and another on 18 Sep 1713. It appears that the purchaser George Stone took possession of the property as a renter on 1 May 1722, that the sale occurred on 8 Aug 1722, and that the transaction was recorded in October 1722. The original deeds were in the name of only Samuel, but a man named Robert Varner was one of the sellers when the lease was sold in 1722. That suggests to me that Robert was probably Samuel's oldest son and heir. This deed proves that Robert was probably born by 1701 and that Samuel was probably born before 1670 and most likely by ca 1660.

The term "purier" refers to Samuel's occupation. According to the website www.houseofnames.com, the term is a variation of the French word "poirier" that derives from the Old French word "perier". It originated in medieval Normandy in France and means "pear tree". It was often used to indicate a person who sold pears, or who lived by a pear tree, or who owned an orchard. That in turn implies that the orchard in the lease might have been a pear orchard and that Samuel's main occupation might have been to produce fruit. According to the Northern Ireland GenWeb website, Armagh was colonized in the early 1600s by Protestant landowners from England, many of whom came from Worcestershire and planted orchards similar to those of England. The Cope family were landholders there from the early-1600s. However, although the land might have been granted mainly to English owners, the tenants were likely from a variety of places, and most of the tenant settlers in Northern Ireland were from Scotland. The area northeast of Armagh City is presently a rich fruit growing region, and Loughgall is now the center of the apple orchard area. Robert was described as a weaver. A reader could be easily confused by the adjoining words "weaver" and "both". If the deed were punctuated correctly, there would probably have been a comma between the words "weaver" and "both". At least one researcher theorized that Samuel and Robert were brothers, but the facts that the original lease was in only Samuel's name and that both he and Robert were selling the property suggests to me that Robert was probably the eldest son and heir of Samuel. Pennsylvania records suggest to me that Robert might have remained in Ireland for 10-12 years after Samuel left Ireland and then immigrated to America, as I discuss below. Herbert Stone swore that Samuel and Robert executed the Articles of August 8th, which implies that Samuel was there at that time. Thus, Samuel could have left Armagh as early as August 1722 to immigrate to America.

In The Scots Migrate To Ulster, A Brief History, it is noted that in the early 18th century (early-1700s), the 31 year leases came due that were previously given to the Scots as inducement to migrate to Ulster. The land lords raised the rents on the land that the Scots had improved, and many of the tenants could not afford to stay on their own land. Those leases had been granted at the end of the 17th century. Additionally, there was a serious drought from 1714 to 1719, which ruined the linen and woolen industries. The Test Act of 1703 silenced the ministers who had previously preached against emigration, and they began to lead the emigrations. Five thousand people left in 1717, and when their favorable reports began to come back, the race was on. All who left were Presbyterians.

While the last statement suggests that Samuel might have been a Presbyterian of Scots descent, it is also possible that the author of the book was mistaken that all of the emigrants were Presbyterian. Ulster was an old province that included what is now several counties, including County Armagh. The Scots who migrated there used to be called Ulster Scots.

Notice that Samuel and Robert sold their lease in County Armagh in 1722, which was thirty-one years after Samuel had acquired his first lease in 1691. My estimate of Samuel's birth year as ca 1660 is based on the assumption that he was about thirty years old, plus or minus ten years, when he first acquired his lease in 1691. Samuel apparently migrated to America shortly after the sale. The information above is suggestive that Samuel and maybe Robert might have migrated to Ulster from Scotland, but that is not certain. It is also possible that their forebears had migrated to Ireland earlier and that both were born in Ireland. Material written by Clara Verner Wallace suggests that the Verner families of Northern Ireland had come from Scotland, as discussed below. There was a family named Verner in Armagh whose forebears reportedly migrated through England and Scotland, but it is not proven that Samuel was part of that family. Thus, any search for Samuel's origin should include the lowlands of Scotland and the area in England from which the land owners came.

