Am in contact with my 5th cousin (her 4th great-grandparents are my 4th great-grandparents, Samuel & Susannah (Uhl) Varner). Their son, Benjamin is my 3rd G-Grandfather, and Benjamin's sister, Anna, is Sharon's 3rd G-Grandmother. How cool is that. We are sharing info with each other. Hope to be able to share some of that info with you as I am able to process it.

Was wondering why I was getting no comments on my blog posts. After viewing the auto emails generated when I post, I have come to realize that you are getting an email containing the post, but not an obvious link to the blog itself. There is a link to the blog at the end of the email, "Roediger Trace" which if you click on that link, the Roediger Trace website will open. The advantage of this, is that you will be able to see all of my posts, plus you can add comments to any of the posts you want to add your thoughts to. Hope that helps.

Hi DJ! I know you missed the last post notification because of an email address change, so this post should get you back in the loop.

Progress Report on the Wood Co, WV Varner connection: Actually I am no closer to making the connection, but was able to spend several hours gleaning the marriage records of Uhls, Varners and associated surnames from the Wood Co, WV Marriage Record Books from 1809 to about 1860. I have created a database of any names that appear to have significance to the family. Now I am better able to connect the dots on some of the Uhls and Varners that are popping up.
On that subject, I found a Joseph Varner Uhl, son of Jacob and Catharine (Dye) Uhl, b. in 1830. I am wondering why the middle name "Varner" as I have found no Varners amongst his ancestors so far. Yet another conundrum. I may have to come up with my very own list of top 10 genealogy conundrums. And believe me, I've got so many, that choosing just 10 might present a conundrum in and of itself. [sigh]

Yesterday I posed my dilemma in trying to find a connection between our common ancestor, Samuel Varner, and the David Varner family residing in Wood County, WV. Eureka! (sort of). I found a connection but it isn't as I had hoped, i.e. from Varner to Varner. Rather, I found a convoluted connection through various marriages between non-Varner families. I have attempted to chart this connection. Hopefully, the chart isn't too small to read on this page. If you are really interested, I can send you a jpg or a pdf document that can be looked at at full screen. Feast your eyes on this:

Still hoping to find the Varner-to-Varner connection between these two, but will probably have to find David's father's father's father to make that happen.

I really need to get with the program. I get so involved in researching that I forget to share what I've learned.
Recently, I have been trying to find the connection between our Varner ancestors and the Varners who settled in Wood County, VA (now WV) and the Varners who settled in Athens Co, OH, north of Athens, itself. You may want to get your atlas out to follow what I'm about to share.
Yesterday, I took a day and travelled to Boaz, Central and Vienna WV and visited three small cemeteries, Uhl Cemetery, Varner Cemetery, and Way/Briscoe Run Cemetery.
I often refer back to Samuel Varner, my 4th great grandfather, as he was our ancestor who came west from Pennsylvania to Ohio in the late 1700's or early 1800's. If you are a Roediger, we follow Ruby Helen (Wentz) Roediger through her mother, Lillian Gertrude Varner, through her father Hiram Howard Varner—it is his descendants that participate in our Varner Reunion—through his father, Benjamin Franklin Varner, to his father Samuel Varner. Sam was born in 1770 in Germantown, PA. He ended his days in Vinton Co, just east of McArthur, OH in 1840. He married twice. His first wife, Susannah Uhl, is our ancestor. According to family legend, they were married in Greene Co, PA in 1797. So far, I have been unable to confirm either the date or the location. Today, Greene County is in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania. It was disputed territory at one time, both Virginia and Pennsylvania claiming at least a portion of it.
But what I do know for certain is that Susannah Uhl's parents settled on the banks of the Ohio River at what is now Boaz, WV, and are buried in Uhl Cemetery, near their home place, on a bluff overlooking Muskingum Island in the Ohio River. On a map, you can find the location a few miles north of Parkersburg.
About 2 miles south of Uhl Cemetery is Varner Cemetery. There are at least 11 Varners buried there. I was interested in seeing if I could make a connection between Samuel Varner and the residents of this cemetery. All seem to be descendants of a David and Hannah (Brookover) Varner, who are also buried there. David Varner was born in 1832, so was a late-comer (relatively speaking). There is a C. A. Varner buried there, who died in 1860 (no birth date given) who could conceivably been David Varner's father, but could just as easily been one of David's children, who died early in life. So, unless this C. A. Varner was actually an elderly gentleman when he died in 1860, there are none buried here that would have even been when Samuel Varner came through Wood Co, WV, because Samuel's wife, Susannah Uhl, died in Washington Co, OH in 1818 and is buried near Bartlett OH along with one son and several grandchildren.
So, now the question becomes, "Who is this David Varner, and where did he come from?"
—Investigation to be continued—