Sanders Of Randolph and Montgomery Counties, North Carolina and Jackson County, Alabama and other counties in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas

This Web site is dedicated to genealogical research on the ancestors, descendants and collateral lines of four Sanders brothers--William Aaron Saunders, Isaac Saunders, the Reverend Moses Sanders, and Francis Sanders. During the American Revolution they were living in the part of central North Carolina that is now the counties of Randolph and Montgomery.

Their numerous descendants followed the path of western expansion as American pioneers moved West. Many were in the forefront of settlement in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. Some family members moved north to Illinois or Indiana; others moved west to Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and California. Sanders were with the Mormon pioneers as they trekked to Utah and Arizona, and there were Sanders cowboys who drove cattle in Texas on the great trail drives. Most were subsistence farmers, but some became citizens of considerable wealth and influence. There were Sanders who owned slaves and others who fought and died for the Union; there were Sanders who were Baptists and Methodists and those who were Mormons. They were farmers and doctors and lawyers and teachers and musicians and businessmen, but usually they were what Thomas Bailey Saunders III called "just plain folks." In their diversity of occupation and accomplishment, they reflected the American experience, especially that of Scots-Irish pioneers.

These Sanders genealogy articles supplement my RootsWeb World Connect Web file burton-sanders. For comments, questions, or suggestions please contact me at the e-mail address listed at the World Connect file. I hope you find the information provided here interesting and helpful, and I welcome any additional information or updates you can provide. If you quote material from this site in your research, please give credit to the source of your information, whether the material is my work or that of others I have quoted. See the end notes for further information about the sources of this site.

It is well to remember that, although the lineages presented here are based on my best attempts at good judgment and plausible reasoning, some of these conclusions may not stand the scrutiny of future research. Genealogical research is always an ongoing and unfinished project. It should also be noted that some articles at this site deal with Sanders who do not have a proven genealogical relationship to my line; in such cases, I believe I have clearly identified which articles examine non-related Sanders.

Our Sanders are depicted in the differing family traditions of our lines as of Irish, Scottish, or English origin. Most likely, they were of mixed origins. Even though we cannot determine the exact area of northern Ireland, England, or Scotland from which they came, we do have documentary evidence that in the 1750s some of our Sanders were living in Brunswick and Halifax counties in Virginia; by the late 1760s some family members had moved to central North Carolina. In addition to the documentary evidence, there is also a strong family tradition that the family lived in Virginia before moving to North Carolina. DNA tests show that related Sanders were living in the Stafford/Fairfax/Loudoun county area of Virginia at the same time the four brothers appeared in North Carolina. The Fairfax line goes back to Lewis Sanders, a Scottish immigrant who came to America about the first decade of the eighteenth century. Lewis may have been the main progenitor and immigrant ancestor of our Sanders line in America. If so, he was probably the grandfather of the brothers in North Carolina.

If you are a descendant of the four brothers--William Aaron, Isaac, Moses, or Francis--or have a confirmed DNA connection to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery or are related to one of their collateral lines, you may want to contribute to the research on our Sanders line by joining one or more of the following research groups:

Membership in all three groups is free and provides a means by which researchers can exchange and share information. --Gary Sanders

If you would like a link for your Sanders Web page added to this list or if you notice a broken link that no longer works, please send me an e-mail.

My research, and that of many other individuals who have generously shared documentation, indicates that in the years before the American Revolution there were at least four brothers who lived in the Piedmont area of North Carolina: William Aaron Saunders, Isaac Saunders, the Reverend Moses Sanders, and Francis Sanders. A grandson of the Reverend Moses Sanders, Moses Martin Sanders, referred to Francis Sanders as his great uncle in the ordinances he completed for the LDS church in the late nineteenth century. One of Aaron's grandsons, Thomas Bailey Saunders of Texas, wrote a letter about 1890 in which he referred to to his grandfather, William Aaron Saunders and to his grandfather's brothers, Isaac and "another brother named Moses, who was a Baptist preacher." There was at least one sister, believed to have been named Tabitha, in the family, and there may very well have been other siblings.

In the family tradition there is a bit of fanciful material about two Saunders brothers who arrived in America shortly in the early eighteenth century, helped in the capture of Blackbeard, the pirate, and then changed the spelling of their name to Sanders, but this bit of family folklore may only reflect a possibly authentic memory that two brothers were the immigrant progenitors of our Sanders line in America. One of the immigrant brothers was probably the grandfather or father of the four brothers of Randolph and Montgomery. We have no confirmed documentation of the childhood of the four brothers, but by the 1770s they appear in the land records of the Piedmont area of North Carolina that was then Anson and Rowan Counties, but that would later become the counties of Randolph, Montgomery, Iredell, Wilkes, and others.

In 1772, William Aaron received a land grant on Barnes Creek in what is now Montgomery County. Between 1771 and 1774, Moses Sanders received several grants of land in present day Montgomery County (then Anson County), to the west of Aaron's land. In 1774 Moses and Aaron were ordered to help construct a road. In 1782 Isaac appears on the tax roll of Montgomery County. These are typical of the numerous references to Moses, Aaron, or Isaac in the land records.

There seems to have been a long-standing relationship with the Hamilton family among these early Sanders. Moses Sanders married a Mary Hamilton in Brunswick County, Virginia; one of the descendants of Isaac married a Hamilton;Tabitha, Moses' sister, married a Hamilton; and we know of a William Hamilton who owned land near the Sanders in North Carolina and is believed to have been a brother to Mary, wife of Moses. Most of these Hamiltons appear to have moved to Randolph and Montgomery Counties from Brunswick County. We do not know how long the Saunders family themselves lived in Brunswick County, but there is a family tradition that they were from Virginia, and before that, from England, Scotland, or Ireland. Despite widespread Web postings to the contrary, there is no proof that any of the four brothers were born in England, and it appears that Christopher Columbus Sanders was mainly responsible in 1902 for popularizing the theory that the Reverend Moses Sanders, was born in Wiltshire County in England when he helped erect his great grandfather's tombstone and added the inscription "born in England 1742." The theory that Moses' father was a John Sanders from the village of Downton in Wiltshire, England, is apparently based on confusion with a different John Sanders and son Moses who lived in Wiltshire and emigrated to America nearly a hundred years before the Reverend Moses Sanders was born.

There are large gaps in our knowledge of Moses, Aaron, and Isaac. The name of Isaac's wife, for example, is not even mentioned in family tradition, though we do know that Isaac had a child named Jacob, and probably several others. William Aaron's wife was Joan Bailey, who is mentioned in the Thomas Bailey Saunders letter as "of the famous old family of Virginia." No one is quite sure which Bailey family he was talking about or why they were famous. We know that Aaron died in 1782 because letters of administration for his estate were issued in that year. Aaron's widow, Joan (or Joanah) appears on the land records of Montgomery county as late as 1803. In the 1830s, Nimrod Sanders, a son of Aaron and Joan Saunders, sold his land in Montgomery County and moved to Alabama. Moses moved away from Montgomery County after October 1781, first to Wilkes County, and then further west to the area that became Iredell County. As an itinerant preacher, he traveled frequently, and even moved to South Carolina for a while, before eventually residing in Franklin County, Georgia, where he died in 1817, a highly respected clergyman. Many of his descendants became Mormons.

Francis, who had helped Moses in Georgia with his ministry and who is mentioned in the minutes of the Grove Level Baptist Church in Georgia that was founded by Moses, eventually moved to Tennessee and probably died in that state. He is known to have had a son named Silas.

Isaac, who is said to have been the first man to build a house at Cross Creek (now Fayetteville), may have lived longer than any of his brothers, probably surviving well into his nineties. If he was really one of the first settlers at Cross Creek he must have been a young man about 1760. Like his brothers, he owned land in Montgomery County, but it appears he moved to Randolph County after 1782. He is enumerated on the 1800 census of Randolph County as over forty-five years of age, but the last documentary record of him is a transfer of land by him to Benjamin Sanders in 1808. He lived long enough that Thomas Bailey Saunders, who was born in 1816, could write a letter to a nephew about 1890 and marvel at Isaac's longevity, "I have seen your great-grandfather and his wife, and they were very old then." If Isaac was born about 1737-1740, then he would have been in his eighties in the 1820s when Thomas Bailey Saunders was a child.

Most of the descendants of William Aaron and Isaac lived in the northern area of Montgomery County, not far from the Randolph County line, between Duncombe Creek and Barnes Creek, particularly near the community of Ophir, which is described as a village of tradition and pastoral values in the Montgomery County Heritage Book, Volume II:

Nestled in the Uwharries, Ophir is a family community. A community that still believes in doing things the old fashioned way.“We are all kin up here one way or another, “ said Robert Saunders. “We always tell people they better watch what they say about anybody, because more than likely, they’ll be talking about their own people.” Way back, when folks first started settling in Ophir, Ophir wasn’t Ophir. It was Saunders Hill. “I guess it was around the 1800s that the area as known as Saunders Hill,” said Myrtle Hall. “We had a post office that went across Coggins Gold Mine that was called Saunders Hill Post Office."

The name was changed from Saunders Hill to Ophir in the nineteenth century when a steel mill was built. Ophir was a reference to the land of Ophir mentioned in the Bible as a place where King Solomon obtained gold. From this small area, the descendants of the Montgomery County Saunders moved to other states in the South, Midwest, and West.

The articles offered here and the links to other Web sites cannot possibly cover everything a descendant would like to know about the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery, nor have I tried to be rigidly systematic in arranging the articles. Rather, I add features as items of interest come to my attention. My hope is provide information that supplements that of other researchers so that, as Thomas Bailey Saunders III said in 1971 in a letter to a relative who was inquiring about family history, we may "find out how many horse borrowers, cattle rustlers, coon hunters, preachers, and just plain good Christian folks there were among us." (quoted in William Aaron Saunders Research Group Web site.)

The descendants of the four brothers intermarried with the descendants of Joseph Sanders of Randolph County, who made his will on March 18, 1803. Joseph's wife was name Rebecca, but her maiden name is unknown. At least three of their daughters and two of their sons married Sanders descendants of the four brothers. DNA testing, however, suggests that Joseph was not related to the other Saunders line. Because, of the extensive cousin intermarriage which was common in those days, tracing the genealogical links between these two Sanders families is rather complicated. Many Saunders and Saunders of Randolph and Montgomery in North Carolina and Jackson County in Alabama are descended from both Sanders lines. For example, Joseph Sanders was my g-g-g grandfather and Isaac Saunders was my third great grandfather. My great-great grandparents were Benjamin Saunders, a son of Isaac, and Mary Sanders, a daughter of Joseph. Like the other Sanders line, Joseph Sanders is believed to have been of Scottish or Irish ancestry, but his parents are unknown. His descendants were so closely associated with the other group, however, that one possible explanation is that one of Joseph's ancestors may have been adopted into the other Sanders line, and therefore Joseph may have regarded himself as a genetic relative even though DNA tests suggest he was not.

Below is a chart that gives a brief introduction to the line of Joseph Sanders of Randolph County, showing the marriages of his children to spouses from the line of the four brothers.

Another difficulty is that earlier researchers, searching for an illustrious family origin, tried to connect the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery Counties, North Carolina, and Jackson County, Alabama, with the family of John Sanders (fl. 1676) of Nansemond County, Virginia, who is mentioned in a famous article in John Bennett Boddie's monumental genealogical work Historical Southern Families. This connection with John of Nansemond is completely unsubstantiated. The parentage of the four brothers of Randolph and Montgomery is not yet known with certainly, though we think they came from Fairfax County in Virginia; certainly none of the available evidence gives any indication of our Sanders ever having lived in Nansemond or neighboring Isle of Wight. The parentage of Joseph Sanders who died in 1803 in Randolph is even more of a mystery, in spite of similar attempts to connect him to Isle of Wight and Nansemond. Family tradition is that he was of Scottish origin. It is even possible that his father or grandfather may have been adopted into the other Saunders line. Unfortunately, there is as yet no documentary evidence that gives us a lead on the parents of Joseph, Sr.

We have considerably more evidence for the line of the four brothers in Montgomery County. Sometime around the turn of the 20th century, probably in the late 1880s or early 1890s, Thomas Bailey Saunders of Texas, whose ancestors were from Montgomery County, North Carolina, wrote a letter to a relative in response to a question about his family heritage. Thomas Bailey was a son of Nimrod Saunders, a grandson of William Aaron Saunders, one of the four brothers of Randolph and Montgomery. The letter he wrote is reported to be in the possession of one of his descendants near Forth Worth, Texas. According to O'Gretta Saunders, the recipient of the letter was Thomas Bailey Saunders' nephew, Elkanah Shuford Saunders. Elkanah was the son of Henry Saunders (son of Jacob Saunders, son of Isaac Saunders) and Polly Saunders (daughter of Nimrod Saunders, son of William Aaron Saunders). Isaac and William Aaron were brothers. Therefore Elkanah had two Sanders great- grandfathers, Isaac and William Aaron, and two Sanders grandfathers, Jacob and Nimrod. Here is the relevant portion of the letter which is taken from a site that is no longer on the Web (http://www.tbox.com/tsanders/Sanders/AaronSanders/johnsaunders.html, maintained by Thomas J. Sanders, and though no longer on the Web, still accessible through the Wayback Machine):

My grandfather married in Virginia. My grandmother's name was Joan Bailey. According to family tradition, the name of this grandfather was William Aaron Saunders.

His brother, Isaac, which is your great-grandfather...and another brother by the name of Moses was a Baptist preacher. Therefore, William Aaron, Isaac, and Moses were brothers.

Your grandfather had two brothers, Ben and Joe, they moved to Alabama and their families are there yet. This grandfather is not named but is known from other documents to be Jacob Saunders, a son of Isaac. Therefore, Jacob, Ben, and Joe were sons of Isaac.

Some researchers disagree with me on this point and think that Thomas Bailey meant to say that William Aaron, rather than Isaac, had sons named Ben and Joe. Because Elkanah did have both Jacob and Nimrod as grandfathers, the phrase "your grandfather" could refer to either one, but since Thomas Bailey refers to Nimrod in an earlier sentence as "my grandfather," I think the only reasonable interpretation is that "your grandfather" refers to Elkanah's other grandfather, the son of Isaac.

A handwritten note written in 1918 by Silvie Escat Saunders, wife of George A. Saunders, tends to support my position that Ben and Joe were sons of Isaac, not William Aaron. It is believed her information came from a Davis family Bible:

Aaron brothers were
     Isaac the first man who build on cross creek near Fayetteville N.C.
     Moses a Baptist preacher
     1 sister a Mrs Hamilton
What we know of Wm aaron and John Bailey Saunders married in Va
Wm Aaron was a Capt in the American revolution and killed
     their children what we know of
Sallie Sanders married Pleasant Callicut of N.C.
Luke Saunders married Agnes Callicut of N.C.
Nimrod Sanders married Elizabeth Ricketts of N.C.
Stephen we know nothing of so far.
     Nimrod and Elizabeth children
Sarah Sanders born Dec 21st 1803
Tibitha Sanders born July 21st 1806, died Jan 15th 1892
Nathan D.C. Sanders born May 27 1808, died June 23 1832
Aaron Sanders born May 14 1810 died 1862
Stephen Sanders born Mar 28 1812
Polly and Pally (twins) Sanders born Feb 28 1814
Thomas Sanders born Oct 9 1816
a son Sanders born Oct 9 1816
Joanna Sanders born July 8 1820--1879
Jackson Sanders born Aug 21 1822--Sept 21 18??
Harris Sanders born Mar 7 1824--Feb 21 1917
Luke Sanders born Aug 30 1826 died April 10 1893
Agnes Sanders born June 3 1828 died 1900
Allen Sanders born Nov 11 1829
     Susan E Sanders born Aug 15 1854
     William McDufey Sanders born Mar 27 1855
Don't know who these 2 are but think William Luke son who died young
Sarah married Moore Graves
Tibitah married William Graves (brothers)
Nathan D.C. unmarried
Aaron unmarried
Stephen (m) first Huxey Simmons (II) Amy Moore
Pally married Louis Cranford
Polly twins married Henry Saunders {a}second cousin
Thomas our grandfather married Emily Elizabeth Harper
Joanna Married Elias Hooper
Jackson married Martha Brener (II) Frances Ingale
Harris married Teresa Turner (II) Emerline Crump
Luke married Mary Brener sister to Martha
Agnes married Jacob Hooper brother to Elias
Allen married Frances Gibson or Gipson
I found children of all but Sarah and Allen

Nimrod was 9 years at the close of the American revolution Nimrod was know in N. Carolina as Honest Rod was honest in his measure at his grit mill he left N.C. in 1837 and near all left a few years later according to letters in my possession
     Copied Feb 2 1918
     Mrs. G.A. Saunders
     2812 D'abadie St. N.O. LA

(Preceding text of the document is from the Sanders-Cook homepage at the Wayback Machine)

Notice that only Luke, Stephen, and Nimrod are mentioned as sons of William Aaron. No mention at all is made of Ben and Joe, and I believe this confirms that Ben was not a son of William Aaron. In addition, it seems rather odd that Thomas Bailey Saunders would mention only Ben and Joe in his letter and not the other three if he regarded all five as sons of William Aaron.

If Ben and Joe are the sons of Isaac rather than William Aaron, we still must identity them as documented individuals.The identity of Ben is the most obvious: he appears to be Benjamin Sanders, Sr. who moved from Randolph County in North Carolina to Jackson County in the 1830s. Further, there are deeds in 1806 and 1808 by which Isaac Sanders of Randolph County sold land to Benjamin Sanders of Montgomery County. The identity of person referred to as "Joe in the Thomas Bailey letter remains something of a puzzle. The only other son of Isaac, in addition to Jacob and Ben, that I have been able to document is Francis Sanders.

We do have documentation that Benajmin and Francis were closely related, and I think the most obvious explanation is that they indeed brothers. They appear to have married sisters and there was probably no more than sixteen years difference in their ages, but there are more compelling reasons to suspect they were brothers.

Levi Lindsey Sanders, a grandson of Benjamin, lived in Van Zandt County, Texas from the 1860s until his death in 1917. William Redman Sanders of Arkansas, apparently a grandson of Francis, referred to Levi Lindsey Sanders of Van Zandt County as his cousin in a newspaper article written about 1900. It is not probable that these two, who lived in the latter part of the nineteenth century, were third or fourth cousins because their blood relationship would then have been so distant it’s unlikely they would have maintained contact over several generations and through several states.Therefore, the most recent common ancestor probably was the great grandfather of William Redman and Levi and I believe that person to have been Isaac Saunders. Elsewhere I will give further evidence that suggests that Ben and Francis were brothers. This evidence is based on a cousin marriage among their descendants.

The question still remains, if my argument is basically that Benjamin and Francis were two brothers who moved to Alabama, then who is the "Joe" of the Thomas Bailey Saunders letter? There is no easy explanation for this. We have already established that Joe is not Joseph, Sr., who died in Randolph County. Nor can Joe be either of the two Josephs who were in Jackson County at the time of the 1830 census. They appear to be the son and grandson of Joseph, Sr. I can only suggest as a possible explanation that Thomas Bailey Saunders knew there were two brothers but he assumed Joseph, Jr., was the brother of Benjamin rather than Benjamin's brother-in-law. After the move from Randolph County to Alabama, Joseph, Jr., lived in Jackson County the rest of his life until at age seventy he was murdered by bushwhackers during the Civil War. He was known to everyone as "Uncle Joe" and it is understandable that Thomas Bailey Saunders would have known him as a Sanders progenitor in Jackson County.Therefore, there may never have been a son of Isaac named "Joe." It is also conceivable that there was a son of Isaac named Joe, but, if so, he was missed by the 1800, 1810, 1820, and 1830 census, and he must have died before 1840. Considering the lack of evidence for the existence of "Joe," I think it more likely Thomas Bailey Saunders was talking about Benjamin's brother-in-law.

Therefore, tentatively, I am regarding Benjamin and Francis as brothers and Isaac as their father,but Isaac may very well have had other sons and daughters whose names are unknown to us. Isaac disappears from the records of Montgomery County in the early 1780s but is living in Randolph County in 1800 and the census also shows a young male, age between 16-26, living in the household. This is probably Francis who was born in 1782 and who married Rachel Sanders in 1801. The other sons, Jacob and Benjamin, were already married and living in their own households in 1800, Jacob in Montgomery County and Benjamin just across the border in Randolph County. Benjamin and Francis continued to live in Randolph County until first Francis and then Benjamin moved to Jackson County, Alabama in the late 1820s and early 1830s, along with some of the children of Jacob.

If my thesis is correct, Francis Sanders of Jackson County was the nephew of the Reverend Moses Sanders of Franklin County, Georgia. He was also the nephew of Francis Sanders of Franklin County, Georgia. This Francis of Franklin County was not mentioned as a brother in the Thomas Bailey Saunders letter, but is referenced as a brother through documentation left by Moses Martin Sanders, a grandson of the Reverend Moses Sanders. As part of the Sanders DNA projects, tests have been conducted on descendants of Isaac, William Aaron, Francis, and the Reverend Moses Sanders. These tests show that these four are from the same Sanders line and combined with family tradition provide persuasive evidence that William Aaron, Isaac, Moses, and Francis were brothers.

Although a great deal of progress has been made recently in establishing the validity of family tradition for the line of the four brothers, we still have a several confusing issues reamining in regard to Francis and Rachel Sanders and their progeny in Jackson County, Alabama. Distinguishing the children of Francis from the children of his brother Benjamin has been one of the most difficult of my research projects.

The earliest record we have of Francis and Rachel is that they were married in 1801 in Randolph County and they are certainly the same couple who lived in Jackson County in the 1830s and 1840s and who appear on the 1850 census of DeKalb County, Alabama. We have good documentary evidence that Francis and Rachel moved to Arkansas in 1851 with their daughter Mary Jane Sanders and their son-in-law James J. Biddie. For the parentage of the other children commonly attributed to Francis and Rachel by previous researchers, we have far less evidence. The best documentary evidence for a direct parental link is with Elisha who died early, with Francis being designated as the administrator of the estate, though the blood relationship of Francis to Elisha is not mentioned. There is also a family tradition that Francis was the father of Elijah Greenville Sanders. Five children usually attributed to Francis and Rachel (Rebecca, Phoebe, Isaac, John, and Alfred) are probably the children of Francis' brother Benjamin.

A lot of controversy has resulted from the the statement by Carroll Jackson Brewer in the Southern Claims Commission file of John Sanders, quoted by Don Schaefer in a Web file and referring to the murder of Rachel's brother Joseph in 1863: " I know that Thomas Houston and others searched for him (referring to John Sanders) often and did take out his uncle Joe Sanders who was seventy years old. They taken him out of the field where he was at work and shot him on the side of the mountain." Joe Sanders was murdered because his sons and nephews were serving in the Union army. We know that "Uncle Joe" and Rachel were brother and sister because of the will left by their father in 1803 in Randolph County, North Carolina. It appears that Joe Sanders was known as "Uncle Joe" by nearly everyone and therefore the use of the name by Carroll Brewer does not constitute irrefutable proof John was the nephew of Joseph. On the other hand, John and the other siblings are almost certainly the nephews and nieces of "Uncle Joe" because the only possible parents for John and his four known siblings are either Francis or his brother Benjamin, both of whom married daughters of Joseph, Sr.