The name of the landlord Robert Cope is significant. The Cope family were prominent land owners in Northern Ireland from the early 1600s. A search of the PRONI website showed that a Robert Verner was listed as a lessee in Ballygassey (sic) in May 1734 and that his landlord was Robert Cope. That location and those names suggest that they were probably the same men as in the 1722 deed and that the surname might have been more properly spelled as Verner or Vernor. It is also possible that Robert changed the spelling of his name after Samuel immigrated to America. The website search showed records for Verners and Vernors, but no Varners. When Samuel's son David acquired Samuel's grant in America, that record spelled the surname as Verner, unless the transcriber misread the original record. According to the data listed in the previous section about David, a petition of May 1735 included the name Robert Verner. According to Janice Palmer's page 2, a Robert Vernor/Verner requested a survey for land in Lancaster County, PA on 23 Jul 1735 and for other land in 1736 and 1741. A Robert Verner helped to guarantee the bond for the estate of the deceased David in 1743. Janice Palmer listed the Robert of Pennsylvania as a probable grandson of Samuel, but it appears to me that the Robert of 1735 Lancaster County might have been the same man as the Robert of the 1722 deed and the 1734 Ballygasey record, who I think was probably Samuel's eldest son. That in turn suggests that Robert immigrated to America between May 1734 and May 1735. A further search of County Armagh records might determine if the name Robert Verner appeared in Ballygasey after 1735, but I have not been able to find such a listing.

Samuel immigrated to America and settled on 200 acres of land on Pequea Creek in Chester County, PA (later Lancaster County). According to Janice Palmer, he appeared on a Chester County tithe list in 1724, along with a man named James Verner/Vernor. Tithes were taxed to those of age eighteen or older, proving that James was born by 1706. Janice theorized that James was probably a son of Samuel who had immigrated with Samuel from Ireland, and she listed him as Samuel's eldest son. Based on my previous reasoning, I think it is more likely that Robert was Samuel's eldest son and that James was a younger son. I will discuss James further below.

The immigrant Samuel had obviously died by October 1725 when his son David applied for the title to Samuel's land.

Recall from the previous data that in February 1728/9 men of Chester County, PA petitioned for a new county that became Lancaster County, including a Samuel Vernor and David Vernor. Janice Palmer theorized that the younger Samuel was Samuel, Jr. and listed him as a son of the immigrant Samuel. I do not know the age requirement to sign a petition. Presuming that one had to be at least eighteen, the younger Samuel must have been born by February 1710/11. On her page 2, Janice wrote that a record of September 1728 said that Samuel had gone "abroad", and she referred to the Pennsylvania Archives, but did not give a specific reference. That date is somewhat confusing, because September 1728 would have been several months before the petition of February 1728/9. In May 1735, men of Lancaster County petitioned for a road, and the names included Samuel Verner, Robert Verner, and David Zerner (sic). As mentioned above, a Robert Verner/Vernor requested land in 1735, 1736, and 1741, and he helped to guarantee the bond when David died in 1743. The younger Samuel disappeared from the Pennsylvania records after 1735, and Robert disappeared from the records after 1743. It is not known what happened to them or if they left descendants. They might have migrated to another colony and might have changed the spelling of their surnames, or they might have left America, but it is also possible they died without male descendants. Men with similar names appeared in other colonies and have not yet been connected.

James Verner/Vernor died by February 1736/7 (1735/6?) as shown by his estate records published by Janice Palmer. That date is confusing, because the estate inventory was reportedly recorded in December 1736, which would have been before February 1736/7. A Mary Vernor was named executrix, but she was not specified as a "widow". She was required to present an accounting to the Orphans Court, which suggests, but does not prove, that James had minor children and that Mary was probably his widow. Also guaranteeing the estate bond were William Wilson and James Galt. The estate inventory of James Verner (sic) was recorded in December 1736 by Thomas Pleman and James Campbell. I find it interesting that one of the items in the inventory was a pair of weavers gears. Thus, it is possible that John Verner, Sr. was a son of James and Mary Verner/Vernor, but the fact that John named his first son David suggests otherwise. John Verner, Sr. named his second son James, but that does not help us with the Verner connection, because John's father-in-law was James Pettigrew. The Pettigrew forebears were quite respected, so one would expect to see the name James repeated in subsequent generations, and it was. That practice was also influenced by the fact that John's second son James died in the Revolutionary War as a prisoner of war, so some descendants might have been named in his honor. The names David, James, and Samuel occur multiple times in John's descendants, but not with enough regularity to draw any conclusions regarding John's father. On the other hand, if David Verner/Vernor who died in 1743 was John's uncle, rather than John's father, one might not expect to see the name David appear as often in John's descendants as it does.

