A handwritten genealogy: The Verner Genealogy by Clara Verner Wallace states that Samuel first migrated to Tennessee in 1783 and then to Colorado.
It seems that if Samuel did go Colorado, he would have been a very early emigrant to Colorado - before it was named Colorado, or very old when he went.
A more recent genealogy written by Cynthia Eckert entitled Descendants of John Verner, Sr. states that it is a fact that Samuel migrated to Tennessee and Colorado, however, Cynthia also shows that Samuel died in Davidson County, TN. Moreover, Cynthia's genealogy shows that Samuel married Elizabeth ___? and had four sons. In her rendition, Samuel's name was Varner. This page is to report Cynthia's findings, and to try to determine whether or not any descendants of John Verner, Sr. ever settled in Colorado prior to 1900, either as Verners or Varners.
It is possible that Samuel Verner went to the western part of the Kansas Territory, near Old Colorado City, either as an old man (over 90 years old!) carried by one of his son's families, and returned to TN because of illness, or died along the trail and his body was returned to TN for burial. However, this is only speculation.
There is a family tradition that some branch of the Verner family went to Colorado in its early years, and founded the "Colorado branch" of the Verner/Varner family. There has been some discussion that some member of this Colorado branch may have an old family Bible that confirms the parentage of John Verner, Sr.
Of course, there could be other Verners/Varners, descended from John Verner, Sr. who ventured westward into Colorado, some of whom, descended from daughters, may not have carried the family surname. Moreover, there may be non-related Verners/Varners who settled in Colorado as well
Children of Samuel Verner and Elizabeth ___? are:
Cynthia further reported on the families of three of the above sons of Samuel Verner (1764-___?) summarized as follows:
Gerard H. Varner in 1996 published Varner families of the South. where Samuel Varner is listed among the children of John Verner and Mary Pettigrew on page 31. Gerard also shows that Samuel was willed $ 150 in John Verner's will. On page 60 of Gerard Varner's book, it is mentioned that Samuel "was said to have moved to Tennessee with his brother Charles". However, Gerard was unable to find any matching records of either Samuel or Charles Verner in TN. Charles Verner has been studied extensively by Foy Varner and there is no evidence that he ever moved to Tennessee in Foy's detailed analysis. See the link for Charles on the page for John Verner at http://www.concentric.net/~pvb/GEN/jv.html which downloads Foy's paper on Charles Verner.
The choice of spelling between Verner and Varner appears to be based on regional accents and pronunciation, and perhaps Samuel changed the spelling of his his name to Varner when he moved to Tennessee. Subsequent descendants may have used either spelling.
Cynthia Eckert writes that Samuel died in Davidson County, Tennessee. Thus, even if he went to a place called Colorado or tried to go, he, or his body, was returned to Tennessee. Perhaps he accompanied one of his children's families on a migration to Colorado, and returned, or died along the way.
Among his children, James, Samuel, and Joseph are accounted for by Cynthia Eckert as buried in to Marengo Co., AL; Okatibbe Co. MS; and Polk Co. TN, respectively. Thus it is very unlikely that any of these sons and their families went to Colorado. However here are numerous grandchildren that could have done so.
One of Samuel's sons, John Varner, is unaccounted for, and is the only son that could have been an emigrant to Colorado
The family legend avers that there is a family Bible that was owned by one of the members of the branch of the Verner family that was in, or from, Colorado, who was descended from John Verner (1725-1798/9). Since Samuel Verner (b. 1764), and all of his known descendants appear to have used the name Varner, rather than Verner, John Varner (son of Samuel (b. 1764) may have suffered another fate that remains unknown.
The present community of "Old Colorado City", now a part of Colorado Springs, was founded as Colorado City in 1859, and may have been known as "Colorado" from earlier times in the history of Colorado. The Colorado gold rush of 1859 attracted many people from the Eastern U.S. and from Europe to seek their fortunes in Colorado. Gold was discovered in 1857 at Cripple Creek, near Colorado City, and the Santa Fe Trail became crowded with wagon trains headed west. If there were any Verners/Varners from the middle south in the gold rush, they probably would have followed the Cherokee Trail that went from Georgia through Bent's Old Fort, near the present town of La Junta, Colorado, where it joined the Santa Fe Trail to Pueblo and branched off northward to Colorado City. As the prospects of the Civil War loomed, the westward migration increased markedly.
The town of Colorado City was also known by its nickname, "Little London" because it became crowded with English gold seekers who brought capital to develop gold mines and infrastructure to the area.
The meaning of the initials "R. J." have not been found. A photo of R.J. Verner appears in the Colorado State Archives, where he is shown in a group photo with his colleagues in the Legislature. He represented Teller County (where the Cripple Creek Mines are located) and the adjoining El Paso County (where Colorado Springs is located). He appears to be about 40 years old +/- 5 years in the photo.
In more recent times, there was an attorney in Denver, named Robert John Verner who was suspended from his law practice because he did not comply with the State's Continuing Legal Education (CLE) requirements. See: The case of Robert John Verner. Robert John Verner is now deceased. The fact that Robert John had the same initials as "R. J." may suggest a relationship.
In the history of the Cripple Creek mining industry, there is another man, named Verner Zevola Reed, who was an attorney, and stock broker (among other things), who became a very wealthy man, perhaps among the 100 weathiest men in the United States of his time. According to the Colorado Springs Walking tour of Old Colorado City: "Verner Z. Reed arrived in Colorado Springs in the 1880's at a young age, and engaged in real estate development and sales. He participated in the Cripple Creek Mining District, but is most famous for brokering the sale of W. S. Stratton's Independence mine in 1899, earning a commission of $1 million. He moved to Denver a few years later, and expanded into the oil extraction business in Wyoming." A photo of Verner Z. Reed appears in the The Magnificent Portland Mine (scroll down a little to find him). He is the ancestor of some very famous men who still use the name Verner as a first or middle name, such as: Joseph Verner Reed, and Verner Z. Reed, Jr. (1900-1986), yachtsman & Philanthropist, and Verner Z. Reed III , photographer. There is also a Verner Z. Reed IV, apparently living today.
Verner Zevola Reed (1863-1919) was born in Richland County, Ohio to Hugh Fulton Reed (b. 1834, Richland Co, OH) and Elizabeth Amanda Wolfe (b.1838 OH). Elizabeth was the daughter of John Wolfe (b. Aug. 13, 1794) and a woman whose surname was Boughman, daughter of Abraham Boughman. John Wolfe was the son of Adam Wolfe who was a Revolutionary War soldier. Verner Zevola Reed married Mary Dean Johnson and had three children, each of whom also had the name Verner. They had Verner Z. Reed, Jr; Margory Verner Reed and Joseph Verner Reed. This may infer that the name Verner was a well-regarded family name, but probably came from Verner Z. Reed's paternal grandfather's Reed family, which probably has Scots-Irish origins
It remains unknown if these names, R. J. Verner, and Verner Z. Reed, associated with Old Colorado City and the Cripple Creek mines, are related to each other or to any descendants of John Verner (1725-1789/9). If anyone who is interested in this topic or has information about the ancestry of these people, please contact Phillips Verner Bradford, the author of these web pages.