John Sanders, who was my great granduncle, stated in his deposition to the Southern Claims Commission about 1873 that he had a half-niece who was married to Carroll Jackson Brewer. This statement baffled researchers in the past because most of them believed John was the son of Francis and Rachel and there appeared no possible way for either Francis or Rachel to have had another spouse, unless one of them married someone else before 1801, and their youth in 1801 made a previous marriage unlikely. Other researchers have stated a family tradition that Carroll Jackson Brewer's wife almost entirely of American Indian parentage. If so, it's unlikely the American Indian heritage was on the Sanders side, but it's possible her mother was of Indian ancestry. It's difficult to reconcile these conflicting statements.

In short, much of the evidence we have is contradictory, fragmentary, and confusing, and a great deal more research is needed to give us a more satisfactory understanding of the genealogy of the Jackson County Sanders. In the next article I hope to provide a possible reconstruction of the families of Francis and Benjamin that will reconcile the competing claims.

In the article on Jackson County Sanders, I mentioned the apparently contradictory statements of John Sanders (1822-1896) and his friend Carroll Jackson Brewer (1834-after 1880) in their Southern Claims Commission file. Here, I would like to propose a possible solution to this contradiction in the hope that others will find evidence to confirm or refute it.

Carroll Jackson Brewer referred to Joseph Sanders, Jr., who died in 1863, as the uncle of John. Taken literally, this statement means that John Sanders has to be a son of a daughter of Joseph Sanders, Sr., who died in 1803 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Because Joseph’s daughter Rachel is known to have married Francis Sanders in 1801, most researchers have concluded that Francis and Rachel have to be the parents of John Sanders. There is no clear family indication among the descendants of John or his brother Isaac as to the identity of their parents, so family tradition is useless in this context.

John Sanders, in his testimony, stated that Carroll Jackson Brewer was married to his half-niece. The wife of Carroll Jackson Brewer is believed to have been Lucrecia Sanders (1834-after 1870). It is also believed that Lucrecia was the daughter of William Sanders and Martha Sanders because she appears in their household in the 1850 Jackson County census. If John’s testimony is taken literally, William Sanders (1789-about 1872) was John’s half-brother.

The difficulty is that if William is John’s half-brother, then Francis can’t be John’s father because this scenario would require that Francis father a child in 1789 when he was only seven years old.

Is there a way to reconcile these two statements of John Sanders and Carroll Jackson Brewer? I believe there is.

All Carroll Jackson Brewer’s statement that Joseph was John’s uncle requires is that the mother of John was a daughter of Joseph Sanders, Sr., and that she was married to someone with the surname of Sanders. It does not require that the mother be Rachel; the mother could have been one of Joseph's other daughters. As it turns out, we do know the names of Joseph’s daughters and the names of their spouses. The 1811 settlement of the estate of Joseph, Sr., does not specifically state that the men mentioned are husbands of the daughters but the implication is clear that the reference is to the spouses. One of the daughters, Sarah, married Peter Rich, so we can rule her out as the mother of the siblings. Another daughter, Phoebe, married a Jesse Sanders, but they are believed to have moved to Tennessee. If we rule out Rachel, the only daughter left is named Mary.

Mary married a Benjamin Sanders. If this Benjamin is the father of John and William Sanders and the two were half-brothers, Benjamin must have been born before about 1770, and his marriage to Mary must have occurred after 1789 when William was born. Since Mary was born about 1780, the marriage to Mary probably occurred closer to 1800.

Do we have any other records that refer to a Benjamin Sanders, born before 1770 in the Randolph/Montgomery County area, who moved to Jackson County and left numerous descendants? Yes, there is a person who matches this description exactly, but previous researchers have assumed that he is the same person as the Benjamin Sanders who married Jane (usually called Jinny or Jenny) Clark in 1803 in Randolph County.

For some time, I have had doubts that the Benjamin who married Jenny Clark was the same person as Benjamin Sanders who moved from Randolph County to Jackson County. In a book called The Johnsons and Their Kin of Randolph, p. 81, Jessie Owen Shaw states: “the 2nd child of William Clark and Eleanor Dougan Clark was Jane Clark, b. 9-9-1781, who married a Methodist minister, Benjamin Sanders.” Further, according to the research of Roger Kirkman, William Clark and a Benjamin Sanders were members of a slavery manumission society that met in the part of Rowan County that became Davidson County, adjoining Randolph County. William Clark became a Quaker in 1802 and the Back Creek Monthly Meeting that he attended was in northwest Randolph County.

Nothing in the family tradition about Benjamin Sanders of Jackson County, Alabama indicates that he was a Methodist minister. Indeed, the family tradition in Texas is that he was a Catholic who converted at a camp meeting when he was over ninety years old. We know there were at least two Benjamin Sanders in Randolph County about 1800. The question is which one was the Benjamin who moved to Jackson County, Alabama.

Therefore, I propose that researchers consider the possibility that Benjamin Sanders, Sr., who died in Jackson County between 1840-1850, may have been the father of William Sanders by an unknown first wife and the father of John Sanders by his second wife, Mary Sanders. This suggestion is compatible with the testimony of John Sanders and Carroll Jackson Brewer to the Southern Claims Commission. It is also compatible with the census data of 1810, 1830 and 1840.

Another reason to give credence to this theory is the close friendship between John's nephew Jesse Sanders and Levi Lindsey Sanders, who was a grandson of Benjamin, Sr. Even though they did not live in the same state when they were children, they regarded each other as close enough relatives that they made frequent visits to each other after they both moved, as adults, to neighboring counties in Texas. Jesse's father, Isaac, is enumerated next door to Benjamin, Sr., in the 1840 Jackson County, Alabama, census. Aaron, one of the sons of Isaac, named one of his sons Levi Lindsey Sanders, presumably in honor of the elder Levi Lindsey Sanders, even though Aaron moved from Jackson County when he was about four years old, and therefore could not have known Levi until he was nearly an adult. If Benjamin, rather than Francis, is the grandfather of Jesse, then Jesse and Levi Lindsey were first cousins.

I decided to test the Benjamin Sanders parentage hypothesis by comparing the 1830 and 1840 census to see whether Francis or Benjamin appears more likely as the father of the children in question. Before this can be done, we need to narrow the field of possibilities, and that can be done only by examining evidence for the paternity of each child.

Here are some of the known facts about the siblings we are researching:

There is documentation from reliable sources that Rebecca, Phoebe, Alfred Head Mash, Isaac, and John were siblings. For example, there is an article in Sanders Siftings, July 2000, about a letter written by Louie Davis of Weatherford, Texas, in 1974, stating that Phoebe Sanders Lee, Louie’s great grandmother, was born in 1813 and she had a brother named Mash and a sister named Rebecca and maybe a brother named John. Alfred Head Mash Sanders (called Uncle “Mash”) stated on the pension application of his sister-in-law in 1896 that John Sanders was his brother. John Sanders stated in his file to the Southern Claims Commission after the Civil War that Isaac Sanders of Montgomery County, Arkansas, was his brother. Therefore we have really good evidence that Rebecca, Phoebe, Isaac, John, and Mash were siblings.

We also have family tradition and documentation that Jesse Sanders of Henderson County, Texas and Levi Sanders of Van Zandt County were cousins (first or second, probably, very unlikely they were third cousins); and that William Redman and Levi Sanders were cousins (again, first or second and very unlikely to be third). Jesse was a son of Isaac, and William Redman was a son of Elisha Sanders (about whom more later).

A few years ago, I received information about an interview with an elderly descendant of Elijah Sanders who stated that Francis Marion Sanders was Elijah’s father. I think this is significant because it appears she got that information from family tradition, not from the Internet or published sources. That this is an independent tradition is also shown by her use of the middle name “Marion” which has not appeared in other sources. Elijah died in 1858 and one of the administrators for his will was a Francis Sanders. Presumably, this was John Francis because Francis, Sr., the father of Elijah was living in Arkansas at that time. Even so, this record of the will suggests that Elijah and John Francis were brothers.

The research of Ralph Jackson shows that Elisha Sanders who died in Marshall County, Alabama, in 1840 was a very close relative of Francis Sanders. Although it appears most likely that Francis may have been Elisha’s father, he could have been an uncle or even a half-brother.

The Biddy family application for Choctaw citizenship, provided by Cathy Gallen, provides convincing evidence that Mary Jane Sanders and William Patrick Sanders were children of Francis Sanders. In fact, this recently discovered evidence is the strongest documentation we have for any children of Francis and Rachel.

Southern Claims Commission files give us the testimony of John Sanders that Lucretia, the wife of Carroll Jackson Brewer, was his half-niece. In the same record, Carroll Jackson Brewer stated that Joseph Sanders, Jr., was the uncle of John Sanders.

When we try to arrange the evidence for parentage, we get this:

There are three children where the preponderance of available evidence points to Francis and Rachel as the parents: Elijah, William Patrick, Mary Jane.

We have one child, Elisha, who is associated with Francis because Francis was administrator of that child’s will, but we can’t tell whether Elisha is a sibling to anyone else. We know, however, that his son, William Redman, was a cousin to the grandson of Benjamin, Sr. Therefore, Elisha almost certainly has to be either a son of Francis or a son of Benjamin, Sr.

We have five children who are known to be siblings and are traditionally assigned to Francis and Rachel but documentation for their parents is lacking: Rebecca, Phoebe, Isaac, John, and Mash. However, Justin Sanders has recently discovered that Benjamin Sanders (presumably the elder Benjamin) was the bondman for the marriage of Rebecca and William Cornelison in Randolph County in 1824. Further Rebecca and her husband were living next door to Benjamin, Jr., at the time of the 1830 Montgomery County census.

We have other children, traditionally assigned to Francis and Rachel, but we have no documentation for their parents or even that they are siblings: John Francis, Frances, and Charles. In the case of Charles there is no documentation for him whatsoever.

So, in order to make the 1830 and 1840 census the test case, we need to limit the search to the children that we presume were at home in 1830 and 1840, that is, the ones that we know were not married. We can eliminate William Patrick and Mary Jane because we know Francis was their father. We also eliminate all those who can’t be easily designated as siblings.

Therefore we are left with Mash, John, Isaac, Phoebe, all of whom should appear on the census of 1830 but only Mash and John in 1840 (Isaac married in 1837, Phoebe in 1839). Phoebe was born in 1813, Isaac was born in 1818, John in 1822, Mash between 1826-1829.

Therefore in 1830:
Mash was 0-5 years old.
John was 5-10
Isaac was 10-15
Phoebe 15-20

And in 1840:
John was 15-20
Mash was 10-15

If we now go to the census of 1830 (Benjamin still in Randolph, Francis in Jackson County) and 1840 (both men in Jackson), and record every occurrence in which a child listed in the census would be of the right age to be Phoebe, Isaac, John, and Mash, we have a chart like the following:

Therefore, from this chart, it appears there are six slots where these children appear if they are the children of Benjamin, but only three slots where they appear if Francis is the father. The census record seems to indicate that Benjamin is more likely than Francis to be the father because every child appears in every single predicted slot in the case of Benjamin. For example, Mash, John, Isaac, and Phoebe appear as expected in 1830 and 1840. But in the case of Francis, there is no place for Mash in 1830 or 1840 and no place for John in 1840.

A further difficulty is that we have very good evidence that Francis was the father of William Patrick Sanders who was born about 1819. Therefore, if Francis is the father of Mash, John, and Isaac, we have to have an additional 10-15 slot for William Patrick in 1830 (not available) and a 20-30 slot for him in 1840(available).

Now, all of this may be coincidence based on mathematical probabilities, but when nearly every proposed test supports the theory of Benjamin's paternity of the five siblings, we probably need to re-evaluate the tradition that Francis was the father. One may wonder if Benjamin is the father of John, Isaac, and Mash, then how is Francis related? If we follow this alternative proposition, it’s still likely he and Benjamin are brothers. But in this scenario, Benjamin can’t be the same person as the Benjamin Sanders who married Jenny Clark; he has to be the Benjamin who married Joseph Sanders’ daughter, Mary.

What if we try to go back to earlier census records? I can't find Benjamin on the 1820 census, but in 1810, as mentioned before, there are two Benjamin Sanders in Randolph County, or rather one Benjamin Saunders and one Benjamin Sanders. According to the research of Roger Kirkman, Benjamin Saunders' property is near the Montgomery County line. Because this location is near the property of Joseph Sanders, Sr., the father of Mary, it is likely that this Benjamin married Joseph's daughter Mary. It also appears that this is the Benjamin who sold his property in 1833 and moved to Alabama. In the 1810 census, he is listed as being between twenty-six and 44 years old. This would indicate that he was born after 1766. However, the 1840 Jackson County, census lists him as between seventy and eighty years old, so he couldn't have been born after 1770. There is a woman in the household, presumably his wife, who is twenty-six to forty-four years old. This is compatible with the age of Mary Sanders who is reported to have been born in 1782. There are two male children in the household. One is under ten and that person is probably Benjamin, Jr., who was born in 1804. Another is between ten and twenty-five and that person is probably William, who would become the father of the half-niece that John Sanders referred to. William was born in 1789, according to later census reports.

The other Benjamin of the 1810 census owned property near the Back Creek area of northwest Randolph County. It may be remembered that this is near where William Clark, father of Jinney Clark, joined the Quaker denomination. Therefore, it appears likely that the Benjamin who lived in northwest Randolph County was the one who married Jinney Clark. Further is is most likely that it was he who was the Benjamin who was a Methodist minister and was active in the Manumission Society. Although this Benjamin is listed as between twenty-six and forty-four years old, I believe he was younger than the Benjamin Saunders of the Randolph border area because he doesn't appear in the 1800 census and was probably still living in his parents' household at that time.

The older Benjamin Saunders, the one living in Randolph near the Montgomery County line in 1810, is probably the same Benjamin Sanders who appears on the 1800 census in Montgomery County. He is listed as between twenty-six and forty-four years old, which is still compatible with his being born between 1766 and 1770. This Benjamin Saunders is listed near Luke Sanders, Nimrod Saunders, and Walter Hamilton, all relatives of the Sanders line of the four brothers. I believe this is the same Benjamin who is mentioned in an 1806 deed by which Isaac Sanders of Randolph County transferred one acre to Benjamin Sanders of Montgomery. I have presented elsewhere in these Web pages the evidence that leads to Isaac as the father of Benjamin. In the 1800 Montgomery census, there is a male child, age ten to fifteen, in Benjamin's household. This appears be William, the future father of John Sanders' half niece. William would have been eleven years old in 1800. So far, the 1810 and 1800 census are fully compatible with the proposed reconstruction.

Isaac at one time had owned property in Montgomery County, but no records have been found of him in the land records there after 1782, according to the research of Jim Sanders. It appears that Isaac moved to Randolph County, where he appears on the 1800 census, but that his son Benjamin continued to live in Montgomery, probably near the county line, until some time between 1806 and 1810. Maybe the marriage to Mary Sanders was the motivation for the move to Randolph or maybe Isaac was getting too old to take care of the family property and Benjamin moved in to help or maybe Mary wanted to be closer to her relatives. Of course, land records are not always reliable evidence of where people lived, and Benjamin could very well have owned property in both counties. At any rate, Benjamin was living in Randolph by 1810.

The theory presented here won't work unless Benjamin was married two times, with the second marriage occurring between 1800 and 1810. By the time of the 1811 estate settlement, Benjamin's wife is referred to as Mary, but because both the 1800 and the 1810 census show a female age twenty-six to forty four in Benjamin's household, the census remains neutral on the basic question of whether Benjamin was married two times. We know that because Mary was born in 1782 and would have been less than 26 years old in 1800, she can't be the female age twenty-six to forty-four on the census of that year. Therefore, if she married Benjamin, the marriage had to take place between 1800 and 1810, and Benjamin, Jr., born in 1804, could have been either her child or the child of the first wife.

A question still remains concerning the identity of the other Benjamin Sanders who we may call the Back Creek Benjamin. I think this is an open and intriguing question. Possibly he is related to the Joseph Sanders, Sr., line, or he could be related to any of the many Quaker Sanders families in the area. It's also possible he is related to Benjamin, Sr.

I have found the evidence for Benjamin Saunders' parenthood of the five siblings previous attributed to Francis plausible enough that I have changed my genealogical charts accordingly. This is a time consuming process, and one which I hope I don't have to do often, but it is sometimes unavoidable if documentation warrants a change. The Benjamin Sanders' parenthood theory has no major problems and is fully compatible with all the available evidence. One small matter that might appear to conflict with the new theory is that Alexander Gray was a witness to the marriage bond of Francis and Rachel Sanders in 1801 and of Benjamin and Jinney Clark in 1803. For a long time, I thought that there must have been a kinship relationship among the three, but I now believe that Alexander Gray may have been a public official, such as a notary or county clerk, who regularly witnessed marriages in Randolph County. It's equally possible that the Benjamin who married Jinney Clark was related to Francis, the Benjamin who married Mary, or to Alexander Clark himself.

Although I think the situation is somewhat easier to comprehend as a result of these findings, we still have a lot to learn about the Sanders of Randolph, Montgomery, and Jackson. There is still enough ambiguity in the records that scenarios other than the one presented here are plausible, but the DNA results from the summer of 2006 that proved that William Aaron, Francis, and Benjamin all belonged to the same Sanders line provide further confirmation of the thesis of this article. It is my hope that other researchers descended from Benjamin Sanders, Sr., or Francis Sanders will provide clues that may help us make a certain determination of our origins.

(Don Schaefer, editor of Sanders Siftings, provided much of the information about the Southern claims file of John Sanders.)

Return to Index

Isaac was born in Randolph County, North Carolina. Circumstantial evidence suggests he was probably a grandson of Isaac Saunders, one of the four brothers who moved to Anson County, North Carolina in the 1770s. Based on application papers he filed in the 1850s for bounty land, he was probably born between April 1 and May 16 of 1818. The first documentary record of Isaac is a land warrant dated May 9, 1832 by which Joshua Craven sold seventy-five acres to Immer Bean in Randolph County. The land was located on the Little River, adjoining the county line with Montgomery County. Isaac and William Cornelison were the chain carriers. Immer Bean was married to Sarah Sanders, who appears to have been one of Isaac's sisters. "Uncle Billy Cornelison" was married to another of Isaac's sisters, Rebecca, who was called "Aunt Becky."

In the 1830s Isaac's parents, Benjamin and Mary Sanders, moved to Jackson County, Alabama. In the fall of 1836, Isaac married Elizabeth, whose maiden name is unknown. In July 1837 their first son, Aaron, was born. Since Aaron was born in July and census data was usually taken in June, most subsequent census reports are misleading in showing him as eleven months younger than his real age.

Isaac served in the the Seminole Indian War, volunteering at Bellefonte, Jackson County, Alabama on the 26th day of October 1837, and he was was honorably discharged at Fort Mitchell April 9, 1838. In the 1840 Jackson County census Isaac Sanders is listed with an age range of 20-30, one female in the household age 20-30 (his wife Elizabeth), and one male child, age 0-5 (his son Aaron, born 1837). Isaac appears to be living next door or near his father, Benjamin Sanders, age 70-80. Benjamin was the grandfather of Levi Lindsey Sanders who moved to Van Zandt County, Texas before the Civil War. Isaac’s son Jesse, born in 1845, moved to adjoining Henderson County, Texas, about 1870. Jesse and Levi were therefore first cousins.

Isaac Saunders is listed on the 1844/45 Mississippi state census for Tishomingo County and on the 1860 Montgomery County, Arkansas census. Tishomingo is the county from which Prentiss County was formed in 1870 and Isaac and his family were living in Booneville in Prentiss County in 1870 and 1880. The 1844 census shows four males in the household and one female, coinciding with the data from the 1860 Montgomery County, Arkansas census and with family tradition. It appears, therefore, that from 1842 until 1850, Isaac and his family were living in Tishomingo County. In Mississippi, four children were born to this family: Isaac, Jr., (1841) Benjamin, (1843), Jesse (June 30, 1845), and Calvin (1849).

On April 1, 1851 Isaac Sanders applied for federal bounty land warrant in Montgomery County, Arkansas, based on his service in the Seminole Indian War. The move to Arkansas may explain why Isaac and his family have not been found on the 1850 census in any state. In 1855 Isaac filed for another bounty land warrant in Montgomery County. The 1860 Montgomery County, Arkansas census shows Isaac Sanders living near Mt. Ida in the Sulphur Springs Township. Three children were born after the move to Arkansas: Amanda (1851), Sarah, (1855), and Rebecca A., (1857).

During the Civil War, Sanders from Montgomery County served in the "Montgomery County Hunters," a unit of the Confederate Army that was merged with Company F of the 4th Arkansas infantry. They were mustered in at Mt. Ida on July 17, 1861, though formal enlisted didn't occur until October. The roll included Isaac and three of his sons: Aaron Sanders, Benjamin Sanders, and Isaac Sanders, Jr., who died from illness or injury.

John Sanders (1822, North Carolina-August 11, 1896, Jackson County, Alabama) stated on the Southern Claims Record that his brother Isaac who lived in Montgomery County, Arkansas, had fought for the South during the Civil War, though John had remained loyal to the union. There is even an interesting bit of family lore that comes down through the Davis family of Texas about how two Sanders brothers from Jackson County, Alabama, fought in the same battle but stopped fighting when they recognized each other. This probably refers to John and Isaac, but it's unlikely that the two brothers were in the same battle because Isaac's service in the war was brief. He was on furlough for much of the winter of 1861-62 and returned to duty with penumonia. In April, 1862, he was released from duty. His discharge paper states that " the within named Isaac Sanders, a private of Captain John M. Simpson’s company of the 4th Arkansas Regiment of Arkansas Volunteers, born in Randolph County in the state of North Carolina, age 44 years, five feet nine inches high, fair complexion, blue eyes, sandy hair, and by profession a farmer, was enlisted by Major G. W. Clark at Fort Smith, Ark. On the 21st day of October 1861 to serve one year and is now entitled to a discharge by reason of chronic pneumonia."

By June 4, 1863 Isaac, Sr., was back in Montgomery County where he signed up for Earnest’s local defense company, which was established to defend the home front. Apparently, this was the only unit of its kind in the state. Isaac’s son Aaron was a first sergeant in the same company and Isaac’s seventeen year old son Jesse appears for the first time in the war records as a private if the “J. Sanders” who appears in the company roll is the same person as Jesse.

In the fall and winter of 1863-64 most of the Sanders family in the Montgomery County area appeared to have switched sides from the Confederacy to the Union forces. Isaac's cousin William Patrick Sanders and two of his sons joined 4th U.S. cavalry in November of 1863. They were accompanied by some of the related Biddy and Lamb families. Isaac's son Jesse joined the 4th cavalry in February 1864 Isaac himself enlisted at Dardanelle in Yell County in March, 1864.

According to the Edward G. Gerdes Civil War in Arkansas page, quoting from a contemporary account of the 4th cavalry, Isaac's unit was involved in the skirmish at Dardanelle on May 17, 1864:

"At that date Dardanelle was attacked by Shelby in the night with 2,000 men and four pieces of artillery. The commanding officer of the post had ordered the camp equipage across the river and at the time of attack, it was slowly crossing in a single flat boat. Capt. Wood, Co G, in charge. The town was held until it was completely surrounded and for nearly two hours after it had beena bandoned by the post commander. All records of the company were lost, except for copies of muster-in rolls found in the Adjutant General's Office. Some of the men escaped by swimming the river and some by cutting their way through enemy's lines. Many of the men reported missing in action are in the woods near Dardanelle, unable to rejoin the regiment on account of guerillas."

