Henry Branson Varner was born on April 12, 1870, in Davidson County, North Carolina. Varner was a prominent and politically powerful citizen of Lexington, serving as the Chairman of the State Prison Board during the administration of Gov. Thomas W. Bickett, president of state and national editorial associations, and as state labor and printing commissioner. He owned and operated movie theaters and was the owner of the Lexington Dispatch. He died in Lexington on April 27, 1925.