CORNELIUS WILLINGTON VARNADO

Cornelius Willington Varnado, b January 1, 1850 in Copiah County, Mississippi, d February 11, 1936 in Falls County, Texas and buried in Stranger Cemetery at Stranger, Falls County, Texas-was the third child
of Charles and Rebecca Jane (Davis) Varnado - natives of Mississippi who did not settle in Texas, but who had five of their children who came to Falls County, and other relatives-including the families of two of Rebecca Jane's sisters, and a niece.
In 1871 in Mississippi, Cornelius Willington Var�nado (called "Neil") was married to Mary Elizabeth ("Bettie" Ratliff), b December 24, 1851 in Mississippi, d June 26, 1916 and buried in Stranger Cemetery in Falls County - a daughter of John D. Ratliff, b April 18, 1818, d February 11, 1899, and his wife, Mary (Case) Ratliff - a daughter of Hiram and Elizabeth Case, and both buried in Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cem�etery, Lincoln County, Mississippi - about five miles Southwest of Wesson. The tombstone of Mary (Case) Ratliff is sunken in the ground, and her dates of birth cannot be read.
About 1887, traveling with his newly-wed brother, William Howell and Lola (McInnis) Varnado, Cornelius brought his family to Falls County, Texas - soon after the second marriage of their mother. Other relatives had already settled in the area; and Cornelius and William Howell established their homes in the Stranger Community. The seven children of Cornelius
Willington and Mary Elizabeth (Ratliff) Varnado - including a pair of twin daughters, were all born in Mississippi, and all came to Falls County, Texas with their parents:
Cynthia Tallulah Varnado (called "Lula"), b November 7, 1872, d April 12, 1954 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery, Falls County, Texas - married December 25, 1889 in Falls County to Charles Harlan, b April 4, 1869 at Blue Ridge, d November 27,1945 and buried in Blue Ridge Cemetery - a son of George and Pauline Jane (McCaleb) Harlan.
Julia I. Varnado, b November 21, 1873, d October 4, 1904 and buried in Stranger Cemetery in Falls County, Texas - married December 16, 1890 in Falls County to Thomas S. Swinnea, b February 4, 1870 in Falls County, Texas, d November 17, 1921 and buried in Stranger Cemetery - a son of James Richard and Susan C. (Holloway) Swinnea, who moved from Giles County, Tennessee about 1869 and settled in the Stranger Community.
John Hiram Varnado, born and died in 1875. Martha Jane Varnado a Twin, b October 22, 1876, d September 5, 1897 and buried in Stranger Cemetery - was not married.
Mary Rebecca Varnado - a Twin, b October 22,
1876, d December 16, 1897 and buried by her twin in Stranger Cemetery - married October 14, 1895 in Falls County, Texas to Charles H. Johnson. They had no children when she died.
Cornelius Willington Varnado, Jr., b December 1877 - died in Lincoln County, Mississippi, before 1880.
Charles Houston Varnado, b March 1879, died September 12, 1942 with a friend, John Olen Jones, while driving a car with a trailer when it was struck and demolished by an MKT Passenger Train just South of Elm Mott, McLennan County, Texas. Charles Houston was buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Waco, Texas. He married in Falls County, Texas on December 2, 1900 to Hattie Hayes - a daughter of James Sanford and Sarah (Reed) Hayes, who had moved from Giles County, Tennessee in 1886 and settled in the Stranger Community of Falls County, Texas. When he died, he was survived by his widow, Hattie, three sons: Frank Varnado, of Austin, Texas; William Varnado (called "Bill"), of Elm Mott, Texas; and Charles Hous�ton Varnado, Jr., of Hamstead, Maryland; and one daughter, Mrs. C. L. Lumbley, of Port Arthur, Texas. Only one sibling survived him-a sister, Mrs. Charles ("Lula" Varnado) Harlan, of Blue Ridge, Falls County, Texas.
Cornelius Willington Varnado was a man who possessed fiery-red hair, which trait was inherited by many of his descendants. He is remembered by his grandchildren for his grape arbors and wine-making, along with his son-in-law, Charles Harlan.