Sometime between 1865 and 1870 Isaac and his family moved back to Mississippi, for they appear on the 1870 and 1880 Booneville, Prentiss County, Mississippi, census. The 1880 census is the last documentation I have been able to find for Isaac and Elizabeth. Here is some of the information I have on the eight children of Isaac and Elizabeth:

1. The oldest son, Aaron Sanders, married Deborah Ann Swaim April 7, 1859 in Montgomery County, Arkansas. It is not known how long this marriage lasted or if there were any children. Aaron is enumerated both in Isaac's household in the 1860 census and as a single person living alone, and it appears likely that Deborah died between April of 1859 and June of 1860, the date the census was taken. Descendants of Aaron and his second wife, Hester Ann Champion, whom he married on December 2, 1872 in Prentiss County, Mississippi, have no knowledge of the first marriage or whether there were any children. Aaron died in Prentiss County on November 28, 1902, and Hester later applied for a Confederate widow's pension. In her application she provided the information that he served in Co. F, Hardiman's Regiment and was discharged Aug. 9, 1865, at Marshall, Texas. I have more information on Aaron and have exchanged correspondence with several of his descendants.

2. Isaac, Jr., died January 10, 1862 from illness or injury during the Civil War. It does not appear that he ever married or had children.

3. Benjamin enlisted with the rest of the Sanders sons at Fort Smith in October of 1861 and served at least until 1863, including some time in the Tennessee theater. After the war, in 1874, he married Sarah Sallie Lamb, whose brother had fought in the same unit as Benjamin. Benjamin and Sallie lived in Sebastian County, Arkansas where many of the descendants of his cousin William Patrick Sanders lived. Benjamin's nephew, Jesse Jackson Sanders, who was born in 1885 and died in 1964, remembered a visit by Benjamin to see his brother Jesse in Murchison, Texas. This visit must have occurred in the late 1890s just before Benjamin died. Benjamin and Sarah Lamb had two children, but only one survived until adulthood.

4. Calvin married Mary, maiden name unknown. He and Mary had three children, but it appears he died between 1874 and 1880 because Mary and the children are living in a separate household near Isaac and Elizabeth in 1880 in Booneville, Mississippi.

5. Jesse was too young to serve in the early years of the Civil War. It appears he joined Earnest's local defense company in June of 1863, but on February 5, 1864, he joined Company D of the 4th Arkansas Cavalry, U.S. This was the same comany in which some of his uncles and cousins were serving. His military record states gives the following description: "age 18, ht 5’ 8”, eyes blue, hair lt, complx fair, farmer, born in Tishamingo Co, MS." His whereabouts after he left the army until 1871 are unknown. Family tradition is that he came to Texas in 1870 from Booneville, Mississippi, so he must have accompanied his parents and the rest of the family when they moved from Montgomery County back to Mississippi. He doesn't appear at all on the 1870 census, and he may have been traveling to Texas in June of 1870 when the census was taken. He settled in Henderson County, Texas, about ten miles from the residence of his cousin Levi Lindsey Sanders. In 1871 he married Mary Amanda Pickering, daughter of Andrew Jackson Pickering who was born in 1829 in Covington County, Mississippi. Jesse and Amanda had seven children. Amanda died in 1898 and Jesse died in 1903. They and many of their descendants are buried in the Red Hill Cemetery in Henderson County. Jesse's son, Jesse Jackson Sanders, who lived from 1885 until 1964, was the source of much of my information about Isaac and his children.

6. Amanda Sanders was not listed with her parents in the 1870 census and presumably either already dead or married at that time. There was an Amanda Sanders who married Robert Cawley in 1888 in Prentiss County, but I don’t know if that Amanda is Isaac’s daughter.

7. Sarah was still living with her parents in Prentiss County, Mississippi, in 1880.

8. Rebecca was also still living with her parents in Prentiss County, Mississippi, in 1880.

Francis Sanders, or Saunders as the name is spelled in some documents, was born in the year 1782 in North Carolina. Most likely, based on the residence of related family members, he was born in the northeastern part of Montgomery County close to the border with Randolph County. His year of birth is well attested by the 1850 census and by documents he signed when applying for federal bounty land. His marriage to Rachel Sanders, who, according to DNA testing, was not related to him, occurred on August 21, 1801 in Randolph County, North Carolina.

One of Francis’ granddaughters married a grandson of Benjamin Saunders of Randolph County, and there is a strong tradition among the descendants of this granddaughter that she and her husband were double cousins. We know from an estate settlement in Randolph County in 1811 that Francis’ wife Rachel and Benjamin’s wife Mary were sisters. Therefore, the grandchildren of Benjamin and Francis would be double cousins if Benjamin and Francis were also brothers, and this is the most likely explanation. The brotherhood of Francis and Benjamin appears to be confirmed by a statement in a Texas newspaper in 1898 by a grandson of Francis, William Redman Sanders, that a grandson of Benjamin, Levi Lindsey Sanders, was his cousin.

There is some documentary evidence, discussed elsewhere at this Web site, that Benjamin’s father was Isaac Saunders of Randolph County, North Carolina. If so, Francis was also probably a son of Benjamin. In 1800, Benjamin was married and living in a household of his own, but there is a 16-25 year old male living in Isaac’s household that appears to be his son Francis who would have been 18 years old in 1800. In addition, the children of Benjamin and the children of Francis maintained close contact even after they moved from North Carolina to Jackson County and Marshall County in Alabama and later to Pike and Montgomery counties in Arkansas. Therefore, the thesis presented here is that Isaac was the father of both Benjamin and Francis.

Francis and his family appear on the 1810 Randolph County census living near his brother Benjamin Sanders and near members of the Steed family who were apparently related to the Sanders in some way presently unknown to researchers. The 1820 census for Randolph is missing, but there is a Francis Sanders living in Rowan County who may or may not be the same Francis. Francis next appears on the 1830 Jackson County, Alabama, census. In the 1830s there was a large migration of the Sanders and associated families to Jackson County after the area was opened to white settlement. Apparently, the family of Francis moved first and Benjamin moved several years later. Some of the brothers and sisters of Francis and Benjamin’s wives and descendants of Jacob Sanders, another brother of Francis and Benjamin, were also part of this migration.

While in Jackson County, Francis, along with several other Sanders men, signed up as a volunteer in the Seminole Indian War. He served from 26 October 1837 to 9 April 1838 under Capt. William S. Coffee of the North Alabama Mounted Volunteer Regiment commanded by Colonel Benjamin Snodgrass.

All of the children of Francis and Rachel are not definitely known, and for many years, researchers assumed that five well-known siblings in Jackson County were the children of Francis and Rachel, though more recent evidence indicates that Francis’ brother Benjamin was the father of these children. These five were Rebecca (1806), Phoebe (1813-1820), Isaac (1818), John (1822), and Alfred (1827). Further information about these siblings is given in other articles at this Web site. One of them, Isaac, was my great-grandfather.

There are, however, five children of Francis and Rachel for whom we have a reasonable amount of documentation. These are Elijah (1804), John Francis (1805), Elisha (1814), William Patrick (1819), and Mary Jane (1823). All appear to have been born in Randolph County, North Carolina.

The child of Francis and Rachel for whom we have the most convincing evidence is Elijah Sanders. There is a solid family tradition passed down among his descendants that his father was Francis Sanders. Elijah married Mary Jane Isbell about the time of the move to North Carolina in 1829 and they moved to Jackson County, where they raised a large family of ten children. Elijah died in Jackson County in 1858.

The administrator for the estate of Elijah was named Francis Sanders, and this appears to be not the elder Francis but his son John Francis who is listed in census records as Francis or “Frank” Sanders. We may infer from his responsibility for the estate that he was the oldest surviving member of the family still in the Jackson County area at the time of the death of Elijah in 1858. Therefore, he appears to be a son of the Francis Sanders who was born in 1782. The senior Francis may have been still alive in 1858, but, if so, he was living in Arkansas and not available to act as an administrator for his son’s estate back in Alabama. Hence, John Francis was probably the oldest living brother of Elijah and was chosen as the administrator for this reason. John Francis later moved to Calhoun County, Arkansas, in 1871 and died there in 1875.

Another likely son of Francis and Rachel is Elisha Sanders, who died in Marshall County, Alabama, in 1840. The elder Francis was one of the administrators for his estate. Elisha appears to have been a relatively young man, probably under thirty years old, because he left a young widow and two male children, both under six years old. The presence of the younger of these children in the household of Francis and Rachel in 1850 in DeKalb County, Alabama, also lends credence to the possibility that Francis was the grandparent of the two.

While Francis and Rachel were living in DeKalb County, Alabama, Francis applied for federal bounty land on January 1, 1851, based on his service in the Seminole Indian War. He stated on the application that he was sixty-eight years old at the time and that he was the same person who served in Jackson County in the fall of 1837 and spring of 1838 under Captain William S. Coffee’s North Alabama Mounted Volunteer Regiment. We know from subsequent events that his intention was to go to Arkansas and secure land there.

At nearly seventy years of age, he and Rachel didn’t travel alone. In a court case in the Indian Territory in 1903, one of their grandchildren, Sarah Ann Biddy Kinsey, stated that the Sanders migration to Arkansas involved at least five wagons and two buggies and she provided very crucial information about who made the trip in the following exchange: Q. How many people came with you? A. One of my uncles on my mother's side, and my grandfather and my grandmother on my mother's side. Sarah Ann was the daughter of James Jones Biddy and Mary Jane Sanders, one of six children of this couple. In addition, there were at least five children of William Patrick Sanders, the uncle to whom she referred as making the trip with the group. Therefore, counting the eight in the Biddy family and the seven in the William Patrick Sanders family, plus Francis and Rachel, the grandparents, there must have been at least seventeen people making the journey. According to another grandchild, the trip took five or six weeks. The route apparently went from Marshall County, Alabama, through Corinth, Mississippi, to Memphis, then through Des Arc in Prairie County, Arkansas, and finally to Hempstead County.

Mary Jane Sanders Biddy died in 1852 somewhere in central Arkansas, possibly near Des Arc in Prairie County. Her brother, William Patrick Sanders, moved to Pike County, Arkansas, and later served in the Union Army during the Civil War. His year of death is uncertain, but military records show he was alive in November 1863. One of his sons married in 1865 in Montgomery County, Arkansas, a granddaughter of Francis’ brother Benjamin. According to family tradition, after this couple married, they found out that they were not only cousins, but double cousins, having only six great grandparents instead of eight.

Francis Sanders’ bound land warrant request that he had initiated in 1851 in Marshall County, Alabama, was executed in August 1855 in Hempstead County, Arkansas, and the two witnesses were James J. Biddie and William Sanders. These appear to be his son-in-law, James Jones Biddy and his son William Patrick Sanders. The application states that Francis was then a resident of Hempstead County. Francis seems to have received the right to eighty acres in Pike County and then to have signed his rights to the land in October 1856 to Henry Merrill, an agent for the Arkansas Manufacturing Company. This is the last record we have of Francis Sanders. Neither he nor Rachel are referenced on the 1860 Arkansas census, and it’s probably a safe assumption that Francis died between 1857 and 1860 in Hempstead, or possibly in Pike County. The last knowledge we have of Rachel is that she survived the trip to Arkansas in 1851, but nothing is known of her afterwards.

Census records indicate that Francis and Rachel probably had other children, but we have little evidence for their identity. One possibility is the Frances Sanders who married William Stewart on February 13, 1839 in Marshall County. Another possibility is even more elusive. A Mary Sanders who appears with her children on the 1850 and 1860 Jackson County census may have been a daughter-in-law of Francis. At any rate, her children were neighbors to some of Francis’ descendants in Jackson County. She had a son named Francis Kimbro Sanders who was born in 1838, and he was the administrator of her estate upon her death in 1868. According to one researcher, Mary’s husband, who must have died before 1840, was named Isaac, but I have never been able to find a record of this Isaac.

As with his brother Ben, documentation is sparse for Francis, but it is not lacking altogether and through the efforts of many researchers, we have a much better understanding of his life and children that we had a few years ago. It is to be hoped that further research will provide further documentation for the lives of Francis and Rachel.

The John Francis Sanders/Cinthia Harris Mystery

As previously mentioned, one of the sons of Francis was John Francis Sanders, mentioned in most records as Francis or Frank Sanders. According to a tradition passed down among his descendants, his wife’s name was Cinthia or Cynthia Harris. Research indicates that there is a marriage record of a John Francis Sanders and a Cinthia Harris in 1821 in Guilford County, North Carolina. This county is just north of Randolph County.

However, there is a problem in reconciling the date of this marriage with what is known of Cinthia’s birth year and with family tradition about her children. On the 1830 census she is listed as 15-20 years old, yielding a birth year of 1810-1815, and there is one child in the household, indicating that the couple was newly married. Francis is listed as 20-30 years old which is consistent with his birth year of 1805. On the 1840 census, Cinthia is listed as 20-30 years old (born between 1810 and 1820) and Francis is listed as 30-40 years old (born between 1800-1810). The 1840 census lists the following children: 1 male under five (William James, born 1836); one male 5-10 (Hiram Almon, born 1832); one male 10-15 (Isaac, born 1829); one female under 5 (Martha, born 1839); one female 5-10 (name unknown). On the 1850 Jackson County census, Cinthia is listed as 41 years old, yielding a birth year of 1809. The 1860 census has her born in 1812. The 1870 census has her born in 1811.

When all this data is combined, it is evident something appears wrong with the 1821 marriage date. It’s very unlikely Francis and Cinthia would have been married eight years before their first child was born. It’s even more unlikely that she was between eight and twelve years old at the time of her marriage which is what all the census data seems to indicate. However, a copy of the marriage bond sent to me by the North Carolina Archives shows that Jesse Franklin was the governor of North Carolina at that time, and he held that office only in the year 1821.

A further difficult is that young children still appear in the household in 1860 and 1870. One of these children, Thomas Jefferson Sanders, was born in 1861 and family tradition is that he was regarded as a son of Francis and Cinthia. There were at least two of their grandchildren that Francis and Cinthia adopted and raised as their own in the 1860s, but Thomas was not mentioned as adopted in family tradition. Yet it seems almost impossible for him to have been the natural child of Francis and Cinthia. If so, the birth occurred forty years after the marriage of the parents.

I’m not sure how to reconcile these problems, but here is my guess: Cinthia and John Francis were actually married in 1821, and she was 13 years old at that time, born about 1808. Yet unless they had children who died in infancy, no children were born between 1821 and 1829. It also appears that some of the children living with this couple in 1860 were probably grandchildren. George Washington Sanders who was born in 1852 when Cinthia was about 44 was probably her last child. The two younger children, Cinthia (1854) and William (1858) are probably grandchildren. Cinthia (1854) may be the daughter of Elijah, John Francis' brother, who died in 1848. At any rate, Thomas Jefferson Sanders, born in 1861, and living with Francis and Cinthia in 1861 has to be a grandchild or other relative who was taken in by Francis and Cinthia after the death of his parents. As Sherlock Holmes once said, to solve any mystery, we first have to eliminate the impossible and it is virtually impossible for Francis and Cinthia to have married in 1821 and to have had a child in 1861.

This article is an attempt to evaluate what is known and not known about the genealogy of the Sanders of Wright County, Missouri, and in particular the descendants of Peter Sanders who was born about 1779 in North Carolina. Unfortunately, much previous research about this family is based on conclusions about kinship relationships between Peter Sanders and other Sanders in Wright County that are not supported by the available evidence. I will cite specific examples below.

Peter died between 1860 and 1870 in Wright County. Many family trees posted on the Internet give his parents as Daniel Sanders and Jane Lyon, both originally from North Carolina, but I have been unable to find any documentation for Daniel Sanders as his father. I believe this assumption of Daniel’s parentage is mere guesswork and is not based on any credible evidence. There was a Daniel Sanders who lived in Montgomery County, North Carolina, in the 1770s, but his whereabouts after that are unknown. On the other hand, Jane Lyon Sanders left a will in 1813 in Maury County, Tennessee in which she named two sons, Peter and William. Since Peter of Wright County is known to have had a son, John Archie, born in Maury County about 1812, it is a logical inference that Jane Lyon Sanders may have been the mother of Peter of Wright County.

The identity of the son named William has never been established, but I think I can say with certainty who is not William, brother of Peter. He is not, as some researchers have alleged, the William Sanders who was born in 1789 in North Carolina and who later lived and died in Montgomery County, Arkansas. That William, a blacksmith, was the father of Lucretia Sanders who married Carroll Jackson Brewer. My great granduncle John Sanders, who lived in Jackson County, Alabama, stated in 1873 in a deposition to the Southern Claims Commission that Carroll Jackson Brewer was married to John’s half-niece. It follows from this statement that William Sanders was John’s half-brother. John had other siblings, known through solid documentation: Rebecca, Phoebe, Isaac, and Alfred. Isaac in fact lived near William in Montgomery County. Unless these are also siblings of Peter, and they are not, it is impossible for William of Montgomery County, Arkansas, to be a brother of Peter.

Therefore, we know nothing about Peter’s brother William, where he lived, or what happened to him. All we can tell is that he was alive when his mother’s will was written about 1813. He could have died shortly thereafter for all we know.

Nor, in spite of numerous postings to the contrary do we have a very clear picture of exactly how many children Peter and his wife, Michelle (or Marchial) Tarbutton, had. It appears certain from long established tradition that John Archie Sanders was a son of Peter:

"In 1935, MATTHEW [James Mattison] SANDERS of Wright Co., Mo., oldest living desc. of PETER SANDERS, told me that his grandfather PETER SANDERS came from N.C. to Tenn. and was living in Maury Co. Tenn. when his father JOHN ARCH. SANDERS was born in 1812. Their home was on Duck River in Maury Co.PETER and his brother went to Williamson Co. Ill. for a few years, then to Greene Co. Ark, then to Wright Co. Mo. where they took up land about 1840-45.” Peter and Marchial: http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/b/o/u/Dawna-L-Bouchard/GENE4-0007.html
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~lsimmons/sit/FG02/FG02_066.htm Linda Simmons genfreak@jps.net quoted by Wilene Smith: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=sanderswilene&id=I007

The existence of another son, Andrew Jackson Sanders, can be inferred from the fact that John Archie was the administrator for Andrew Jackson’s will. I have been unable to ascertain how the other children (up to sixteen according to some) were attributed to Peter and Michelle/Marchial. My feeling is that many of the researchers of this family simply picked Sanders who lived in Wright County and labeled them children of Peter without checking to see whether any documentation existed. Since I have done little research on most of these children, I can’t evaluate with certainty whether most of these children actually belong in this family or not. In several cases, however, there is sufficient evidence to show that something is seriously remiss in documentation.

For example, by checking the family trees posted at RootsWeb World Connect, one can find a Benjamin Sanders, born in 1804 in North Carolina, listed as a son of Peter. It’s possible that Peter did have a son named Benjamin, but, if so, nothing is known about him except his name. He is certainly not the Benjamin Sanders, born in 1804 in North Carolina, who was living in Jackson County, Alabama in 1850 and in Wright County in 1860. It’s true that this Benjamin is enumerated near Peter Sanders in 1860, but it is impossible for him to have been the son of Benjamin.

There are many reasons why I know this, but let us begin with the 1917 obituary of Levi Lindsey Sanders, a blacksmith and merchant in Van Zandt County, Texas. According to information provided by Levi and included by his family in the obituary, Levi was born in 1837 in Jackson County, Alabama, and he was the son of Benjamin Sanders, Jr., and the grandson of Benjamin Sanders, Sr.:

“Levi Lindsey Sanders was born in Jackson Co., Al, February 21, 1837, his age being 79 years, 10 mos. and 17 days. He was a son of Buck Ben Sanders, a gunsmith and came of Irish Catholic ancestry, his people setting in North Carolina. Uncle Levi's paternal Grandfather was Ben Saunders, as the name was originally spelled.”

If we go back to the 1850 census we find Benjamin Sanders living there with his children, including his 13 year old son Levi. This Benjamin was born in 1804 in North Carolina. If we go back three years earlier in Jackson County, there is a deed by which Benjamin and his wife, Liney (or Lynna), sold land. According to family tradition in Texas, Benjamin came from Randolph County, North Carolina. If we go back even further to 1825, there is a marriage record in Randolph County of Benjamin Sanders, Jr., and Liney Suggs. Benjamin, Sr., was the witness for the marriage bond. Everything checks out with the family tradition which holds that Benjamin, Sr., a blacksmith, moved from Randolph County and died in Jackson County, Alabama at an advanced age. In the 1840 census of Jackson County, a 70-80 year old Benjamin is listed. This is evidently the father of Benjamin, Jr. Levi Lindsey, the grandson of Benjamin, Sr., ran away from home in the later 1850s, lived in Arkansas for a while and was living in Texas in 1860. This is why he was not living with his father and stepmother in Wright County in 1860.

In addition to the obituary of Levi Lindsey that dates to 1917, there is an even earlier published biography of one of Levi’s son that states that Levi was the son of Benjamin Sanders and that Benjamin’s father was “an Irishman from North Carolina who died in Jackson County, Alabama.” That also rules out Peter as the father of Benjamin.

All of the preceding should be sufficient proof by itself, but Justin Sanders, a descendant of Levi Lindsey Sanders, has provided even more. After Benjamin, Jr., married a woman named Intha Adeline (previously married to a man named Gifford), he had several more children and about 1858 he moved to Wright County. One of these children, Alabama Sanders (married name of Vassar) was enumerated on the 1860 census of Wright County, but she later moved to Fannin County, Texas, where she died about 1930. Among the heirs listed in her probate records were her half-nieces and nephews who were the children of Levi Lindsey Sanders of Van Zandt County.

It is evident from this that Benjamin, born 1804, living in Jackson County in 1850 and in Wright County in 1860, had no documented relation to Peter Sanders and that it is impossible for him to have been Peter’s son. It is, of course, possible that he was a cousin or a more distant relative.

Complicating matters even more is the assertion by some of the Peter Sanders researchers that Benjamin (born 1804) married Polly Moody. As we have seen, the Benjamin who was born in 1804 married Lynna Suggs, not Polly Moody, but there is a record of a Benjamin Sanders who married a Polly Moody in 1834 in Lawrence County, Tennessee. According to tradition passed down among the descendants of Polly’s sister, Edna, this Benjamin and Polly moved to Jackson County, Alabama, and all their children were born there. If we look at the 1840 census of Jackson County, there is a Benjamin Sanders living near Polly’s sister and her husband. This Benjamin was born between 1810 and 1820, and he appears to be the same person as the Benjamin Sanders, born in 1813, who is living in Jackson County in 1850 with his wife Mary and his children. Interestingly, one of the children is named Lydia, which was the name of Polly’s mother.

So, is this the Benjamin who married Polly Moody? There is not sufficient evidence to make a final determination, but he certainly fits the description. The name “Polly” was often used as a nickname forMary in those days, so the fact that his wife was named Mary in 1850 rather than Polly may not be a serious difficulty. An alternative theory, suggested by Cal Reinecke, to whom I am indebted for much of this information, is that this Benjamin married Polly, who then died in the mid 1840s and then Benjamin married Mary.

