Submitted by Descendants: Blake Timothy, Charles Franklin, Eden Michele and Jessie Irene Hogarth BEARD; Amanda Faye, Brenda Cothren, and Jared Lamar BECK; Robbyn Ronea, and Stephanie Maranda GRINER; Dana Nicole, Erik Andrew, and Jean Beard SCHMIDT; Cynthia Cothren Griner and Jordan Alexis SOMMISE; and Caroline Hogarth SPEER
Court records show Isaac Varn Sr celebrated Christmas, 1823, with his family in a house he built on the south side of the north fork of Black Creek, in Duval County. This area is now known as Middleburg, in Clay County. Isaac Sr was a man of many talents and prospered in difficult situations. He was a maker of nails, a chainman with a survey crew, owned a store, a warehouse and land, was a farmer and cattleman, and was a cartographer, as evidenced by maps in the Clay County Courthouse. He voted in the first statewide election, in Duval County.
Records in the Huxley Library of Camden County, Georgia show Isaac Sr lived there and fought in the First Indian War. It is thought he first visited Florida during this time. At age 55, he served in the Second Indian War. He enlisted at Black Creek, served three months and 25 days under Captain J E Hutchinson, and was awarded 120 acres of Bounty Land for this. However his buildings were destroyed and his land confiscated. He died a pauper, though he did recover his land after suing the Federal Government.
Isaac Sr and his wife Priscilla parented eight children. Five of these children were with him when he came to Florida. Isaac Sr was born in the North Orangeburg District, Barnwell, South Carolina to Jacob Varn and Mary (Copeland) Varn. Isaac Sr died 20 May 1857 in the Middleburg area of then Duval County. The maiden name of his wife, Priscilla is unknown. Her death date and their burial sites are unproved.
Isaac Varn Sr. was first established as a Florida Pioneer in 1984