John Verner, Sr. who married Mary Cochran Pettigrew was not the only John in the early records. An older John Verner/Vernor appeared in the Pennsylvania records, as discussed by Janice Palmer on her pages 3-4. That John was apparently born in the early 1700s and died in 1754 in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, PA, leaving a will. He acquired a land warrant in March 1733/4, the survey of which was done in 1736. He operated a tavern from 1735 to 1741. He gave land for a Presbyterian church in Leacock near his home. His will named his wife Martha and their children Samuel, Benjamin, Elizabeth, James, John, Mary, and Hannah. His name was first listed in the transcript of his will as John Vernon, but he reportedly signed as John Vernor, and the subsequent listings used the spelling Vernor. The will implied that all of the children were less than twenty-one years old in 1754. His eldest son Samuel was named as one of the executors, implying that Samuel was probably at least fourteen years old in 1754 and was born before 1740. I do not know the Pennsylvania laws during that period, but in Virginia, males could be executors at age fourteen, so I assume that the same was true in Pennsylvania, since both were based on English law. Witnesses were Roger Anderson, Roger Blair, and Gerard Chestnut. The will was proved in April 1754, and his widow Martha and son Samuel were reportedly listed at that time with the surname Vernor. A record in the Orphans Court in April 1758 listed his name as John Vernor and four of his younger children as Benjamin Vernor, Elizabeth Vernor, John Verneor (sic), and James Vernor. I do not know if the name "Verneor" was the way it was listed in the record or if that was a typographical error in Janice's book. The children Benjamin and Elizabeth had reached the age of fourteen and chose Robert Thompson and John Woods as their guardians. The sons John and James were still under age fourteen, and the court appointed the same two men as their guardians. Based on proximity and ages, Janice Palmer listed the elder John as another probable son of Samuel the immigrant. The elder John's son Samuel sold his share of the land in 1758, implying that he had reached the age of twenty-one by that time, and he disappeared from the records. Benjamin was probably born ca 1742, based on the Orphans Court record. He stayed on his share of the land and died in 1834. Elizabeth was apparently born ca 1744 and reportedly married and disappeared from the records. The elder John's son John Verner/Vernor/Varner/Warnor was born after 1744, married Mary Free/Ferree, migrated to western Pennsylvania, and had four children Thomas, Sarah, Cristina, and Phoebe. He eventually moved elsewhere and died. Janice Palmer wrote that he moved to Pittsburgh and died after 1833, based on his War pension application. Phil Bradford reports that a Reverend C. D. Cooper is a grandson of that younger John and says that he died in Albany, NY in 1828. Regardless, he was not the same man as our John Verner, Sr. who married Mary Cochran Pettigrew, although they were very possibly first cousins. The suffix "Sr." could get confusing, since both the elder John and our John Verner, Sr. had sons named John. I refer to the older John as the "elder" John and to his son as the "younger" John. Our John Verner, Sr. was apparently younger than the elder John and older than the younger John. The daughter Mary Vernor married and disappeared from the records. The daughter Hannah married Robert Clinch. They purchased land from her brothers in 1758, sold it in 1767, and disappeared from the records. Thus, I agree with Janice Palmer that it appears that the elder John was probably another son of the immigrant Samuel Varner/Verner/Vernor, but neither he nor his son was our John Verner, Sr. who married Mary Cochran Pettigrew. It was a common practice for the eldest son in a family to maintain the surname spelling of his father and for younger sons to change the spelling to distinguish their lines.

Janice Palmer listed two other people who showed in various records of that time. An Aaron Varnor/Varnon was reportedly born in the early 1700s and disappeared from the records, but Janice did not specify the source of that information. Janice listed him as another possible son of the immigrant Samuel, but it is possible that Aaron belonged to another line. It is also possible that he was a son of Samuel and that he used a different spelling to distinguish is line. The surname spelling and the fact that the name Aaron does not appear in the near-descendants of John Verner, Sr. implies that Aaron was not the father of John Verner, Sr. The other person in the early records was named Mary Vernor/Verner, who was believed by that source to have married a Thomas Jonson. Janice Palmer listed Mary as a possible daughter of the immigrant Samuel.

Based on the names in the various records, Janice Palmer theorized that the Robert in Ireland was a brother of the immigrant Samuel, whereas I think that he was probably Samuel's eldest son. Thus, she listed Samuel with probable children named James, David, Samuel Jr., John, Aaron, and Mary. She listed David with children Robert (who I think was possibly David's brother from Ireland, rather than his son); John Verner, Sr.; and Martha who married George Pattillo. As I said, I do not think Robert was a son of David, and at least one undocumented source said that David had only one son and that the son was John Verner, Sr.

Based on the above data, I believe that the immigrant Samuel had an eldest son Robert when he sold his lease in County Armagh, that Robert migrated to America between May 1734 and May 1735, and that Samuel had other sons named James, Samuel, David, and John who were not necessarily born in that order. Aaron might have been another son or from a different family. James and David appear to have possibly had minor children when they died, so either could have been the father of John Verner, Sr., but the naming pattern in the children of John Verner, Sr. is more compatible with his having been a son of David.