Apparently, Mary (or Mary Polly) died about 1851 because in 1852, this same Benjamin married Nancy Jane Lovelady and a few years later, he and his second family, like the Benjamin born in 1804, moved to Wright County, Missouri. Descendants of this second family in Wright County confirm that Nancy Jane Lovelady was Benjamin’s wife when he lived in Wright County. Was he, then, the elusive son of Peter Sanders?

This is where things get even more complicated because it appears that he is not a son of Peter, either. According to tradition passed down among the descendants of George and Phoebe Sanders of Randolph County, North Carolina, this Benjamin was a son of George and Phoebe, and as with the other children of this couple, they even have an exact birth date for him of June 2, 1813. This theory is augmented by the fact that George and Phoebe lived near Benjamin and his wife in 1840. In addition, if he is the son of George and Phoebe, he would be a first cousin to the Benjamin born in 1804. This would explain why he appears to be living next door to that Benjamin in 1850 and why the two of them moved to Wright County at virtually the same time. Recently, Justin Sanders has discovered that Benjamin and his second wife Nancy Jane sold land to James Bean in 1856, land that had originally been patented by George Saunders, thus adding support to the tradition that George was the father of Benjamin.

So where does this lead us with the Benjamin who was reported to be the son of Peter? Not very far in the direction of identifying him because we have no evidence for him at all. If anyone has proof for his existence, it would be helpful if they came forward with the evidence.

Justin Sanders, a descendant of Levi Lindsey visited the Wright County courthouse in 2005 and examined the probate records of his ancestor, the Benjamin born in 1804. Here are some of Justin’s comments, provided in an e-mail in April 2006:

Now my g-g-grandfather, Levi Lindsey Sanders, was born 21 Feb 1837 in Jackson Co, AL and his father's name was Benjamin and he (Benjamin) was born in Randolph Co, NC-- this comes from the bible of Levi's son Morgan G., Levi's obituary, and a biography of another of Levi's sons which was written while Levi still lived-- also, according to Levi's son, Levi's grandfather (i.e. Benjamin's father) was also named Benjamin. So the second Benjamin (House 607) is Benjamin Jr., son of Benjamin Sr., and father of Levi L. Matilda in the household is a daughter who married Carter Miller in 1856. At age 20, she would have been born about 1830-- she's actually the 2nd born-- the first born is Sarah Sanders, who married Brantley N. Sanders. Sarah Sanders was born c 1826 in NC. Benjamin (607) would have been about 23 at the time of Sarah's birth.
.

NC Marriage Bonds: Benjamin Sanders Jr. to Liney Sugg, 19 May 1825, Randolph Co; bondsman: Benjamin Sanders Senr.; wit. Thos. Hancock [Note: on the original bond at the NC Archives, Benjamin Sanders Sr. signed by mark "S"]

Liney was alive as late as 1847, since there is a deed bearing their names in Jackson Co, AL: Annie Coleman Proctor Memorial Collection (Scottsboro Public Lib), v7, pp 77 and 83 Jackson Co, Deed Bk Q p569, Benjamin Sanders & wife Linney Sanders to Moses Higginbotham, 15 Feb 1847, W1/2 of NW 1/4 of S7 T3 R6E

The two Benjamins moved to Wright Co, MO. The younger one (47, NC, household 423) has a new wife-- Nancy J.(34, AL). Benjamin Sanders m. Nancy J. Lovelady, 15 Apr 1852, Jackson Co, AL marriage records. The children in 1860 match the ones in 1850. Namely Joseph (8 in 1850) is J.B.L. (18 in 1860); William (7 in 1850) is Wm. N. (17 in 1860); Rebecca (3 in 1850) is Rebecca E. (12 in 1860). Note also that there is a son Sevier L. Sanders (age 7 in 1860) who will be important later.

This probate record confirms that the elder Benjamin (household 607 in 1850 Jackson and 440 in 1860 Wright) are one in the same and that he is the father of my Levi L. Sanders (I learned of this probate case because the attorneys for the estate sent Levi's portion to one of Levi's grandsons to be apportioned among his descendants. I have a copy of the letter transmitting the money).

Now, what became of the two Benjamins? The probate records of both of them are in Wright Co, MO, but they are combined in one file-- fortunately they can be separated by the name of the administrator. The elder Benjamin (607 and 440) died by 4 Jan 1866 when his estate was inventoried. His administrator was William Palmer and his widow is Intha A. Sanders and the husband of his step daughter J.S. Farmer purchased the land of his estate. Final settlement of the estate was 11 May 1870. Unfortunately, I didn't take extensive or even careful notes of the estate of the other Benjamin (606 and 423), but his estate was probated in the early-to-mid-1870's, and his administrator was his son Sevier L. Sanders and his widow was Nancy.
--Justin Sanders

In addition to the problem with Benjamin Sanders, there is another example in which an accepted tie between Peter and another Sanders family whose descendants moved to Wright County is problematic. If we look at the data provided by most of the Peter Sanders researchers, Jesse Sanders, who was born May 17, 1780, in North Carolina and who moved to Lawrence County, Tennessee, may have been Peter’s brother. They don’t actually have evidence for this, but they assume the connection because some of Jesse’s children married into the Moody family, as did the children of Peter. But, here again, this may only mean that the two Sanders families and the Moody family were all traveling in the same pattern of migration and marriages tend to occur when families are in close proximity.

In fact, there is some evidence of a family tradition that Phoebe Sanders, the wife of Jesse Sanders, was the daughter of Joseph Sanders who died in 1805 in Randolph County, North Carolina. Phoebe is mentioned as one of the daughters in the will of Joseph Sanders and it appears she was married to a Jesse Sanders, who is also mentioned in the estate settlement. The parentage of this Jesse is not certain, but his father appears to have been Jacob Sanders who died about 1830 in nearby Montgomery County; Jesse is mentioned as an heir of Jacob in a legal document. Further confirmation that this may be the same Jesse is the names of the children of Jesse and Phoebe: Joseph (named after Phoebe’s father), Sarah (after Phoebe’s sister), Jacob (named for Jesse’s father), George (named for Phoebe’s brother), Rebecca (named for Phoebe’s mother), Mary (named for Jesse’s mother), and Jesse (after Jesse himself). In addition, with this reconstruction, Jesse was a first cousin to Benjamin Sanders, Jr., who died in Wright County in 1866. Everything makes sense without any connection to Peter Sanders at all.

Because the evidence regarding Jesse is more ambiguous, I can’t be as certain that he has no connection to Peter as I can with the two Benjamins, but there does not seem to be any compelling reason to think he was Peter’s relative. To clear up these ambiguities, we really need a reexamination of the evidence regarding Peter’s genealogy, his parents, his children, and his descendants. Too often, researchers have simply accepted previous research or have made easy assumptions that all Sanders in Wright County must have a connection to Peter. I hope that someone reading this article will provide information that may help reduce the confusion that exists regarding the Sanders families of Wright County.

Additional material added on May 12, 2007:

For several years, I have thought that Peter Sanders who appears on the 1860 Wright County, Missouri, census must be related to Benjamin Sanders, Jr., who is living only a couple of households away from Peter. I now believe there is intriguing, though not conclusive, evidence that they were indeed cousins.

Jim Sanders recently sent me a copy of the 1813 will of Jane Sanders of Maury County, Tennessee. Like everyone else, I have been assuming she was the mother of Peter of Wright County. She does mention a son named Peter, and Peter is known to have lived in Maury County in 1812. But notice a sentence in the will:

"My wish that my son William Sanders and my son Peter Sanders dies before they have heirs of their own body my wish that all my property be equally divided between my two sisters."

It seems to me the implication of this is that her sons William and Peter were young men, either unmarried or married but without any children at the time of the will. It would be an odd statement to make about Peter Sanders of Wright County. We have very good documentation that he had at least one male child in 1813 and most likely two, and there may have been female children whose names are unknown. Why would his mother doubt whether he would have "heirs of his body?"

So, in spite of her living in the same county as Peter, maybe Jane was not the mother of Peter of Wright County. And if she is not the mother of Peter, there is another possibility for his parentage.

In the 1880s Moses Martin Sanders, the grandson of the Reverend Moses Sanders, did various "ordinances" by which he baptized deceased relatives for the Mormon church. Among the relatives he mentioned were two children of his great uncle Francis Sanders. They were named Silas and Peter.

Jim Sanders has done a great deal of research on Silas Sanders who lived in Smith and Maury County, Tennessee in the 1820s. Silas later moved to Illinois and died there about 1836. Documentary evidence appears to suggest (though it's not certain) that this Silas is the same person as Silas Sanders who lived in Franklin County, Georgia, about 1800 and who is mentioned in the minutes of the church ministered by Silas' uncle, the Reverend Moses Sanders.

Further, the Silas in Tennessee, lived from 1824-1830 in the Duck River area of Maury County, the same county where Peter of Wright County lived. Later Silas was in Jefferson County, Illinois in the 1830s, and Peter Sanders of Wright County moved to Illinois in the 1830s also. Silas seems to be related, probably a brother, to the Moses Sanders who appears on the 1840 Greene County, Arkansas census. Moses is mentioned in a document relating to the disposal of Silas' estate in 1836. Jim Sanders believes Moses is most likely another son of Francis, and Moses was born in Georgia at a time that Francis, the brother of the Reverend Moses Sanders, was believed to be living in the state.

Peter Sanders of Wright County is known to have had a son born in 1812 in Maury County, Tennessee, in the Duck River area. Silas had land in the Duck River area in the 1820s. Peter was living next door to Moses Sanders of Greene County in 1840. Two of Peter's sons, John Archibald and Andrew Jackson were also living in Greene County in 1840.

Further, in 1860, Peter of Wright County is living a couple of houses away from Benjamin Sanders, Jr. If Peter of Wright is really the same person as Peter, son of Francis, and if the Silas in Tennessee is the same person as the Silas living in Georgia in 1800, then Benjamin and Peter were first cousins, once removed, assuming our theories about the ancestry of Benjamin are correct, of course.

Peter Sanders of Wright County married Marchial, or Michelle, Tarbutton. Her family owned property in Richmond County, North Carolina, along the border with Montgomery County. So, to continue with the possibility that Peter of Wright was son of Francis, the brother of the Reverend Moses, how did Peter and Michelle meet? Peter is believed to have been born in Montgomery County, and the census appears to establish that he was born around 1780 or 1781. Michelle was born in 1785, according to the 1850 census in North Carolina.,

According to an article by C. M. Wright on the Tarbutton's of North Carolina, Joseph Tarbutton II, the father of Michelle, served in a Georgia unit during the Revolutionary War and it appears his Georgia connections eventually led him to move from Richmond County, North Carolina, where he owned land near the Montgomery border, to Hall County, Georgia, just after 1812. Hall County, of course, borders on Banks County (or Franklin from which Banks was created). Franklin is the county where the Reverend Moses Sanders lived, and several of the Reverend Moses Sanders descendants lived in Hall County.

I don’t consider the identification of Silas of Tennessee with Silas of Georgia the only possibility, but the paper trail certainly provides evidence for that assumption. It is to be hoped further evidence will confirm this assumption.

The case of the three wives of Elijah Greenville Sanders of Jackson County, Alabama, may not have the high drama of the story of the six wives of Henry VIII but it has been a perplexing riddle to me for many years. There is conflicting family tradition about the wives and children of Elijah and I believe the solution is that there was not one but several Elijah G. Sanders who lived in Jackson County in the latter part of the nineteenth century and all of them may have been named Elijah Greenville Sanders. (Elijah's father was also named Elijah G. Sanders, but is not discussed here).

The first Elijah (born 1830) appears on the Jackson County census of 1860 with wife Martha J (born 1828) and with children Martha 11, Elizabeth 9, Rosannah 7, William 5, and Margaret 1. This Elijah apparently served in the Union Army during the Civil War in Company A, first Alabama Cavalry, the same unit as the second Elijah G. Sanders. This first Elijah died after 1862 because his widow, Martha, appears on the 1870 Jackson County census with her children William 14, Margaret 10, and Lemuel 8. Martha is listed as a widow in 1880, also, and living with her are her children William 22, Margaret 19, and Lemuel 16.

The second Elijah, usually called Elijah Greenville Sanders, was, according to family tradition that appears solid, the grandson of Francis and Rachel Sanders. He first appears in Jackson County in 1853 when he marries Ann Sanders, but he and Ann don't appear at all on the 1860 census. We don't have unquestionable evidence for the parentage of Ann but I think her parents were probably William and Martha Sanders who moved from Jackson County to Montgomery County, Arkansas in the 1850s.

If Ann is the daughter of William and Martha, she had a brother named Elijah and I think that brother is probably the Elijah who appears on the 1860 census with his wife Martha. William's son Elijah was reported as dead by the time of an 1871 estate settlement and this matches what we know of the Elijah who appears on the 1860 census, who was dead before 1870. Further, if she is the daughter of William and Martha, Ann also had a nephew named Elijah G. Sanders, born in 1856, and I think this nephew is the Elijah G. Sanders who married Elizabeth Berry on March 12, 1875.

Going back to Elijah Greenville Sanders, the one who married Ann in 1853, I recently received a copy of his Civil War pension file and from this record, it's possible to reconstruct a biography of his life.

This is what the pension file reveals about Elijah Greenville Sanders:

Born April 8, 1833 in Jackson County, Alabama.
Died August 18, 1925, last residence Hazel Green, Madison County, Alabama.
Enlisted August 28, 1863, discharged June 16, 1864.
Served in Co. A.1 Ala. Vidette Vol. Cavalry rank of Sergeant.
First applied for a pension in 1888.
Moved to Lincoln County, Tennessee, from Jackson County on January 4, 1901.
Lived at Trenton in Jackson County at the time of his enlistment

Married three times:

1. to Annie B. Sanders March 29, 1853, Scotsboro, Jackson County, Alabama, married by Isaac Tenney. Annie died February 28, 1875
2. Lizzie Gibson. She died April 4, 1880. [The pension file doesn't give the date of marriage, only her name, but I believe she appears in the marriage records as Frances Elizabeth Gibson and the marriage occurred on July 15, 1875]
3. to Martha Jane Scott. on October 4, 1884. She was married previously on June 4, 1875 to Henry Berry who died April 11, 1878.

Children of Elijah Greenville, living and dead, from affidavit from 1915:
A. E. J. Sanders, Sept. 26th 1854
L. P. (C?) Sanders, February 9, 1856
J. W. Sanders, August 12, 1859
H. M. Sanders, April 9, 1862
M. C., Jan. 4, 1866
F. M. Sanders, Nov. 13, 1870
B. O. Sanders, Dec 30, 1872
James A. (H?) Sanders, September 6, 1876

I believe some of these birth dates conflict with the census data and here are the dates I think more likely:

Children of ELIJAH SANDERS and ANN SANDERS are:
            i.          AILSEY ALICE E. J. SANDERS, b. September 26, 1854, Jackson County, Alabama; d. Bef. 1898, Jackson County, Alabama (probably).
            ii.          LUCRESA SANDERS, b. February 09, 1856, Jackson County, Alabama; d. Bef. 1898, Jackson County, Alabama (probably).
            iii.         JOHN W SANDERS, b. August 12, 1859, Jackson County, Alabama; d. January 12, 1913, Jackson County, Alabama;
            iv.         H. M. SANDERS, b. April 09, 1862, Jackson County, Alabama; d. Bef. 1870, Jackson County, Alabama.
            v.         MARY CALEDONIA SANDERS, b. January 04, 1864, Jackson County, Alabama; d. Bef. 1909, Jackson County, Alabama
            vi.         FRANCIS MARION FRANK SANDERS, b. January 1868, Jackson County, Alabama; d. January 20, 1954, Jackson County, Alabama
            vii.        BENJAMIN OLIVER SANDERS, b. December 30, 1872, Jackson County, Alabama; d. February 12, 1935, Jackson County, Alabama.

I believe James Sanders, born September 6, 1876 was a child of Elijah and Lizzie Gibson, though this is not stated in the pension file. It seems obvious, however, from the birth occurring after the 1875 marriage to Lizzie.

Further, I no longer regard Rachel Addy Catherine Sanders, born 1880, as a child of Elijah. She married William A. Mashburn in 1896, and according to Web accounts, the marriage took place at her father's house. It now appears her father was the Elijah G. Sanders who married Elizabeth Berry.

Children of Elijah Greenville Sanders listed as living in an affidavit from 1898:

John W. Sanders born August 12, 1859,
Mary C. Kimbrough born January 4, 1866
Frank M. Sanders born Nov. 13, 1870
Ben O. Sanders born December 30th 1872
James A. Sanders born Sept. 6th 1876

Personal description at time of enlistment in 1863:
5 feet 10 inches dark complexion, blue eyes, black hair, occupation of farmer.

Elijah could not read or write and signed with an "x' mark on his affidavits.

An affidavit in support of Elijah's claim was signed by Carroll Jackson Brewer who said he had known Elijah since 1850, that he lived within two miles of Elijah and that he had conversed with Elijah 2-5 times per week except when Elijah was in the Army. This probably indicates that Elijah was in Jackson County by 1850. Other affidavits were signed by Benjamin R. Brewer and Richmond Fowler and by his personal physician, James O. Robertson. There are a couple of attached affidavits by his son Francis M. Sanders.

When I ordered this military pension file, I thought I was getting the file of the widow's pension application of Martha Sanders, widow of the first Elijah, but what I got was the pension application of Elijah Greenville. I'm continuing to research the other Elijahs of Jackson County, and I welcome any comments, corrections, or suggestions.

As mentioned previously, I believe the Elijah of the 1860 Jackson County census is the son of William and Martha Sanders who appear on the 1850 Jackson County census and the 1860 Montgomery County, Arkansas, census. William was by occupation a blacksmith and he appears to be the half-brother of my great-grandfather Isaac who was living in Montgomery County in 1860. Here is some of the information I have about this family:

WILLIAM SANDERS (BENJAMIN3, ISAAC2 SAUNDERS, JOHN1) was born 1789 in Montgomery County, North Carolina, and died before 1872 in Montgomery County, Arkansas. He married MARTHA T. UNKNOWN. She was born 1812 in Virginia, and died after 1860 in Montgomery County, Arkansas.

Children of WILLIAM SANDERS and MARTHA UNKNOWN are:

ELIJAH SANDERS, who may have been the oldest son, born about 1830. Elijah is mentioned as a son in the 1871 settlement of William's estate. The document also states that Elijah was deceased. I think he is the same Elijah who appears on the 1860 census of Jackson County with a wife named M.J. We know that Elijah of Jackson County died between 1864 and 1870 because his widow Martha appears on the 1870 and 1880 census, where she is listed as a widow. We don't have direct proof, but it appears likely that Elijah, son of William, and Elijah of the 1860 Jackson census are the same person.

JOSEPH SANDERS, b. 1832, Jackson County, Alabama; d. Bef. October 1872, Montgomery County, Arkansas; m. LUCINDA UNKNOWN; b. Abt. 1836, Alabama; d. Aft. 1873. Joseph was also dead by the time of the estate settlement but his son Elijah G. Sanders, born 1856, moved back to Jackson County and married Elizabeth Berry in 1875. Joseph served in the Montgomery County Hunters unit during the Civil War with the sons of my great grandfather Isaac Sanders.

MARY LUCRECIA SANDERS, b. Abt. 1833, Jackson County, Alabama; d. Bet. 1872 - 1875, Jackson County, Alabama; m. CARROLL JACKSON BREWER, Abt. 1851, Jackson County, Alabama?; b. February 20, 1834, Alabama; d. Aft. 1880, Jackson County, Alabama. John Sanders, of course, stated that Lucrecia was his half-niece, which indicates that William, her father, was John's half-brother.

HIRAM SANDERS, b. 1836, Jackson County, Alabama. Hiram must have died before 1872 without issue because he is not mentioned in the estate settlement.

JOHN B. SANDERS, b. 1837, Jackson County, Alabama.

ANN SANDERS, b. 1839, Jackson County, Alabama. She is mentioned in the estate settlement of 1872 as being married to an Elijah Sanders. I think her husband is the same person as Elijah Greenville Sanders and that she is the same person as the "Fannie" who appears on the census of 1870 as Elijah's wife. There is also a Jackson County marriage record that Elijah Greenville Sanders married Ann Sanders in 1853 and the pension file states that Elijah's first wife was named Ann Sanders. The birth years for William's daughter and for Elijah's wife are both 1838-1839. For these reason I feel that Ann, daughter of William, is the same person as Ann, wife of Elijah Greenville. Further, Carroll Jackson Brewer married William's daughter Lucretia and C.J. Brewer also signed an affidavit for the pension file of Elijah Greenville. I think C.J. was married to Ann's sister Lucrecia and he was therefore Elijah Greenville's brother-in-law.

MARTHA JANE SANDERS, b. 1841, Jackson County, Alabama; d. Bef. 1872, Montgomery County, Arkansas?; m. JOHN MAYBERRY, March 25, 1860, Montgomery County, Arkansas. She was dead by the time of the estate settlement but it was her surviving husband, John Mayberry, who made the petition on behalf of their children, as heirs of William to sell William's estate at auction. According to Shirley Manning of Mena, Arkansas, the site of the property is now under Lake Ouachita.

Early research indicated that that a descendant of Francis Sanders (born about 1755), brother of the Reverend Moses Sanders, appeared to have a DNA match with descendants of Benjamin Sanders and Isaac Sanders of Jackson County, Alabama. This match occurred with what is called the twelve marker test. In the spring of 2006, an upgrade was done to the thirty-seven marker test, and the participant did not match the descendants of Benjamin and Isaac. In March 2008, the DNA lab re-analyzed the test and concluded that there was a match after all. There appears to be a pretty solid paper trail from Francis, brother of the Reverend Moses, to the participant, and therfore the March 2008 results are gratifying. Further information about the paper trail can be found in an article written by Jim Sanders for a series of Jefferson County, Illinois family histories. Based on this example, Justin Sanders, administrator of the Sanders DNA project, suggests caution in accepting DNA tests that run counter to solid paper trails.

A test that was completed in July 2006 established that Benjamin Saunders/Sanders who lived in Montgomery and Randolph counties in North Carolina and later in Jackson County, Alabama, is from the same Sanders line as a descendant of William Aaron Saunders of Montgomery County. This result offers further evidence that Benjamin is the same person as the "Ben Saunders" mentioned in the letter written by Thomas Bailey Saunders in the 1890s. This letter is described in more detail elsewhere at this Web site. Justin Sanders has provided further analysis of this DNA test in a posting in the Sanders DNA-L forum.

A further test in August 2006 established that Francis Sanders(1782-about 1860) of Randolph County, North Carolina, and Jackson County, Alabama, is also from the same Sanders line as Benjamin and William Aaron. The suggestion presented in this Web page is that Francis and Benjamin were probably brothers, and though DNA testing can't prove their fraternity, the results so far are fully compatible with the possibility.

A test in November 2006 shows that James Sanders (about 1740-about 1810) belongs to the same line. According to family tradition passed down among his descendants, James was of Scottish ancestry. James appears to have had a brother named Patrick and a sister named Sarah, and these siblings may have been the children of William and Susannah Sanders who first appear in the tax list of 1764 in Anson County, North Carolina. Many of James' relatives moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina and later to Rutherford County, North Carolina.

Tests completed between October 2007 and February 2008 provide evidence that a descendants of John and David Sanders, sons of the Reverend Moses Sanders, match the descendants of William Aaron and Isaac.

A test completed in the spring of 2008 reveals that Jesse Sanders (1775-1848) of Moore County, North Carolina is related to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery.

So far DNA testing has established that descendants of the following individuals have a common male Sanders ancestor:

John Sanders 1787,NC-1848, Tishomingo County, Mississippi
(son of Moses Sanders)

William Aaron Saunders 1735, NC-1783, Montgomery County, North Carolina (possibly, born in Virginia)
(brother of Moses and Isaac)

Benjamin Saunders/Sanders 1766, NC-1845, Jackson County, ALabama
(son of Isaac Saunders)

Francis Sanders/Saunders 1782, NC-1860, Hempstead County, Arkansas
(son of Isaac Saunders)

John Francis Sanders 1805, NC-1875, Calhoun County, Arkansas (12 marker, further testing needed)

James Sanders 1740, NC-1810, Spartanburg, South Carolina (possibly, born in Scotland)

John Ewing Sanders 1853,TN-1903, Rutherford , Tennessee (12 marker, further testing needed)

The prevailing assumption is that the common ancestor of Moses, William Aaron, Benjamin, Francis, and John Francis is the father of the four brothers of Anson. This assumption seems reasonable because we have something of a paper trail pointing in that direction. Whether John Ewing and David Sanders are also descendants of the four brothers is less certain. David of Jessamine County, Kentucky, may be descended from William and Susan Sanders of Anson County, North Carolina. Because the father of the four brothers and William who married Susannah were probably born about 1700, they may have been brothers, maybe the two brothers that Thomas Bailey Saunders mentioned as coming to America at about the time the pirate Blackbeard was active. We don't have a paper trail concerning the match of the Montgomery group with the Benjamin Sanders of Fairfax County, Virginia and Brooke County, West Virginia. Researchers believe this Benjamin of Brooke County is descended from a Scottish immigrant who came to America about 1706. DNA testing doesn't help much in telling how these two groups were related; all it does is let us know that they had a common male Sanders ancestor, and the paper trail suggests that ancestor lived during the 1700s. We also don't know how Jesse Sanders of Moore County links to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery.

One rather anomalous situation is that a descendant of Jesse Holloway (1808, KY-1883, Lawrence County, Tennesee) is a match to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery. We don't have enough documentation at the current time to tell whether the line of descent goes back to Jesse Holloway and if he was a biological Sanders or if one of his presumed descendants was actually fathered by a Sanders. These Holloways were close associates of the descendants of Jesse Sanders (1780, NC-1839, Lawrence County, Tennessee). Jesse was the son of Jacob Saunders and a grandson of Isaac, brother of the Reverend Moses Sanders. Therefore, the Holloway who matches the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery is most likely a descendant of Isaac.

William Sanders 1740, NC-1790, Chatham County, NC (Chatham County borders on Randolph)

With this group we have no paper trail or DNA evidence that would indicate the common ancestor. We do know, however, that descendants of Joseph Sanders intermarried into the Sanders line of the four brothers even though these were two separate Sanders lines and not derived from a common male Sanders ancestor. Descendants of this second group match each other more closely than the descendants of the Randolph/Montgomery line matched each other.This may indicate that the common ancestor of Joseph, William, and Robert was only a generation or two removed from the known ancestor or it may merely mean that the Randolph line was more susceptible to mutations. It's possible Joseph and William were brothers, but we have no paper trail on how they were related.

Documentary Chart for the William Sanders/James Sanders line

1753	Halifax County. William Sanders enters enters 400 acres on Chestnut Creek described as "beginning on Thomas Hall's upper line thence up said Creek on both sides."
1754	Halifax County, Virginia. On August 20th 1754 William Sanders, by reasons presented in the Court of Halifax, is exempted from paying County levies.( From Jim Sanders)
1755	Halifax County, Virginia. On the 17th day of December 1755 William Sanders receives a Deed from Thomas Hall. On the same day James Sanders Sr. witnesses a Deed from Thomas Mitchell to Talbott. Plea Book 2 Page 84. On page 85, James Sanders is paid for traveling 60 miles coming and returning as a witness to a Deed given by John Ward. (Information from Jim Sanders)
1756	Halifax County, Virginia. June 1756 William Hill to Patrick Sanders, proven by the oath of William Sanders.Plea Book 2 Page 150. June, 1856 (probably Patrick, son of William) Deed from William Hill to Patrick Sanders was proved by the oaths of John Kerby and Francis Kerby. Plea Book 2 Page 125. A deed from William Hill to Lewis Morgan was proved by the oaths of John Kerby and William Sanders. Plea Book 2 Page 150. In 1756 William Hill deeds to Patrick Sanders 90 acres on the Waters of Chestnut Creek, Halifax County, William Sanders and Frances and John Kirby are witnesses to the transaction. The property is described as 90 acres lying on two creeks; the South bank of Chestnut Creek and mouth of Sawpit Branch. (Creek). Deed Book 1 Page 194. Patrick sells the 90-acre parcel to Lewis Morgan on August 20th, 1757. In the document he is said to be a blacksmith, and his wife is named as Mary...." (from Jim Sanders)
1757	November. Morgan Brown, surveyor in Anson County, pays William Sanders, carpenter, 5 shillings. No further information about whether this is “old William” who appears later in the land records of Anson.
1757	Halifax County, Virginia. Patrick Sanders sells his 90 acre parcel of property to Lewis Morgan. Plea book 2 Page 239. Patrick sells the 90-acre parcel to Lewis Morgan on August 20th, 1757. In the document he is said to be a blacksmith, and his wife is named as Mary(From Jim Sanders). This deed proves he is the Patrick who later lived in North Carolina and in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
1758	November. Patrick Sanders buys 300 acres in Anson County, north side of Pee Dee River and south fork of Mountain Creek.
1759	On July 26 1759, Patrick sells 100 acres of this land in Anson to John Littlebird Shepherd. Film #0018145 page 224. This is now in Richmond County.
1761	James Sanders buys land from Henry Touchstone on the east side of Mountain Creek in Anson County.
1763	Patrick and James Sanders appear on the list of people paying taxes in Anson County.
1763	March. Patrick Sanders witnesses deed for land sold by Richard Odam to Charles Hill for land on Finches branch of north fork of Mountain Creek in Anson County.
1764	William and Susan exempt from paying taxes in Anson County due to age and infirmity
1764	William Sanders of Anson County, Province of North Carolina sells 100 acres in Halifax County to John Heard. Recorded May 1765, but executed in 1764, Deed Book 5, p. 385.
1767	James and Patrick Sanders sign Regulators Petition. Appears to be James, Sr. Assuming he was at least 21 years old, he couldn’t have been born before 1746. Most likely, he was born at least several years earlier.
1767	February. William and Susan sell 100 acres land in Anson County on Rocky Fork.
1767	February. William and Susan Sanders sell 200 acres in Anson to Jared Gross.
1768	See "Early Settlers of Alabama." p. 465. William is exempt from taxes.
1772	January. Patrick Sanders serves on a jury in Anson County. James is appointed constable in Mountain Creek district. In April Patrick is mentioned in a road levy for a road from Stubbs Ford to Mountain Creek.
1773	April. Patrick Sanders sold 100 acres on the north side of the Pee Dee river and the south fork of Mountain Creek in Anson County.
1773	May. Walter Gibson sells to William Sanders 100 acres in Anson County on Indian Camp Br. Is this William Aaron or William who married Susan?
1774	James Sanders witnesses deed of John Cockerham to Thomas Mason for land on Mountain Creek in Anson County
1775	April. James Sanders and James Cotton witness deed of James Mode to Moses Bland for 150 acres in Anson on the north side of the Pee Dee River and west side of Little River.
1775	March. Patrick Sanders granted 300 acres in Anson County by King George III.
Ca. 1776	James Sanders was appointed Constable in Anson County. Probably James, Sr., the same person who signed the Regulators Petition.
1779	January. Richard Powell enters 50 enters in Anson County on Mountain Creek, bordered by James Saunders, John Jenkin, and Patrick Saunders.
1779	April 12. Patrick and wife Mary deed 112 acres on south side of north fork of Mountain Creek of Pee Dee River in Anson County to James Bolton. The borders on the land of William Terry. Patrick is selling the land he was granted in 1775 by King George Patrick, son of William
1779	April 13. Patrick and Mary sell to Richard Powell “lower end” of 100 acres on Broonas Br. In Anson County. The sale has a reference to “beginning corner pine of James Sanders’ survey,” indicating that Patrick’s brother James owned land adjacent to Patrick.
1780	March. Edward Young granted 150 acres on both sides of Barnes Creek,including Daniel Sanders’ improvements. Parentage of Daniel unknown, but probably related to our Sanders
After 1783	James buys land in Rutherford County, North Carolina This is James, Sr.
1787	James and Jeffrey listed in the Montgomery County tax list in District 2(per Jim Sanders on Rocky Fork of Little River). James, Sr.?
1789	William receives several land grants in Montgomery County on Rocky Creek. Who is this William? It’s doubtful it is the same William who was considered old in 1764. (Information about William’s land grants from Jim Sanders).
1780s	Patrick, Sr. in Rutherford County, North Carolina, then moves to Spartanburg, South Carolina
1790	Two James Sanders appear on the Montgomery County census One household has two males under 16, three over 16, and two females. The other household has four males under 16, 1 male over 16, and two females. One of these could be James, Sr., but which one? I assume one is also James, Jr. Comments from Jim Sanders: Benjamin Randle received a Grant on I July 1790. The property was on Barnes Creek and James Sanders property was referenced as a starting point in the description of the grant. We would expect this James to be the “Chain Carrier James”, noted on Rueben Sanders survey for property on Barnes Creek. Two James Sanders are listed in the 1790 Census of Montgomery. One of them is our subject and shows; I believe, an extended family, three men over 16 years of age; two boys under 16 and two females. The other James lists one male over 16 with four boys under sixteen and two females. In the 1800 census one of the James is not listed in Montgomery County. We believe that the “extended” family, James, is related to the reverend Moses and William Aaron and may have a son names Moses. He is still in Montgomery (1790) with four sons born between 1785/90, one son born 1790/1800 and a wife. The 1800 census of Montgomery, James is shown as being born between 1756 and 1774. The other James is listed in District 2 of the Montgomery county tax list of 1787. This is the same district as Jeffery Sanders. This district, we believe, is on the Rocky Fork of Little River. This would tie Jeffery and this James, into the William Sanders Family. Preliminary research on this family shows them migrating to South Carolina. We don’t have any family tie into them. However, one might consider this: Elias Butler, who owned several pieces of property in Montgomery County, used “Jefery Sanders” as a Chain Carrier on a survey for a Grant on the Rocky Creek in 1785. Elias Butler had several pieces of property in the Barnes Creek area as well.Jim wrote this before the DNA tests were completed.
1790	March James Sanders’ west line is referenced in a grant of 100 acres to Benjamin Randle on Barnes Creek in Montgomery County. James, Jr. or Sr.?
1790	James Sanders acquires land in Rutherford County. Probably James, Sr.
1790s	James, Sr. moves to Spartanburg, South Carolina.
1794	January. Jeffrey Sanders granted 50 acres on Clark Creek in Montgomery County, bordering William Morgan and Martin Ussery. Jeffrey, son of James.
1794	August. James Sanders’ property line is referenced in a deed of Benjamin Randle to Brantly Harris for 100 acres on the east side of the Uwharrie River on Barnes Creek in Montgomery County. James, Jr?
1796	January. James Sanders ordered to get a license to sell spirituous liquor in Spartanburg.Also, James and Isaac Young agreed to indemnify the county for support of an illegitimate child, “the state against Elizabeth Saunders.” James, Sr.
1798	James, Sr., sold 13 acres to Lawrence Bankston. William (William Moses) and James Sanders were witnesses in Spartanburg. Who is this James? James, Jr. was still in Montgomery.
1799	James Sanders receives land grant in Rutherford. Could this be James, Jr., who was living in Montgomery or James, Sr. in Spartanburg?
1799	February. James and William Sanders witness a deed in Spartanburg. This must be James, Sr., and his son William Moses.
1800	James Sanders, York County, South Carolina. Two James Sanders appear on the census. One James is 26-44 (born 1756-1774) and living with a female of the same age. The other James is also 26-44 and lives in a household with two males under ten, two females under 10. There may be other females but the rest of the line is illegible. One of these is the father of David Sanders, born 1803, whose descendants match the DNA of Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery group. Tentatively, I assume this James is the first one listed. Also living in York County was Mary Katherine Sanders and her husband George Suggs. Since George owned land next door to Isaac Saunders in Randolph County, it’s possible that Mary Katherine was a daughter of Isaac.
1800	James Sanders appears on the Montgomery County census. He is age 26-44 (born between 1756-1774), with two male children under 10, two female children under 10, and one female 26-44 (presumably his wife). I assume this is James, Jr., son of James, Sr. If so, he is probably the same person as one of the James previously listed in 1790 in Montgomery County.
1800	James Sanders appears on the Spartanburg census as over 45 years of age (born before 1765). In the household is a female of the same age, one male under 10, two males 10-15, one male 26-44, and one female 16-25. This must be James, Sr.
1800	Patrick Sanders, Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Two Patrick Sanders appear on the census. One Patrick is age 16-25 (born between 1775-1786) with a female of the same age in the household, two males under 10, and one female under 10. The other Patrick is over 45 (born before 1765) with a female of the same age in the household, two males under 10, two females under 10 and one male age 26-44.These must be Patrick, Sr., and Jr.
1801 Feb.	James and Mary Sanders sold 13 acres in Spartanburg to James Turner. William Sanders (presumably William Moses) was a witness.
1801	James Sanders sold 50 acres in Spartanburg to Lawrence Bankston.
1807 July	James Sanders sold 264 acres in Spartanburg to Casper Webber. This is James, Sr.
1810	Billy Saunders (presumably William Moses) appears on the Spartanburg census, age 26-44 (born between 1766-1784), with one male child 10-15, and one female 16-25(presumably his wife). If this is William Moses, where are the two sons and two or three daughters that should be listed with the family?
1810	Patrick Saunders appears on the 1810 Spartanburg census. He is age 26-44 (born between 1766-1784), with two male children under 10, three females under ten, one female 10-15, and one female 26-44 (presumably his wife).This is Patrick, Jr., son of Patrick, Sr., grandson of old William.
1810	William Saunders appears on the 1810 Spartanburg census, living near Patrick. He is 16-25 years old (born between 1785-1794, with one male child under 10 and one female age 16-25 (presumably his wife). Also in the household is a female over 45 (his widowed mother or an aunt, perhaps?). Who is this William? It can’t be William A. Sanders who died in Prairie County, Arkansas, because that William had 7 or 8 children born before 1810.
Between 1800-1810	James Sanders, Sr., dies in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
1814	July, a reference in a deed to the border of James Sanders’ line in Spartanburg. Not sure whether this indicates James, Sr. was still alive.
1815	William Moses Sanders moves to Rutherford County, North Carolina from Spartanburg
1820	William Moses Sanders listed on U.S. census in Rutherford County, North CArolina (listed as Moses Sanderd). Listed as over 45 years old (born before 1775) with three males in household under 10, two between 10 and 16; three females under 10, two between 10 and 16, one 16 to 290, and one 26-45 (presumably his wife).
1830	William Moses Sanders listed on U.S. census in Rutherford County. Listed as Moses Sanders, age 50-60 (born between 1770-1780), one male under 5, one 5-10, one female under 5, one 5-10, three age 10-15, one female 40-50 (presumably his wife). Living nearby is his son Jeffrey Sanders, age 20-30, two males under 2, one female 30-40 (presumably his wife)
1830s	William Moses Sanders owes money to William A. Sanders (the one who married Naomi Ferguson)
about 1834	William Moses Sanders dies in Rutherford County, North Carolina

November 23, 2006.
Many thanks to Josephine Sparks and Jim Sanders for sharing their research and providing much of the above information regarding the land transactions of James Sanders.

Return to Index

THE REVEREND MOSES SANDERS & THE REVOLUTION

The following article was written by Jim Sanders of Ojai, California and sent to me by e-mail in September 2005. Jim has written several other articles about the land records of Montgomery County, North Carolina, and he has granted permission to post this article here in the hope that other researchers will provide further documentation regarding the birth place of the Reverend Moses Sanders.

Researchers for years have relied on undocumented stories that the Reverend Moses Sanders, (Grove Level Church in Franklin County, Georgia, 1798-1817) was a Revolutionary War hero. Several websites and other written accounts state that he was at the battle of the Cowpens, which is in Northwestern South Carolina. Others state he was the bearer of many bayonet scars and that the enemy who inflicted the wounds paid with his life. The DAR has him listed as a veteran of the Revolution. One website has him as being a private in the Iredell Militia in 1782. (Iredell was not created until 1788).

With these recordings in mind we noticed several instances, whereby an imaginative author embellished history. If we find no documentary evidence that Moses fought in the War, from where did the “rumor” emanate?

We look to two embellishments of history, which may shed light on passed ahead misinformation. The first is:

The Battles of the Cowpens and Kings Mountain

The earliest recordation of the name Saunders connected with the Cowpens or Kings Mountain is described in detail on page 125-128 by Edwin C. Bearss, in a 238 page National Parks Service booklet, written in 1974. In it he describes a well-documented, historical account of the battle of Cowpens. Mr. Bearss states,

“In 1881, Lyman C. Draper wrote a well-documented history of the battle of Kings Mountain. He had collected materials for his book since 1839, using manuscript narratives of David Vance, Joseph McDowell, and Silas McBee (participants in the battle). Draper wrote,

On October 6th, 1780, there was a stirring bivouac at the Cowpens. A wealthy English Tory, named Saunders, resided there, who reared large numbers of cattle and having many pens in which to herd his stock—hence the derivation of Cowpens. Saunders was, at the time, in bed- perhaps not very well, or feigning sickness; from which he was unceremoniously pulled out and treated pretty roughly. When commanded to tell at what time Ferguson had passed that place, he declared that the British Colonel and army had not passed that way at all…Search was accordingly made and no evidence of a passing army was found…… Several of the old Tory’s cattle were quickly shot down and slaughtered for the supply of the hungry soldiers…

Draper used most of the information found in this account from the reminiscences of David Vance in 1799. Vance in his account states in part that they proceeded to the Cowpens and mentions a Tory’s house, but does not name the Tory. Mr. Bearss states and we agree that Draper ‘flavored’ the story a bit with a few additions to the historical accounts of the participants at the Cowpens, and his accounts were embellished even further by subsequent historians including the writings of Judge Schenk in 1889, which also names Saunders a wealthy Tory, who herded large numbers of Cattle at the Cowpens.”

Mr. Bearss also provides this information, “A review of the South Carolina Grant and plat books and search of the records of Spartanburg and Tryon County and review of the claims filed by Loyalist, show no evidence of a Saunders at the location of the Cowpens Battle”. It is unfortunate but it seems that many later historians and researchers used Drapers’ account as their basis for the account of the “Camp at the Cowpens."

The above information may provide us with a clue and help us understand how Moses Saunders was attributed as being at the Cowpens in any capacity. It is not much of a leap for a writer to build off the original works of another and further glorify the account by adding events or names. Later researchers may have further embellished the stories and made Saunders a participant in the ensuing battle. As stated, Draper wrote his embellished account in 1889. Subsequent writers used his account as an original work and perpetuated the name Saunders, when, as stated, there is no evidence that a Saunders was at the Cowpens.

Christopher Columbus Sanders, a great grandson of Moses Sanders is another possible source of the embellished history of Moses Sanders. In 1902 C. C. Sanders donated the headstone and grave markers for Moses and his wife, (which he named “Sallie”). On the marker he called Moses “A soldier of the Revolution”. Researchers may have interpreted this inscription as a matter of fact and that he was in an organized fighting unit, though no evidence has been found. Remember that the marker was inscribed nearly 125 years after the Revolution and oral family histories are often just plain wrong! Incidentally, Moses’ wife was not “Sallie”; her name was Mary (Hamilton). (Proven by deeds and Ordinance works). Sallie was his daughter. (She married Obadiah Hooper).

In 1908, for a book called Men of Mark in Georgia, C.C. Sanders again was interviewed. In the account therein he states, “Moses migrated from England (Many researcher have it that Moses was from Downton) in 1765 and had two younger brothers, David and John”. (David and John were his sons) The article also states that they took part in the battle of the Cowpens and Kings Mountain and other major battles of the revolution. Once again the story is embellished from verbal accounts of C. C. Sanders. (Thanks to Elden Hurst who visited Downton Parish, England and through correspondence with the local minister, found no Moses Sanders in the records).

With these above stated accounts we can see the pattern of how history has emerged from misstated verbal accounts and just plain embellishments by supposedly well meaning “story tellers.”

One more bit of information has been located in a letter to the War Department, which in 1932 was the keeper of the Revolutionary War Records. This letter and its response from the Department will show that no record has been found concerning Moses in the archives. The letter is included below:

Ellen Sanders Cardon’s letter of February 13th 1932, seeking information on Moses Sanders.

This letter was sent to the Veterans Bureau, Washington, and D.C. The Bureau’s response is below the letter.

In 1932 researchers were making the same mistake as to his birth and the name of his wife. This emanates from the misinformation given to the Grove Level Church in 1903 by Christopher Columbus Sanders, a great grandson of Moses. The writer also has Moses confused with Moses Jr. in the 1790 Census of South Carolina. The response from the War Department makes it clear that there is no record of Moses having served in the Revolutionary War.

Mesa, Arizona, Route 2
February 13, 1932
Adjutant General, Veterans Bureau
Washington, D. C.

I desire to obtain genealogical data and war services of a Moses Sanders, who, our family record states, fought under General Washington. He was born in England in 1732 or 1742, came to America in 1765. I do not know where he landed, but he lived in Va. near Chatham, Pittsylvania Co. He married a Sallie Hamilton of Va. He moved from Va. to Laurence Co, S, C. I do not know the date but I think he was living there when the 1790 census was taken. Later, he moved to Ga. And founded a number of Baptist churches there. One at Grove Level in 1802. Also, I would like to obtain similar data of one Henry Sanders, son of Joseph.

Below is the war Department response to Ms. Cardon’s request, dated April 16th, 1832. Moses is mentioned at the bottom:

April 16, 1932

Mrs. Ellen Sanders Cardon
Mesa, Arizona

Dear Madam:

Reference is made to your letter of February 13th, requesting information in regard to soldiers of the Revolution.

The data furnish herein were obtained from papers on file in the pension claim R. 9178, based upon the Revolutionary War services of Henry Sanders.

He was born October 26, 1751, in Perquimans County, North Carolina, and was the son of Joseph and Mary Sanders.

While living in Fairfield County, South Carolina, he enlisted in 1775 or 1776 and served at various times as private under Captains Lewis, Samuel Boykin and Thomas Starks and Colonel Taylor with the South Carolina troops. He also served about two years as a commissary to said South Carolina troops. He was in several skirmishes and in the battle of Rocky Mount where he was taken prisoner but escaped after a few days.

He was allowed pension on his application executed October 17, 1832, while a resident of Monroe County, Indiana.

He died there February 13, 1834. He was a Baptist minister.

The soldier married October 18, 1779 in Fairfield County, South Carolina, Dica Blake, born May 15, 1761, the daughter of John and Morning Blake.

She died in Monroe County, Indiana, July 5,1841.

Their children were:

Fearibe or Ferriaba, born September 22, 1780.
Joseph, born October 21, 1782, married Anna---, and their son, Samuel, was born February 1, 1809.
Mourning, born January 1, 1785, married Elisha Inman, she died in 1838.
Prosilah, born August 12, 1787, married Thomas Inman, both were dead in 1838.
Henry, born April 28, 1790.
John, born September 3, 1792, married Nancy---, born January 2, 1796, and their son Joseph, was born May 31, 1812.
Wright, born November 7, 1795, married Polly or Poley and their children were: Henry, who was born May 27, 1817; David, Nathan, Finley, Dicy, and Lucinda; said Wright died in 1838 in Monroe County, Indiana.
Dica, born February 9, 1799, married William Maxwell, and both were dead in 1838; their son, Washington, was born April 1, 1820, and there were two children, names not stated.
Benjamin, born March 3, 1802, died when young.

The following are grandchildren, names of parents not stated:

Henry Sanders                 born    March      10      1810
John       ”       December    26      1711
Levi        ”   November    22 1813
John       ”      January      18    1820
Henry Inman (or Inmon)      February 17   1804
Elishea Inman      February   3      1806
Dica        ”   March      14    1808
Hannah   ”    February      26      1809
John       ”     October    11    1810
Willoby   ”    April       10       1813
Mary      ”      March    3       181-

The Revolutionary War records of this office fail to afford any information in regard to Moses Sanders.

Very truly yours,
A.D. Hiller
Assistant to the Administrator

I’m sure there are other accounts from original Records which one may review in order to prove or disprove that Moses was a participant in the Revolutionary War. Hopefully this writing will inspire others to dig deeper into recorded accurate history and accurately disseminate the information.

Jim Sanders
September 2005

(Readers who wish to know more about Jim Sanders' research in the land records of Montgomery County may want to consult his booklet, The Sanders Families of Montgomery County, North Carolina, 1756-1810, available from the author.)

Additional comments added by Gary Sanders on Jim Sanders’ theory about the origin of the tradition that Moses served in the Revolutionary War:

I agree that the tradition that Moses fought at Cowpens may be based on several factors. Cowpens was a significant battle on the border of the two states and therefore easily comes to mind when considering Revolutionary War soldiers in either North Carolina or South Carolina and Moses was known to be involved in both states. There even may have been a Saunders who lived near Cowpens. He may not have owned any property, and he may have been moved from the area by the time of the Revolution, of course, but his previous residency could explain why the vicinity was sometimes called "Saunders Cowpens." Therefore, as the tradition grew and was embellished, it was an easy transition to having Moses fighting heroically for the Revolution in that battle.   It was not necessary for anyone to knowingly concoct a false story because small increments of embellishment over time were sufficient to fabricate a more grandiose version of events.

I can easily image Moses telling his children or grandchildren about how he was falsely accused of being disloyal during the Revolutionary War,[see previous article on Moses’ life and career] and after the story passed through several hands and generations, it could emerge as the story of Moses the valiant and stalwart soldier.

Recently, I asked for a Daughters of the American Revolution search of their records to see if anyone had used Moses' military service to qualify for membership in the DAR. No one has as of October 2005, but I received a recent e-mail from a Registrar of a DAR chapter in Georgia who requested that the DAR recognize Moses as a Revolutionary War patriot because of his signing of an Anson County petition in 1777 ( North Carolina Abstracts of Early Records, McBee, pp. 133-134,). Moses Sanders signed as No. 62 on a "Petition of inhabitants of Anson County: Because of PeeDee River dividing the county, it is very inconvenient to many of the inhabitants, they ask for a division of the county with the river as the dividing line...If you in your Wisdom should judge the division unnecessary then we pray that commission of disinterested persons be appointed to fix Court House in or near the center of the county, as conveniently as it may be. It is now stands in ten or twelve miles of South Carolina and is extremely inconvenient."

According to this official, "his signing of this petition, while not as satisfactory as fighting, [may be] sufficient to get my prospective DAR member into the NSDAR with Moses Sanders doing Patriotic Service rather than military service. Petition signers are assumed to have been loyal, having sworn an oath before signing. That is satisfactory as long as there is no evidence of subsequent disloyalty." The DAR, however,rejected this request (February 2006) on the grounds that there was not enough supporting evidence to confirm that the Moses Sanders who signed the petition was the same person as Moses Sanders who died in 1817 in Georgia.

For a long time, I was baffled by the supposed Downton, Wiltshire County, location of Moses’ birth. Dozens of family trees posted at RootsWeb make this claim, but no one seemed to have any evidence to present in support of this view, and I now think that the theory arose in this way: there appears to have been a John Sanders from Wiltshire, who had a son named Moses, born in 1622. This family immigrated to Massachusetts in the Puritan migration of the 1630s. I haven't done any research on this, of course, so I'm relying on what I found on the Web, but I believe this is the origin of the tradition that our Moses was from Downton. It seems likely that, several generations ago, a researcher tried to find the parents of the Reverend Moses Sanders and came across the Moses who was born in 1622. The fact that this family was in Massachusetts instead of Virginia did not deter the researcher any more than it deters many researchers today who think a John Sanders in one state must be the same person as a John Sanders in another state. Maybe the researcher assumed the 1622 date must be wrong and that the Moses in question must have lived a hundred years later. Maybe the researcher thought there must have been another Moses in that family who came over a hundred years later. Everyone else has just been copying the careless assumption of the first person who identified Moses Sanders of Georgia with the earlier Moses. Now, I may be wrong about how this theory arose, but I have never been able to find anyone who has a shred of evidence that the Reverend Moses Sanders was in any way related to Sanders from Downton or Wiltshire, England.

We do have, nevertheless, a few clues about the location of Moses' birth. Family tradition among the descendants of his brothers is that his father was from Virginia. We know that the Hamilton and Steed familes that married into the Sanders family of Montgomery County, North Carolina, were from Brunswick County, Virginia. Obadiah Hooper, who married Moses' daughter Sally, was from Lunenberg County, Virginia. Lunenberg County was created in 1746 from Brunswick County. In the 1740s, Lunenberg, Brunswick, Isle of Wight, and Nansemond Counties were on the border between Virginia and North Carolina. In Brunswick and nearby Surry and Isle of Wight Counties were numerous Bailey families, some of whom were descendants of Quakers who had arrived in the formative years of the colony. Maybe these were the Baileys of "the famous old family of Virginia" that Thomas Bailey Saunders mentioned in his nineteenth century letter. I do not have any definite proof that my Sanders came from this area of Virginia, but all indications point in that direction.

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WILLIAM AARON SAUNDERS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

According to the Thomas Bailey Saunders letter, described in the section on Jackson County Sanders, Thomas Bailey's ancestor William Aaron Saunders, brother of Moses and Isaac, was "killed in a fight with the Tories." According the Thomas J. Sanders Web site,Thomas Bailey Saunders III (1906-1974) corresponded with R.J.L. Backstrom of the International Heraldic Institute in Washington, D.C., and received the following reply on February 03, 1948: "Our delay in replying to your special delivery letter of the 27th has been due to our efforts to locate the ancestry of your William Aaron Saunders. We have carefully searched our files and those available at The Library of Congress, but without success. We have a William Saunders (Aaron not mentioned) in North Carolina: Ensign 6th North Carolina, 2d April, 1777; transferred to 1st North Carolina 1st June, 1778; Lieutenant, 6th February, 1779; Captain 8th February, 1779; transferred to 4th North Carolina, 6th February, 1782; retired 1st January, 1783. Evidently this Captain was not killed in battle, but he is the only Captain in Revolution from North Carolina, and believe him to be your man. We do not find any further record of him."

Family tradition is that the brother of Moses and Isaac was named William Aaron Saunders, but all the land records of Montgomery County refer to him only as Aaron. It seems a safe assumption that Aaron was the name by which he was usually known. If he did serve in the Revolutionary forces, there is no record of his service because the Captain William Saunders mentioned by R.J.L. Backstrom is a different person.

I recently ordered a copy of the military record of Captain William Saunders from the National Archives, and though the record does not provide much biographical information, it does provide sufficient facts to establish the identify of this William Saunders. This is my transcript of the record:

William Saunders Ensign (Lieutenant)
Appears as shown below on a list under the following heading: Agreeable to a general order of October last for the purpose of filling vacancies in the different regiments of Colonel Lamb and Lieutenant Colonel Lytle of the Sixth N Carolina Batt. in order to fill the vacancies in said regiment occasioned by the deaths of Captain Pike and Lieut. M Cann .Also the resignations of Lieutenants Demsey Moore, Solomon Walker and William Hancock do recommend to his Excellency the Commander in Chief as follows, viz Ensign William Saunders to be promoted to the rank of second Lieut. in room of Lieut. Green. Field officers have omitted Ensign Nixon whose commission is of prior date to Saunders he not having joined the regiment since his appointment of the 2nd of April, neither do they know such an officer but by the roster of the regiment. The commission to bear date from the time the vacancy offered. 26 October 1777 William Saunders, Ensn, Donohos Co, 6th North Carolina Regiment appears on a book copied from the rolls of the organization. Date of enlistment or appointment 2 April 1777 Lieutenant 8 Feb. 1779 Deranged 1 January 1783.

Jim Sanders provided me with information about Donoho's Company and it's officer, William Saunders, and I think there is now no doubt that the William Saunders who left the army in 1783 is a different person from William Aaron Saunders of Montgomery County. Thomas Donoho and William Saunders, who was born in 1759, signed a deed in a land transaction in 1797 in Caswell County. Further, on the military record I received from the Archives, there is a statement that William Saunders appears "as shown below in a account stated as follows: Major Robert Fenner agent for the North Carolina line to balance due the following named officers viz subsis. for 1782-1783 Lt. Wm Saunders 15.88 D. Account settled August 10, 1792." I assume this means William or his agent was paid that amount as a settlement in 1792.

In the book Early Settlers of Alabama, written in 1899 (p. 467), Elizabeth Blair Stubbs states that Captain William Saunders moved from Caswell County to Summer County, Tennessee, where he died in 1803. His sister, Keziah, was married to Major Thomas Donoho of Caswell County. Based on this information, there is no doubt that Captain William Saunders is not a brother of Moses and Isaac of Montgomery County. According to Mrs. Stubbs, Captain William Saunders was the father of Romulus Mitchell Saunders, who later became United States Minister to Spain.

According to Jim Sanders, there may be some doubt about the loyalty of the Saunders family of Montgomery County during the Revolution. Moses Sanders was accused of disloyalty in a court case described in more detail in the section of this Web page devoted to Moses' biography. Jim Sanders also has discovered that Francis, presumably the brother of Moses, is listed in 1778 and in 1779 in Rowan County as among those who did not take the oath of allegiance to the Revolutionary cause. As with many other areas of the Saunders family history, a great deal more research is needed before we can be certain about the military activities of the Sanders brothers during the Revolution.

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Sylvie Escat Saunders

"This is some family, you will see."
--Sylvie Saunders in a letter to Aunt Nancy, December 10, 1916

Sylvie Escat was born in New Orleans in 1883 and married George Allen Saunders, a grandson of Thomas Bailey Saunders, in 1903. After joining the family she became interested in her husband's genealogy, and she determingly pursued her research into the origins of her husband's Saunders family by writing letters to relatives thoughout the the country. Sylvie was able to accumulate a great deal of information on some branches of the descendants of the three brothers--Isaac, Aaron, and Moses--who lived in Anson County, North Carolina, at the time of the American Revolution. One relative, for example, had access to a Bible that had been passed down in the family of Nimrod Saunders (1780-after 1860), the son of Aaron, and the great grandfather of Sylvie's husband. Therefore, Sylvie's information was often rather detailed on the children of Nimrod his related families, but she was never able to find any information that traced the family back to the period before the brothers appeared in Anson County. Her lack of modern means of communication and research severely limited her ability to connect many branches of the family.

One of her letters was written to Phoebe Sanders Kingery (1842-1931) on June 28, 1918. Phoebe was the daughter of Joseph Sanders, Jr. (1793-1863) and Deborah Saunders (1803-1856). Deborah was a daughter of Jacob Saunders and a grandson of Isaac, the brother of Aaron and Moses. In this letter, Sylvie mentions several other Sanders, some of whom are obvious and other who are yet unidentified. For example, she mentions that she wrote a letter to Uncle Mash Sanders of Jackson County, Alabama. This is a reference to Alfred Head Mashburn Sanders (1837- 1919), a brother of my great grandfather Isaac Sanders (1818-after 1880). Mash stated on an affidavit in 1897 that he was virtually illiterate, and my guess is that any reply received by Sylvie must have been dictated by Mash to another family member. Another person mentioned in the letter was Nathaniel Powell Sanders, a great grandson of Deborah who married Joseph. She also mentions a Levi Sanders in the letter, and though I'm not sure, this may be a reference to Levi Lindsey Sanders(1837-1917), a first cousin of my grandfather. She also mentions Wade Saunders, the son of Elkanah Shuford Saunders, the nephew to whom Thomas Bailey Saunders wrote his letter about twenty years earlier. One of the interesting characteristics of Sylvie Escat's letters is that she uses punctuation at her whim and strings her sentences together so that her meaning is sometimes obscured.

Below is the text of the letter, sent to Alhambra, Illinois, where Phebe was living at the time. In the 1990s, a copy of the letter was sent to Don Schaefer, editor of Sanders Siftings, by Elva Hoge Dixon of Virginia, a granddaughter of Phebe Sanders King Kingery.

New Orleans, La.
6-28-1918

Dear Mrs. Kingery

I sure was glad to hear from you again. Now I will try to explain to you
But O dear my English is terrible. Now dear I think you are honest in
returning here is a letter from Mash Sanders nicknamed But I see he said
his name was Alfred Mash Head Sanders now you read it and see if you dont
think it your father people I hardly think I am mistaking Margret Bean is
still living at Eagles Mill N.C. now dear I never like others to read
letters sent to me But sure you are the dear women of our family Be sure
you return it it help me out when we get a mix up.

Nathaniel Powell Sanders I must tell him the record he sent me he had it
all mix up Now don't do like Uncle Mash misunderstand I mean nothing but
good Many times my English bad makes a person think different Now you don't
let me worry you to much Uncle Mash was born in N.C. and is 90 years I
sure have written some in Jackson Co, Ala All Levi Sanders family in sure
nice men

I sure wish you see all my little chickens I canned a little made a success
with my second batch of corn but the first batch did not self seal we have
a few fig trees. I put some Jellie and preserve up O my the trouble with
sugar O dear don't think I am recking we have a nice little place and it
keeps me going I want to send you some Rosa Montana a nice vine makes
pretty pink flowers it to late now But you will have the seed not this
letter Your brother John address is Hollis Okla But guess he is busy.
Thomas Bailey father was Nimrod he was kown in Montgomery Co, N.C. as
Honest rod, was so honest at his mill did you know of a Joseph called
smiling Joe I am sure all these were the same if not my four years hard
work is sure mix now this Joseph may have been Moses son but I hardly think
I am almost sure I am on the right track. Well I owe you Nimrod record I
think not this time Old E.S. is a fine old man writes the grandest letters
and if you care to write him You sure will receive a nice letter his
present post office is Keller, Ga. Grandma Jacob Saunders lived with him
her Nephew is the present Locky Simmons Senator I have a nice letter from
him through Wade Saunders E.S. son at Fayetteville N.C. the grandest letter
we ever read and several good writers said the same of his letters he, too
married twice I am expecting a letter from the Historical Dept W.D.C. soon
if good news I will quit this to much trouble when letters return well I
must close for this time Love to you all.

Sylvie Saunders
excuse this

Another of Sylvie's letters was sent to a descendant of Benjamin Davis and Mary Edmiston, who was a great granddaughter of Nimrod Saunders. Don Schaefer, editor of Sanders Siftings, sent me a photocopy of the original, which gives us an interesting comparison between the excellent penmanship of Sylvie and her rather confusing lack of punctuation:

letter of Sylvie Saunders to Davis family descendant, February 2, 1918

Some of Sylvie Saunders' letters can be found at the Sanders-Cook homepage, now available only through the Wayback Machine:

letter of Sylvie Saunders to John Duff Sanders, September 29, 1916

letter of Sylvie Saunders to Aunt Nancy, December 10, 1916

letter of Sylvie Saunders to Phebe Lottie Kingery, June 28, 1918
This is a PDF version of the letter transcribed above.

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MY OTHER FAMILY LINES

The absence of information about my other family lines on this Web page is due more to practical considerations than to lack of interest, for I remainly keenly interested in tracing my non-Sanders lines. For the most part, though, the Sanders line has been most in need of attention, and I have devoted the bulk of my research interests to it. Nevertheless, I welcome all exchanges of information regarding my non-Sanders lines. Over the past decade, my knowledge of my non-Sanders lines has been greatly increased through sharing of information with other researchers.

I know the names of all my ancestors through my great-great grandparents with two exceptions: the maiden name of my great-grandmother Elizabeth who married Isaac Sanders in Jackson County, Alabama, about 1838; and the given and maiden name of my great-great grandmother, who was the mother of Andrew Jackson Pickering of Covington County, Mississippi. Considering the lack of resources available, I'm not optimistic that I will ever solve these two genealogical mysteries.

On the other hand, all my ancestors, so far as I can tell, appear to have been in America before 1800, and therefore I don't have to deal with trying to trace ancestors who lived in another country. So far as I can tell all my ancestors came from Europe to the southern United States during the colonial period; I haven't found any ancestor who ever lived in the northern colonies. On my mother's side of the family, previous researchers have already done extensive work, and I have several lines where we can trace the family back to the immigrant ancestor in the 1600s (for example, Bush, Bomar,Guyton, Prestridge, and Deberry). Of course, as always in dealing with genealogical research, there are still many gaps in the record and there are errors that need to be corrected.

Here are a few of the many lines I am researching:

Burton. Jesse Burton, my great-great-great grandfather, was born about 1790 in Amelia County, Virginia. The Burtons were closely associated with the Bomar family of Virginia and Tennessee and the Bomars were associated with the Bush family. My earliest Burton ancestor was Thomas Burton of Cobbs plantation in Henrico County, Virginia. He was born about 1630 in either England or Virginia.

Pickering. John Pickering and Sarah Phoebe Hargrove of Covington County, Mississippi, are believed to be my third great grandparents. John Pickering is believed to be related to the Pickerings of South Carolina and Marengo County, Alabama. There seems to be some connection to the numerous individuals named Gabriel Pickering who lived in Jones County, North Carolina. I would be very interested in exchanging information with any descendant of these Pickering who is interested in DNA testing.

Prestridge. My great-great grandfather was Anderson Prestridge of Itawamba County, Mississippi. Surnames associated with this line are Ringer, Conwill, Campbell, and Walters. The Prestridge line goes back to Thomas Prestridge who was born in 1698 in Lancashire, England. He died in Stafford County, Virginia, about the same time my Sanders ancestors were buying land in the area.

Miller. My great-great grandfather was John Miller who died in 1890 in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana. Surnames associated with this line are Guyton and Warren. Pioneer movement was from South Carolina, to Alabama, to Itawamba County, Mississippi, to Claiborne Parish, Louisiana.

Davis. My great-grandmother was Elizabeth Davis, who was the daughter of John Davis (born 1783) and Susan Patterson of Oconee County, South Carolina.

Moses. My great-great grandfather was Joel Moses who was born in 1824 in Whitley County, Kentucky. He was a grandson of Joshua Moses who served in the Revolutionary War. Joshua is believed to be the son of John Moses of South Carolina. Surnames associated with this line are Deberry, Wilson, Dumas, and Richmond. The Deberry line goes back to Peter Deberry who died in 1679 in Surry County, Virginia.

Warren. My Warren line goes back to S. John Warren of Itawamba County, Mississippi. He was born in 1776 in Kentucky and when he died in 1863, it is said he was buried "a seten up." I have been unable to connect him to the other very numerous Warrens of Kentucky.

Guyton. My Guyton line goes back to the Virginian John Guyton who was born in 1697 in Norfolk, England.

Bush. My Bush line goes back to another Virginian, John Bush, who was born in Stockshire County, England in 1655.

Over the years, many people have shared with me the results of their research on these lines. It impossible to mention everyone, but Linda Stude on the Miller family; Bettie Burton on the Burtons; King Woolf, Melonie Zenner, and Sunny Pierce on the Pickerings; and Jan Dane on the Warren family are representative of helpful and generous researchers.

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OTHER SANDERS LINES

In my "burton-sanders" World Connect file, several Sanders lines from the Southern United States are included. In addition to my own lines which descends from Isaac Saunders of the four brothers group, I have some material on the following lines. The relationship of these lines to my Sanders line is not yet determined. There are also some individuals named Sanders in my file whose parentage has not yet been established by anyone, so far as I have been able to tell. In every case, I have included other Sanders lines or individudals in my file only because I have some reason to think there is a possibility of a connection between the lines and that further research is warranted.

John Sanders of Nansemond County, Virginia, fl. 1676
Edward Saunders, born 1625 in England, died in Northumberland County, Virginia, married Mary Elizabeth Webb
Joseph Sanders, born about 1723, married Mary Lamb, died in South Carolina
Thomas Sanders, died 1801, Edgecombe County, North Carolina, married Sarah Jordan
John Sanders, born about 1690 in Nansemond County, Virginia, married Priscilla Pritlow
Abraham Sanders, born about 1696 Nansemond County, Virginia, married Judith Pritlow
Richard Sanders, born about 1705 Nansemond County, Virginia, married Hannah Nicholson
John Sanders, died 1796 in Onslow County, North Carolina, married Rebecca Unknown
Simon T. Sanders, born 1797 Wake County, North Carolina, married Zenobia Meredith
James Sanders, born 1775, South Carolina, died about 1820, Madison County, Kentucky
Robert Sanders, born 1801 in North Carolina, died 1882, Izard County, Arkansas
James Sanders, born about 1745, possibly in Scotland, died in Montgomery County, N.C.
William Arthur Sanders, born about 1790 in Georgia
Daniel Sanders, born about 1751 in North Carolina
Robert Sanders, born in North Carolina about 1801, moved to Morgan County, Georgia

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WILL OF JOSEPH SANDERS, 1803

Joseph Sanders is the father of Rachel Sanders, wife of Francis (1782-about 1860). Francis appears to have beena son of Isaac Saunders, one of the four brothers of Randolph and Montgomery. The parentage of Joseph, father of Rachel, is uncertain. There was a particularly close relationship between the descendants of Joseph and the descendants of the four brothers that is difficult to explain. DNA tests indicate that Joseph belongs to a separate Sanders line; nevertheless we have the following points of connection between the two lines:

Joseph's son George married Phoebe, the daughter of Jacob Sanders. Jacob was a grandson of John Saunders.

Joseph's daughter Phoebe married Jesse, son of Jacob.

Joseph's son Joseph, Jr., married Deborah, the daughter of Jacob.

Joseph's daughter Mary married Benjamin Sanders. He appears to be the same Benjamin to whom Isaac, father of Jacob, deeded land in 1806. Benjamin, husband of Mary, is mentioned in the 1811 settlement of Joseph's estate.

Joseph's daughter Rachel married Francis Sanders. We don't have a really clear documentary indication for the father of Francis. Francis is also mentioned in the 1811 settlement. Because he and Benjamin married sisters, they appear to be brothers and it is most likely they are sons of Isaac.

That makes five of Joseph's children who may have married someone from the four brothers group.

Francis and Rachel, George and Phoebe, and Joseph and Deborah all moved to Jackson County Alabama.

Benjamin Sanders moved to Jackson County when he was a very elderly man in the 1830s, with his son Benjamin, Jr., who was born in 1804. Benjamin, Jr., had a son named Levi who moved to Texas, living about ten miles from my grandfather (the two were good friends as well as cousins).

Jacob's grandson, Jesse Elbert Sanders, son of the Sampson Sanders who witnessed Nimrod's deed to William Strider in 1836, also moved to Jackson County, Alabama. Jesse's brother, Brantley Sanders, married Sarah Sanders, who was the daughter of Benjamin Sanders, Jr.

For all these reasons, until the DNA tests were conducted, I assumed that Joseph who died in 1803 was the "Joe" of the Thomas Bailey Saunders letter, but the DNA test appear to show he is from a different line. I would be inclined to attribute this result to infidelity or adoption within the family tree except for the fact that the descendant of Joseph who did not match the four brothers line did in fact match other Sanders who resided in some of the same locations.

So--it's still a big mystery to me, and I assume to others who have researched this problem, why these two Sanders lines were so close if they were not related. The obvious explanation, if they were not genetically related, is that they were close because they were neighbors and lived within a few miles of each other in either Randolph County or just across the border in Montgomery County.

Joseph Sanders has been certified by the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution as having served as a Private in Walker's Company, Colonel James Hogan's 7th Regiment, North Carolina Continental Line. His descendants are eligible for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution. Joseph served in the Hillsboro district of Randolph county, the same district that appears as his residence at the time of the census of 1790.

Some recent information and/or DNA testing (based on the research of Jerry Sanders and R.S. Sanders) appears to suggest that Joseph Sanders may be related to William Saunders of Edgecombe and Chatham County, North Carolina. The DNA match is very close and the two men were of the same generation; they may even have been brothers. Some researchers have suggested that William may have been a son of James Sanders and Ann Holmes of Johnston County, but this appears unlikely. There is a long-standing family tradition among one branch of Joseph's descendants that he was an immigrant from Scotland, but it appears more likely his parents or grandparents were the original immigrants. Another possibility, if Joseph and William are indeed brothers, is that their father, whoever he may have been, was a non-Sanders who was adopted by a Sanders relative of one of the four brothers of Anson. If this scenario is correct, Joseph may have grown up regarding himself as a relative of Moses, Aaron, Isaac, and Francis, even though he did not share their DNA.

Here is a transcription of Joseph's will:

Randolph County Will Bk. 3, p. 29
November Term 1806

     I, Joseph Sanders, of the County of Randolph & State of North Carolina, being of sound & perfect mind &memory, calling to mind that is ordained that all men shall die, do make this my last will & testament in manner & form following: That is to say, my body to be decently buried in a Christian-like manner at the discretion of my Executors, hereafter named, and as to my worldly estate which it hath pleased God to bless me with, I give and bequeath in the following manner:
1st. It is my will and desire that all my just debts and funeral expenses be punctually paid.
2ndly. I lend unto my beloved wife Rebeccah Sanders all my moveable estate during her life or widowhood and in case she married again, I will and bequeath that all my moveable estate be equally divided between my said wife and daughters Rachel, Mary, Sarah, & Phebe, and that the division of said estate shall be made by three freeholders chosen by my Executor, hereafter named, & that the property of onesaid [?] be by then appraised equally divided between the said legatees with out any sale being made. I likewise will to my said wife the use of the plantation whereon I live during her life or widowhood.
3rdly. I will and bequeath to each of my sons, namely, John, George, and Joseph Sanders, an equal dividend of all my lands, to wit, two hundred & fifty acres each to be divided by lines running parallel with each other in such a manner as to give each of them as equal a proportion of the creek as possible. And it is my will that my son John , his heirs & assigns forever shall have & enjoy the middle division of the said land. And that my son George, his heirs & assigns forever, shall have possession & enjoy the uppermost division of said tract adjoining Abrham Haskett & that my son Joseph, his heirs and assigns, shall have, hold, & enjoy the lower division of the said lands, which will include my dwelling house, all which I give to him, his heirs and assigns forever, only reserve to his mother the right of living in the manner house & having her support & maintenance out of the improvements thereunto during her widowhood.
4thly. I will and desire that if there should be a necessity of putting out any of my children to trades or any other occasion that they should be put with some friend or friends of the Quaker Society to be raised up in that religion. I do further by these presents make, constitute, ordain & appoint my beloved wife Rebeccah Sanders Executrix and my sons John Sanders and George Sanders Executors of this my last will & testament and I do herby revoke, disannul & do away all & every other will & testament by me heretofore made. Ratifying & Confirming this & no other to be my last will & testament in witness whereof I have hereunto set my (hand) & affixed my seal this 18th day of March Anno Domini
1803                                                                   Joseph Sanders (seal)
signed, sealed, & acknowledged
in presence of Henry Cummings
                        Alexander Cray
November Term 1805
The foregoing last will & testament of Joseph Sander, dec’d, was duly proved in open court by Alex Gray & admitted to record.
Test J. Harper Clk

(I have not seen the original will. Several people have sent me this transcription, and I am not sure who did the original transcribing.This Joseph is my third great grandfather-GS)

Some researchers have suggested that Joseph Sanders was the son of a John Sanders who died in 1772 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia. John's will does show a son named Joseph, but no one has ever provided any evidence that that the Joseph of the will is the same person as Rachel's father who was in Montgomery and Randolph counties in North Carolina at the time of the American Revolution. A glance at a transcription of the will of John Sanders of Isle of With indicates that his son Joseph Sanders was scheduled to inherit a couple of hundred acres. It's unlikely Joseph left the colony to move to North Carolina shortly afterwards. Further, the Joseph of the 1772 will appears to have been over 21 years old at the time of his father's death, and he may well have been considerably older, in view of his father having been at least in his sixties when he made his will. In short, there is no documentation whatsover to suggest that the Joseph of the 1772 will in Virginia is the same invididual as Joseph who died in North Carolina in 1803.

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John Sanders of Nansemond, Bacon's Rebellion, and the 1681 land grant, how much do we know?

Since John Bennett Boddie in Volume VI of his Historical Southern Families, pages 237-239, advanced a tentative thesis about the identify of John Sanders, who received a land grant in 1681 along the border of Nansemond and Isle of Wight counties in Virginia, many Sanders researchers have taken Boddie's ambiguous conclusions and erected elaborate genealogies that are offered as products of sound and solid evidence. I am deeply skeptical of all such lineages. I can't find any firm evidence that my own Sanders family descends from John of Nansemond, and it's pretty hard to find any evidence that any other Southern Sanders family has adequate evidence to prove descent from him, with the exception of those Sanders who are descended from John's son Richard. Recent DNA tests appear to suggest that one of my ancestors, Joseph Sanders, may be related to a line that appears to descend from the Sanders of Nansemond, but as with the paper trail, there are so many variables that are unknown, we must hope that researchers will provide us with more solid evidence.

So, what do we know about John of Nansemond? First, we know there was a man named John Sanders who received a land grant from Virginia in 1681. It was a rather large grant for the time, about 1650 acres, and therefore John must have been a rather influential person to have received it. Further, we know, from later deeds that refer to the disposition of this property, that John had sons named John, Richard, and Wiliam. We know that he had a wife named Phoebe, and we may assume, though we can't be certain, that this Phoebe was the mother of the sons.

A 1744 deed suggests that John may have had more sons, but we don't know for certain. Since Francis was a common name among these Sanders and a Francis Sanders owned land near John, many have assumed that John had a son named Francis, in addiiton to the other three sons. We also know that Richard's heirs moved to North Carolina and it's possible to trace them in a pretty coherent manner down to the present. We know, furthermore, that John, Jr., married a Sarah Davis. I think it is likely, for reasons exlained elsewhere on this Web site (see John Sanders, A Notorious Actor) , that the descendants of John, Jr., are John Sanders who died in Chowan County in 1751 and Francis Sanders who died in 1783 in Gates County. I have been unable to trace that line after Francis of Gates died.

What do we know of John before he received the 1781 land grant? Nothing.

Of course, one can find statements all over the Internet that give us the life history of John, but all of these appear to be based on speculation and assumptions that any reference to a John Sanders living in the late seventeenth century in Nansemond, Isle of Wight, James City, or Surry County must refer to the same individual. Boddie proposed that the John of the 1681 land grand was the same person as the John Sanders who was punished for participating in Bacon's Rebellion of 1676. I tentatively accepted that conclusion in my article because it seemed logical that, if the colony gave John a large grant in 1681, he must have been influential previous to that. It makes sense that the land grant John Sanders is the same person as the Bacon's Rebellion John Sanders. But we don't have any proof that they are references to the same person. In fact, the brief record of the trial doesn't even say where in Virginia the rebellious John Sanders lived. He may not have lived in Nansemond or Isle of Wight at all.

Both John and Sanders are common names, especially in the American South. We have several records of a a person named John Sanders in the southern Virginia counties of Nansemond and Isle of Wight, but we have no way of knowing how many of them refer to the same person, and it's unlikely they all refer to just one person. Two John Sanders appear on the 1704 tax rolls of Nansemond, for example.

Boddie speculated that the John Sanders of the 1681 grant may have been the same John Sanders who is mentioned in a land patent of 1669 as being married to Susannah Ravenett. This John lived in Warwick and possibly, later, in neighboring Isle of Wight County. Boddie realized his proposal was just a suggestion, but others have taken it as accepted fact. We have no deeds, wills, or other records that connect John Sanders of the 1681 land grant to any other John Sanders mentioned in documents prior to 1681, and Boddie seems to have been unaware of the records that mention Phoebe as the wife of John Sanders of the 1681 land grant. Further, though we have a record that John of the 1681 land grant had children named John, Richard, and William, we have no record of any children born to the John who married Susannah Ravenett (unless, of course, he is the same person as the John of the 1681 land grant).

Boddie also suggested that William, the son of John Sanders of the 1681 land grant, may have been the same person as the William Sanders who married Mary Hall in 1682 in a Quaker ceremony. Like many others, I have accepted this as a tentative porposition, but we don't have any documents that confirm this belief. It's certainly within the realm of possibility that these two Williams are different people. Nor do we have any records that William Sanders and Mary Hall, who married in 1682, ever had any children whose names are known to us. If anyone has proof for the names of their children, it would be helpful if that person would share the documentation.

Compounding our problems in devising a biography of John of Nansemond is the fact that the records in Nansemond were burned on a least two occasions, and though Isle of Wight has somewhat better records, much of what we have is ambiguous. There is a great deal of room for honest differences of opinion. It's to the advantage of everyone who researches this problem to admit the uncertainly that pervades the genealogy of the Sanders of Nansemond. One researcher sent me his own elaborate interpretation of John Sanders, complete with his birth, life, marriages, and death. When I asked questions regarding how he knew that these references to a John Sanders in different counties all refer to the same person, his reply was that I was "in error," and so were John Bennett Boddie, Frances Cullom Harper, and everyone else when they disagreed with him. I think every Sanders researcher in the South would like to prove descent from John Sanders of Nansemond or from his even more illustrious contemporary, Edward Saunders, the surgeon of Northumberland County, Virginia, but proof has to be more than mere identity of names or dogmatic assertions of belief. (written February 2005).

Return to Index

The following material is an article I wrote that appeared in Sanders Siftings, Number 29, April 2002, pp. 1-4. Number 30, July 2002, pp. 1-4. For footnotes and supporting documentation, please see the original article.

I first became interested in the story of John Sanders of Nansemond because I wanted to see if there was any documentation for the claim that Francis Sanders, who died in 1783 in Gates County, North Carolina, was a descendant of John. The thesis of the following article is that there does appear to be evidence that Francis was descended from John, but not through the same individuals that previous researchers had suggested. Further, my research indicates that Francis Sanders who married Rachel Sanders in 1801 in Randolph County, North Carolina, is most likely not the same person as the young son named Francis mentioned in the will of Francis of Gates in 1783.

“A Notorious Actor”—John Sanders of Virginia—and His Descendants
by Gary Sanders

The Sanders family in America, writes Barbara Clark Smith, “started out among the ranks of the discontent.” John Sanders, the progenitor of the Nansemond County line, ran afoul of the Virginia authorities during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, and the following sentence was pronounced at his trial:

“John Sanders being a notorious actor in the late rebellion, and by the govfrnour's proclamation of pardon being exempted, butt upon his humble petition and submission to the governour, he was pleased to grant him the benefit of his proclamation of pardon; but for that the said Sanders hath been very active in the late rebellion, the court have thought fitt and doe order that he be fined two thousand pounds of tobacco and caske to the countrie, to go towards the satisfaction of the souldiers, to be paid next yeare.”

After the pardon and an apparent restoration of his standing with the government, he was granted, along with Richard Thomas and Jonathan Robinson, a tract of l650 acres of land near Queen Grave Swamp along the county borders of Nansemond and Isle of Wight. The children of John Sanders are not firmly established, but a 1744 land deed in Isle of Wight County clearly states that he had at least four sons. Another deed, filed long after John’s death, names Richard Sanders and William Sanders as two of the sons:

“VAIOW-DE2 p. 39, Robert Sanders of Onslow Precinct on the New River in New York (North Carolina?), to THOMAS SANDERS of Nansemond County, 300 acres in both Isle of Wight and Nansemond Counties adjoining Swamp, adjoining the late ROBERT SANDERS, son of THOMAS SANDERS SR, and the present THOMAS SANDERS (being part of 1600 acres of land of JONATHAN ROBBINSON, RICHARD THOMAS, and JOHN SANDERS patented on 23 Apr 1681. The said SANDERS will 200 acres of the land to his sons WILLIAM AND RICHARD SANDERS and the said WILLIAM granted part of the land to his brother RICHARD SANDERS, who are now party to this deed. At some time, PHOEBE CURLE, wife of WILLIAM CURLE, Gent. late of Nansemond County and formerly the wife of JOHN SANDERS first named, did grant to JOHN SANDERS, son of the aforesaid RICHARD SANDERS and brother of RICHARD SANDERS 100 acres being the other part of the land mentioned in the aforesaid patent) dated 30 Apr 1733, W: LAWRENCE WOLFERSTON, HENRY COPELAND, and DORCAS (X) COPELAND.”

In addition to the identity of two of the sons, this deed provides us with the name of John’s wife, Phoebe, and states that she later married William Curle. Though Phoebe’s maiden name is unknown, there is speculation it may have been Thomas. Phoebe was still living in 1706 because she transferred land in that year to one of her grandchildren. The noted genealogist John Bennett Boddie provides the identity of another son of John Sanders of Nansemond:

" John Sanders II, who patented land on Oct. 20, 1689, as before stated, definitely seems to be the son of John Sanders I, for his children inherited the Queen Grave land. On April 20, 1694, John Sanders and Robert Roberts of Nansemond patented 7 1/2 in right of their wives Sarah and Mary upon eastward side of King's Creek. (G.B. 8-380).
John Sanders' wife, Sarah, was a daughter of Major Thomas Davis, for in the patent granted to Richard and John Sanders on August 20, 1687, for 360 acres, it was stated that 300 acres were formerly granted Thomas Davis the 10th of August 1644, and for 50 for the transportation of one person (G.B. 8-p.10). (17thC, 447, 449) (c.P.156). A further connection with Thomas Davis will be mentioned later.
John Sanders II died between 1704 and 1712 when his son Robert was deeded some of the Queen Grave land. John Sanders may have died before Oct. 27, 1712, when his son Robert Sanders was deeded part of the Queen Grave land."

Boddie was somewhat hampered in his investigation of John Sanders of Nansemond because most of the Nansemond records were destroyed in fires and the fragmentary nature of the surviving evidence is exceedingly ambiguous. Boddie suggested that the John Sanders of the 1681 land grant may have been the same person as the John Sanders who was married to Susannah Ravenett and who owned land in Warwick County in 1669, but Boddie was probably unaware of the 1733 deed that names John’s wife as Phoebe. No one knows what happened to the descendants, if any, of the John Sanders who married Susannah Ravenett, and Boddie says only that he “died in Warwick or Nansemond where records were destroyed and his children are not definitely known.” It is certainly possible, though probably unlikely, that John Sanders of Waswick and John Sanders of Nansemond are the same individual and that he married Susannah first, then Phoebe, but this would mean that John Sanders II was probably a half brother to Richard and William. This scenario appears unlikely because of the disposition of the 1681 land grant after the death of John Sanders I.

Of the three known sons of John Sanders I of Nansemond, Richard’s descendants have the most extensive and reliable documentation in land and probate records of North Carolina. Boddie identified William, the son of John of Nansemond, with the William Sanders who married Mary Hall in a Quaker ceremony in Nansemond September 4, 1682. Boddie was probably right about this identification, but the names of the children of William and Mary are not revealed in any contemporary document, though it appears very possible that Abraham Sanders who built the Newbold-White house in Perquimans County, North Carolina and Joel Sanders who died in Georgia in 1782 were his descendants. Many of the Nansemond Sanders were Quakers. James Davis, the brother of Sarah Davis, wife of John Sanders II, married Margaret Jordan, and the Jordans were one of the most prominent Quaker families in the county. Though there is a wealth of genealogical material association with the other Sanders lines, this article deals mainly with the descendants of John Sanders II.

As previously mentioned, John Sanders II died by 1712 and his son Robert Sanders ended up with much of the Queen Grave land. Robert made a will in 1731 in Isle of Wight and because he died unmarried, he divided the estate among his brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. In the will, he refers to nieces and nephews as cousins, but “cousin,” of course, meant close kinsman in those days.

According to Boddie, the will establishes the following four children of John Sanders II and Sarah:

1. Francis, who had sons named Francis and John.
2. Thomas, who had died by 1731 but who had children named Thomas, Robert, Elizabeth, and Richard.
3. A daughter who married John Winborne with a granddaughter named Phoebe.
4. Robert Sanders.

One of the witnesses to the will of Robert Sanders was a John Thomas. Researcher Frances Cullom Harper remarked in an e-mail to me that Robert Sanders seemed to be particularly close to the Thomas family, and I have already noted that there is some speculation that Robert’s grandmother may have been a Thomas. John Sanders I acquired the original land grant in 1681 with Richard Thomas, who may have been a relative. Boddie mentions a John Thomas who deeded land in 1719 to Thomas Day in Isle of Wight County and then moved to North Carolina. The following deed suggests that the original land grant of 1681 was a family affair involving the Sanders and Thomas families rather than a business arrangement: "On October 12, 1712 Elizabeth Thomas of Isle of Wight sold to Robert Sanders of the U.P. of Nansemond for 1800 lbs. tbco. 137 acres given to said Elizabeth by will of her deceased father Richard Thomas, dated April 8, 1687, part of a dividend of 550 acres divided between her brothers and sisters, from a patent of 1650 acres granted to Jonathan Robinson, Richard Thomas and John Sanders April 3, 1681." The Thomas-Sanders relationship is important for establishing the connection between the Sanders of Nansemond and those of Chowan County, North Carolina.

Here is the excerpt that Boddie gives from the will of Robert Sanders:

“To cousin Robert Sanders, Son of Thomas Saunders, dec., [actually, Robert was his nephew, not his cousin, but I believe this usage was common then] the dwelling plantation where I live north side of Queen Grave Swamp and for want of heirs to cousin Francis Saunders, son of Francis Saunders; to cousin Eliz. Saunders, dau. of Thomas Sanders decd. rem. of land, if she died, to her brother Thomas Saunders; to cousin Richard Saunders, ton of Thomas Saunders, 170 acres adj. where I live, if he died without heirs to John Saunders, son to Francis Saunders; to cousin Thomas Saunders son to Thomas Saunders 208 acres. To cousin Francis Saunders, oval table; to cousin Robert Saunders, son of Thomas Saunders, decd., all rem. est John Winborn and Robert Saunders exrs. (signed, Sanders ) POro.27 Dec 1731 Richard Thomas, Jno. Thomas, Lawn Wolferston. (W. &D. -431”

From Roberts Sanders’ will and Boddie’s research we know that the Sanders family and in particular the descendants of John Sanders II and Sarah Davis were close to the Thomas family. We know that that John Sanders II and Sarah Davis had a son named Francis and that Francis had sons named Francis and John. We know that a John Thomas was one of the witnesses and Boddie provides the information that a John Thomas who lived in the first decades of the 18th century moved from Isle of Wight to North Carolina.

Some researchers have suggested that Francis, the son of John Sanders II, had a middle name of Abraham and that he was the same person as the Abraham Sanders who died in 1751 in Perquimans County, North Carolina, but the 1731 will mentions only the given name of Francis, and the Abraham Sanders who lived in Perquimans was already in the county by 1716 because he was married in a Quaker ceremony in that year. The Francis of the will may be the Francis Sanders who was listed in the Virginia Quit Rent Rolls of 1704 for Isle of Wight. If this is Francis, the son of John II, then he must have been at least 21 at that time. On the other hand, the Francis listed on the rent rolls of 1704 could have been the same person as the Francis Sanders who is listed as owning land in 1665, but the Francis of the 1665 land record is more likely either another son or a brother of John Sanders I. The year 1676 has been given by several researchers as the year of birth of Francis, son of John II, but I am not sure how they arrived at that figure. If this date is true, Francis would have been in his early fifties by the time of Robert Sanders’ will.

The will was written in 1731 in Isle of Wight. The Sanders properties were on the border of Nansemond and Isle of Wight, and some of the land was close to the border line with North Carolina which was not settled until 1729, therefore some members of the family were probably living in North Carolina at the time the border was settled, though the land was originally deeded in Virginia.

If we look at Chowan County, North Carolina in the 1730s, we see two Sanders brothers named John and Francis engaging in land transactions. Though these land transactions were in Chowan County, the land described is in modern day Gates County, near the Virginia Border and close to the Great Dismal Swamp where John Sanders I held his land patents. We know the two were brothers because a Mary Stringer states in her 1744 Chowan will that John and Francis Sanders are her sons. I think this Mary Stringer was probably the widow of Francis Sanders, Sr., married after Francis’ death to a Mr. Stringer. One of the land transactions was witnessed by a John Thomas. It is a reasonable assumption that this is the same individual as the John Thomas who witnessed the 1731 will of Robert Sanders of Isle of Wight in which a bequest was made to the two brothers, John and Francis Sanders. Here are examples of the Chowan documents referring to the Sanders brothers in the 1730s and 1740s:

John Sanders to William Little on 20 Jan 1730--on Occaneche Neck betwixt William Boon and James Gee, on East side of Roanoke River, surveyed to Barnabe Mackinne. Wit: Robert Forster, J. Pratt, Thomas Bryant. (This area was apparently very near the Virginia border according to Frances Harper in an e-maill).
Richard Taylor witnessed with Jno Thomas and Francis (F) Sanders in Feb 1738 when Martha Jones and her son Thomas Tickett sold to Jno Sanders of Chowan, 100 Acres on Cypress Swamp 13 Feb 1738, Chowan County. "This Indenture Between Martha Joanes & Ths Tickett her son both of bartie pct & Jno Sanders of Chowan pct for (140) pounds current provine (sic) bill money of NoCarolina Soald Land in Chowan whereupon one Robt Hooks lately lived all the Land lying between the lines Minshaw & Jno Hooks Beginning at a markd read oak standing in the Cyprus Swamp being a corner tree of Jno Hooks land corner Pine of Jno Minshows more or lefs (100) Acres Martha (M mark) Joanes (Seal) Thos (+mark) Tickett." Wit: Jno Thomas, Francs (F mark) Sanders, Richd Taylor. Proved 15 July 1739. Wm Smith CJ.

Mary Stringer Chowan County 27 Apr 1744 10 May 1748 Will Sons: John and Francis Sanders (Executors). Daughters: Mary Dawson, Martha Sumner. Granddaughters: Frusan Morris, Elizabeth Cotting and Mary Gardner. Witnesses: Edward Hare, Henry Clayton, Edward Hare, Jr. Proven before Gab. Johnston.

The two brothers, John and Francis Sanders, were witnesses to the will of Francis Speight of Chowan: Francis Speight , Chowan County 16 Oct 1749 - Jan 1749. Will Sons: Moses (plantation at Contenteny and four negroes), John and Joseph (land on wolfpit valley). Brother: William Speight. Wife and Executrix: Kathern. Witnesses: John Sanders, Francis Sanders, Daniel Carch. Clerk of the Court: Will. Mearns.

Francis Speight of Chuckatuck Parish in Nansemond County, Va. was named as an heir in the 1729 will of James Howard. John Sanders and Francis Sanders were probably relatives of Francis Speight, who may have been a Sanders descendant. The descendants of Richard Sanders, one of the sons of John Sanders I, seem to have been particularly close to the Howard family.

Francis Sanders of Chowan County, North Carolina is listed as one of the King’s Company in 1754: A List of Men Commanded by Capt. Charles King taken Nov 23rd 1754. Abstracted from the Original at the North Carolina Archives by Joel S. Russell. This record can be found on the Web at http://www.mindspring.com/~jsruss/colonial/King1754.htm. Since Francis and John Sanders are apparently adults at the time of the 1731 will of Robert Sanders and are mentioned in Chowan land deeds in the 1730s, it is likely that they were born before 1710 or even before 1700. John Sanders was the first of the two brothers to die, and he made his will in Chowan in 1751. His will was witnessed by John Loe (or Lowe), Jr., and Sr., and by Jacob Routh. The Loes and the Rouths were Quaker families from Chester County, Pennsylvania (per e-mail from Sherry Stancliff). The Loes and Rouths appear on the 1779 tax roll of Randolph County, North Carolina. If the Loes were old family friends, it is possible they persuaded the Sanders family to follow them to Randolph County because many Sanders families were living in the Randolph County area by 1800. Nothing in the will indicates, however, that John Sanders himself was a Quaker. I was recently able to obtain a photocopy of the will from the North Carolina Archives and here is a transcription:

Will of John Sanders of Chowan County, August 18, 1751
In the name of God, amen. August, the 18th day, 1751. I, John Sanders, of Chowan County in the province of North Carolina being at this time sick and weak of body but thanks be to Almighty God of a sound and perfect sense and memory calling to mind the uncertainty of this transitory life and that all life must submit to death when pleases God to call. I therefore think meet to make this my last will and testament in manner and form following.

First and principally, I give and bequeath my love into the hands of Almighty God, hoping in through the precious death and passion of my blessed living Jesus Christ to have full and free pardon of all my sins and to inherit everlasting life in the world to come; and my body to be entombed, buried at the directions of my executors hereafter named, and as touching all such worldly estate it hath pleased Almighty God to bestow upon and give and dispose thereof in manner and form following: first my will is that all my just debts and --- charges be paid and discharged.

Item I give and bequeath to my son Francis Sanders the plantation whereon I now live and land belonging to it only that his mother to have privilege her life in what form has occasion and also the plantation that my brother Francis Sanders lives on and all the land belonging to it and also a piece of land I have in the fork of the swamp called the Cypress Swamp. I give the land, plantations, and land ---- to my son Francis Sanders to him and his heirs forever only excepting his mother's privilege during her natural life.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son John Sanders a plantation I have on the Cypress Swamp that Thomas Ritter [or Rutter-GS] now lives on and all the land belonging to it. I say [lay? -GS] I give to my son John, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Francis Sanders my Negro man named Sam, to him and his heirs forever and also I give to my son Francis Sanders a Negro girl called Mother, only I give the work of the said wench to my loving wife Mary Sanders during her natural life or widowhood and then to my son Francis Sanders, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son John Sanders a Negro girl called Gode (?), to my son John Sanders, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Robert Sanders my Negro wench called Cato (?). I say I give to my son Robert Sanders, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Jesse my Negro man called Tom and a Negro woman named Lone (?) I say I give to my son Jesse Sanders, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give to my daughter Martha a Negro boy called Mingo, to my Martha Sanders, to her and her heirs forever.

Item. I give to my son Thomas Sanders a Negro girl called Libb. I say to my son Thomas Sanders, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give to my son Francis Sanders all the pewter that belongs to my brother Francis Sanders and also seventeen head of cattle and two feather beds and two good (?) hats and two chests and oval table and also my riding hood (habit?), bridle, and saddle to my son Francis Sanders, to him and his heirs forever.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Francis Sanders and my son John Sanders my whipsaw. I say to my two sons Francis and John for both their use.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son John Sanders a chest with a drawing on it and oval table and also six cows and (illegible phrase). And also the first colt that my bay mare shall bring and also a good pot of six gallons.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son Thomas Sanders thirty pounds in gold and silver coin.

Item. I give to my son Robert Sanders thirty pounds in gold and silver coin.

Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Mille Sanders five pounds in gold and silver coin.

Item. I give to my daughter Feribe Sanders five pounds in gold and silver coin.

Item. I give and bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth Sanders a feather bed and furniture belonging to it that she lies upon and also 9 head of cattle.

Item. I give and bequeath to my son John Sanders a feather bed and furniture.

Item. I give to my son Robert Sanders a gold (?) pot of seven gallons.

Item. I give to my son Jesse a gold (good?) pot of five gallons.

Item. I give to my son Thomas Sanders a gold (?) pot of five gallons.

Item. I lend the use of all the remainder part of my --- good chattels and all others of whatsoever, of whatsoever --- and kind it be, to my loving wife, Mary Sanders during her natural life or widowhood and then to be divided among five of my children, Robert Sanders, Thomas Sanders, Jesse Sanders, Mille Sanders, Feribe Sanders.
And lastly, I nominate and appoint my loving wife Mary Sanders and my son Francis Sanders to be solo and sole (?) executors of this my last will and testament --- revoking all other will or wills that hath been made by me heretofore. In testimony whereof, I the said John Sanders have hereunto set my hand and ---- my ---- the day and year --- above written.

Signed, sealed, ---, and pronounced by the said John Sanders as his last will and testament in the presence of -------.
John Sanders,
His mark
John Lowe
His mark
John Lowe, Jr.
His mark
Jacob Ruth (Ricks?Routh?)
His mark

October Chowan County Court 1751 (1759?)
Then was the within will proved in open court by the oath of John Lowe, Sr. And John Lowe, Jr. Two of the ---evidences thereto in the form of law and at the personally ---Mary Sanders, executrix, and Francis Sanders, Executor, to the will and was duly qualified by taking the oath of law appointed to be taken by executors and read that thereon. --- --- Secretary of said Province --- --- that letters testamentary issue thereon as the law provides (pertains?).

This will provides us with quite a bit of information about John’s family and possessions. He appears to have been an unusually wealthy man, owning many slaves and at least four separate plantations or parcels of land. Though his brother Francis is mentioned as living on a plantation that John owned, apparently Francis lived there only on John’s generosity, not through any right of his own, because John gave the plantation and “all the pewter that belongs to my brother Francis Sanders” to John’s own son, also named Francis. Mention is also made of a plantation on Cypress Swamp “where Thomas Rutter lives,” which was to go to John, another son. Further, we learn from the will that John’s son Francis was old enough to be co-executor of the will with his mother, thereby establishing that the younger Francis must have been born before 1730. It seems likely that Francis was the eldest son since he got three parcels of land: the plantation where his father lived, the plantation where his uncle lived, and another parcel in the fork of the Cypress Swamp. It is possible that many of the other children and especially the daughters were still underage since none of the daughters appear to have been married at the time of the will.

Almost nothing is known about what happened to other members of the family after their father died, but John’s son Francis lived until 1783 when he made his will in Gates County. Though the county where the will was proved is different, the will describes the same land and family. Gates was created in 1779 from parts of Chowan, Hertford, and Perquimans counties. Here is a transcription:

Will of Francis Saunders of Gates County, August 6, 1783
Gates County, Original Wills, 11763-1904
CR 041.801.10

In the name of God, Amen. I, Francis Saunders, of Gates County in the State of North Carolina, being sick and weak of body but of sound and perfect mind and memory, blessed by God for the same and calling to mind the vast uncertainty of this mortal life do make and ordain this to be my last will and testament. I give and recommend my soul into the hand of God that gave it and my body I commit unto the earth to be buried in a Christian-like manner and form, and for what worldly goods it has pleased God to bestow upon me, I give and bequeath the same as in manner and form following, viz:

Item. I give unto my wife Charity Saunders one Negro called Ned, to her and her heirs and assigns forever.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my daughter Mary Parker one Negro girl named Doll and one feather bed. And furniture and two pewter dishes and nine pewter plates and three head of cattle, all which she now has already got in her possession. I lay [leave? say? -GS] to her and her heirs forever

Item. I give and bequeath unto my daughter Zilpha Knox one Negro boy named Sam, and one Negro girl named Poll; and one feather bed and furniture, and one cow and calf, one pewter dish and two pewter plates. I say to her, her heirs and assigns forever.

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Abraham Saunders one Negro man named Luke and the plantation on the south side of the Cypress Swamp whereon Thomas Ritter formerly lived, only reserving the use of it unto my wife Charity Saunders during her natural life; and two cows and calves. I say to him, my son Abraham Saunders, his heirs and assigns forever

Item. I give and bequeath unto my son Francis Saunders one oval table and one desk to him and his heirs.

Item. I lend unto my wife Charity Saunders all the land and plantation whereon I now live and one Negro woman named --- and one Negro girl named Esther until my son Francis Saunders comes to the age of twenty one years, and then I give all the land and plantation whereon I now live and the said Negro woman named --- and the said Negro girl named Esther I say unto my son Francis Saunders, his heirs and assigns forever.

Item. I give unto my daughter Jemima Saunders the first living child which the above mentioned ---, which I have lent unto my wife, doth bear after the date of this will; and one cow and calf, and one ewe and lamb.

Item. I lend unto my wife Charity Saunders the land and plantation whereon my uncle Francis Saunders formerly lived, now mine, and it joins to the white oak ---, and one Negro man named Ben until my son William Saunders comes to the age of twenty one years. And then I give the said land and plantation whereon my uncle Francis Saunders formerly lived joining the white oak --- and the said Negro man named Ben. Also one whip --- and all my cooper's tools I lay to my son William Saunders, to his heirs and assigns forever.

Item. I lend unto my wife Charity Saunders one Negro boy named Andrew until my daughter Anne Saunders comes to the age of 18 years, then I give the said Negro boy Andrew unto my said daughter Anne Saunders and one small --- table. I say to her heirs and assigns forever.

Item. I lend unto my wife Charity Saunders the remainder part of my estate, be it of what kind or nature soever, for and during the time of her natural life in widowhood and after her decease or marriage, which shall first happen, then all the said remainder to be equally divided among my seven children Mary Parker, Zilpha Knox, Jemima Saunders, Abraham Saunders, William Saunders, Francis Saunders, and Ann Saunders

And, lastly, I constitute, nominate, and appoint my wife Charity Saunders and my son in law John Parker executors of this my last will and testament. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and fixed my seal this sixth day of august in the year or our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three. Signed, sealed, embellished, pronounced and declared by the said Francis Saunders to be his last will and testament in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

Francis Saunders
His mark

William Odom
Uriah Odom
Kedam (?) Parker

State of North Carolina, Gates County, May Inferior Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions 1785. The within will was exhibited into court by Charity Saunders, Executrix, and John Parker, Executor, therein appointed, and was proved by the oath of William Odom and Uriah Odom, two of the subscribing witnesses thereto. Then the said will was ordered to be recorded at the same time the said Executrix and Executor came into court and qualified themselves for that office and prayed an order for letters testamentary thereon which was accordingly granted. And is recorded in Book A, Folio 51.52G53.

The 1783 will allows us to speculate on some events in this family between 1751 and 1783. Thomas Rutter, who lived on the plantation on Cypress Swamp in 1751, no longer lives there in 1783, but he must have lived on the land for a long time because over thirty years after his father’s will, Francis still refers to the parcel as “the land where Thomas Rutter lived.” Francis now owns the Rutter land, so we may assume that his brother John, who was given the land in the 1751 will, either died or sold the land. Francis mentions the land where his uncle Francis lived, but since he uses the past tense, it is probably a safe assumption that the uncle died between 1751 and 1783.

In the will, Francis reveals that two of his daughters are married. Mary is married to John Parker and Zilpha is the wife of a man named Knox, but the age of the two unmarried daughters, Ann and Jemima, is not apparent. One son, Abraham, is definitely old enough to inherit, but Francis and William are obviously under twenty-one. Many researchers have identified the son Francis of the 1783 will with the Francis Sanders who married Rachel Sanders in 1801 in Randolph County, North Carolina, but census data casts some doubt on this assumption, though it is still a possibility. The problem is that it is relatively certain that Francis of Randolph County was born in 1782, and the young Francis of the 1783 will may have been born several years earlier.

Charity Sanders (or Saunders) appears on the 1786 North Carolina State census for Gates County. She is listed as head of a household with one male between the ages of 21 and 60, two males either under 21 or above 60, two white females of all ages, and seven black persons. Francis and William are probably the two white males. If so, they could not have been born before 1765. Charity also appears on the 1790 federal census for Gates County with a greatly reduced household: two males over 16, 2 white females, and 4 blacks. If the two white males are William and Francis, they could not have been born after 1774. Further, on June 1, 1795 a Francis Saunders married Ann Vann (Bondsman: John Vann, Witness: Law Baker) in Gates County. The most obvious interpretation is that the young Francis of the 1783 will was born between 1765 and 1774 and that he is the person who married Ann Vann in 1795. I have not been able to find anyone who is researching the descendants, if any, of the Francis Sanders who married Ann Vann, but there are many investigating the descendants of the Francis who married Rachel. Hopefully, further research will help resolve many of these unanswered issues with the line of John of Nansemond.

Return to Index

Will of John Sanders of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1772

This John Sanders (1711-1772) was the son of Henry Sanders (about 1664-1733) and Margaret Sellaway (about 1677-after 1711). His relationship, if any, to any other Sanders line is somewhat problematic, though Margaret Clark Smith in her book Before the Revolution regarded Henry as a relative of John Sanders( about 1625-before 1706) of Bacon's Rebellion fame (for details see my article on John).

The Joseph Sanders mentioned as a son in this will is sometimes said to have been the same person as Joseph Sanders who died in 1803 in Randolph County, North Carolina. So far as I can tell, no one has ever presented any evidence in support of this theory. The fact that both men were named Joseph Sanders is rather unpersuasive documentation for their being the same person.-Gary Sanders

Isle of Wight Will Bk 8 p. 136

John Saunders. Son Thomas. son Joseph. Son Jacob. Son Henry. Son John. Dau Sarah Dunston. Extrs wife Elizabeth & sons John Sanders (note spelling change). D 2/3/1772.
R 5/7/1772. Wit Jethro Gale, Robert Sanders, Ann Sanders.

The last name is spelled Sanders instead of Saunders throughout the will. For the most part, the writing is rather clear and legible. For words whose transliteration is doubtful, I used a question mark within parentheses, and where there are words I couldn’t decipher at all, I used a series of dashes followed by a question mark in parentheses--Gary Sanders

In the name of God, Amen, I, John Sanders of Isle of Wight County and parish of Newport in the twelfth of his majesty’s reign and in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy two, being weak in body but, thanks be to God, of sound sense and perfect memory, do make this my last will and testament in manner and form as followeth—

Item
I give and bequeath unto my son Thomas Sanders one hundred and twenty-five acres of land, more or less, bounded as followeth, beginning at the foot of the Dam Branch, so up the said branch to the ridge path, up the said path to a Tarhill (?) bed that Robert burnt (?), from thence a straight line to my head line, so continuing all the land between there and the line called John Sellaway’s, so down to the first station—during his natural life and after his death, my will and desire is that the said land should return to my son Joseph Sanders

Item
I give and bequeath unto my son Jacob Sanders a parcel of land, to him and his heirs forever, beginning at the foot of the Dam branch, and running up the said branch as Thomas Sanders’ line goes to the head line, and so along my line to a crooked pine, a corner tree joining on Godwin’s line, and so along Godwin’s line to the run of the Swamp and down the said Swamp as the run goes to the foot of the home branch and up the said branch to the first station, concluding all the land that contains within the said bounds, being the plantation whereon I now live.

Item
I give and bequeath unto my son Joseph Sanders all my new patented land that is called Alens (?), to him and his heirs forever, being one hundred acres more or less.

Item
I give and bequeath unto my son Henry Sanders and his heirs forever a parcel of land lying on the south side of Swamp, beginning at the forked branch and running up the said branch to the head, that is to say the middle prong of it, and from thence a straight course to Godwin’s corner, and so concluding all my land between thence and Richard Sellaway’s old plantation he last lived on.

Item
I give and bequeath unto my son John Sanders and his heirs forever all the remainder of my land which I have not already given, lying on the south side of the Swamp between Henry Sanders and the land called Godwin’s.

Item
I give and bequeath unto my daughter Sarah Dunston a gold ring.

Item
I give and bequeath unto my son John Sanders one feather bed and furniture and my hunting gun.

Item
I give and bequeath to my son Joseph Sanders one feather bed and furniture and one gun called his own.

Item
I give and bequeath unto my son Jacob one feather bed and furniture and one pair of hard mill stones.

Item
I give and bequeath unto my loving wife Elizabeth Sanders one feather and furniture, her choice of two iron pots, one brass kettle, three pewter dishes, the best six pewter plates, one spinning wheel and two pairs of cards, two mares and two saddles, and all my hogs, called the ridge hogs, that is nine pigs and two sows, three cattle known by the name of the Old Red Cow and the Bell Cow, and the heifer that belongs to the Bell Cow, four head of sheep of her choice, one seal skin trunk, three pewter basins, and all my corn that is in the crib and my bacon and other meat that is salted up, six flag chairs, the best I have, also I give my wife one small mottle-faced steer, one meat heifer, also I give her one large table and gilt trunk, and after my wife is deceased my will and desire is that my son Joseph Sanders should have the table and trunk and one box iron and heat iron, one large looking glass, thirteen geese, and my jungle fowls, and all my hoes and axes.

Item
I give unt

Sweet Afton	Like music while your browse? Five traditional Scottish tunes from the Barry Taylor songbook.	Bonnie Doon
Four Marys	Ye Jacobites By Name	Tramps & Hawkers

Wm Aaron Saunders, 1735	Isaac Saunders, 1737	Moses Sanders, 1742	Tabitha Sanders, 1750	Francis Sanders, 1755
1. Stephen, 1770	1. Jacob, 1760	1. Aaron, 1769		1. Peter, 1780
2. Luke, 1772	2. Mary Katherine, 1764	2. Moses, 1771		2. Silas, 1785
3. Sallie, 1775	3. Benjamin, 1766	3. Sarah, 1773		3. Moses, 1795
4. Nimrod, 1780	4. Jesse, 1773	4. David, 1775		4. Francis, 1797
	5. Francis, 1782	5. Nancy, 1778
		6. Amos, 1781
		7. John, 1787

Rachel, 1779 spouse: Francis Sanders (son of Isaac Saunders)	Mary, 1782 spouse: Benjamin Sanders (son of Isaac Saunders)	George, 1784 spouse: Phebe Sanders (daughter of Jacob Saunders, son of Isaac)	John, 1785 spouse: unknown	Sarah, 1787 spouse: Peter Wall Rich	Phoebe, 1789 spouse: Jesse Sanders (son of Jacob Saunders, son of Isaac)	Joseph, 1793 spouse: Martha Saunders (probably a cousin but relationship unknown) Joseph's 2nd wife was Deborah Saunders, daughter of Jacob, son of Isaac)
Elijah, 1804	Benjamin 1804	Rebecca 1807		David 1809	Joseph 1807	William 1815
John Francis 1805	Rebecca 1806	Joseph 1808		Joseph 1811	Sarah 1809	Nancy 1818
Elisha 1814	Sarah 1808	Mary 1810		Martha 1815	Jacob 1813	Elizabeth 1821
Frances 1816	George 1812	J. Peter 1811		John 1817	George 1816	Benjamin 1823
Wm. Patrick 1819	Pheobe 1815	Benjamin 1813		Rebecca 1820	Rebecca 1820	Rachel 1825
Mary Jane 1923	Isaac 1818	Margaret 1815		George 1822	Mary 1821	George 1826
	John 1822	Sarah 1821		Moses 1823	Jesse 1824	Ailsey 1829
	Alfred 1827	Deborah 1823		Mary 1825		Martha 1830
		Anna 1825		Jesse 1827		Mary 1833
		Phebe 1827		Elias 1829		Joseph 1834
		Martha 1830		Isaac 1830		Henry (by 2nd wife) 1840
						Phoebe (by 2nd wife) 1842
						John (by 2nd wife) 1845

Household:	Number of male children recorded on the census:
	Age: 0-5	Age:5-10	Age:10-15	Age:15-20	Age:20-30
1830-Francis		1 (John)	1 (Isaac)	1
1840-Francis					3
	Number of female children recorded on the census:
1830-Francis		1		1 (Phoebe)
1840-Francis
	Number of male children recorded on the census:
1830-Benjamin	2 (Mash)	1 (John)	1 (Isaac)	1
1840-Benjamin			3 (Mash)	2 (John)
	Number of female children recorded on the census:
1830-Benjamin		1		1 (Phoebe)
1840-Benjamin					1

Benjamin Saunders family in 1800 and 1810
	0-10	10-15	16-25	26-44	26-44
1800 Montgomery	Female#1 1791 Female#2 1793 Female#3 1795 Female#4 1797 Female#5 1799	William 1789		Ben 1766-1770	Wife1, born before 1774
1810 Randolph	Ben,Jr. 1804 Rebecca 1806 Female#7 1808 Female#8 1810	Female#4 1797 Female#5 1799	William 1789	Ben 1776-1770	Wife 2 Mary 1782

Francis Sanders Family in 1810 and 1820
	0-10	10-16	16-18	26-45
1810 Randolph	Female#1 1802 Elijah 1804 John Francis 1805 Male#1 1808 Female#2 1809			Francis 1782 Rachel 1779
1820 Rowan	Male#2 1811 Elisha 1814 Frances 1815 William Patrick 1819	John Francis 1805 Male#1 1808	Elijah 1804	Francis 1782 Rachel 1779

Francis Sanders family in 1830 and 1840
	5-10	10-15	15-20	20-30	40-50	60-70
1830 Jackson	Male#3 1820 MaryJane 1823	William Pat 1819	Elisha 1814 Frances 1815		Francis 1782	Rachel 1779
1840 Jackson				William Pat 1819 Male #3 1820 Male 1815