SANDERS OF
RANDOLPH
AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES, NORTH CAROLINA,
|
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. We know from land and other records that before and during the American Revolution these brothers were living in the part of central North Carolina that is now the counties of Randolph and Montgomery. We also know that they moved to that area from the Brunswick/Halifax and even earlier from the Fairfax/Loudoun areas of Virginia.
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.
Our Sanders are depicted in the differing family traditions of our lines as of Irish, Scottish, or English origin, but 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 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. I call this line of the four brothers or any line descended from Lewis, the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery.
I am also descended from Joseph Sanders who died in Randolph County, North Carolina, in 1803. Y-DNA tests of his descendants show that he was not related to the four brothers but was related to William Sanders (died 1790) of Chatham County, North Carolina. I call this line the Sanders of Randolph and Chatham and several articles at this site have documentation about this Sanders group.The two groups, especially those individuals who lived within Randolph County itself, intermarried extensively.
The Sanders genealogy articles at this site supplement my FamilySearch.org and Rootsweb GEDCOM files, which are based either on my own research or research of others that I believe to be reliable. Documentation and sources for the GEDCOM are contained in the articles at this site or in the notes field in the GEDCOM. Many of the notes in the GEDCOM contain private correspondence with other individuals and for this reason, I have not made the notes public on the Internet, but I will share my documentation for an individual in the file upon request. In the GEDCOM, you may occasionally see a note that states "parentage not certain." This note always refers to the parents of the designated individual, not to the children of the individual. I use that note when I am uncertain about evidence for the names of the individual's parents.
The majority of the articles here were written by me; those that were written by others are labeled as such and are used here with the permission of the authors, who have been of much assistance to me over the years. This Web site would not be possible without their helpful contributions. Because the GEDCOM was developed over many years and in some cases before I was aware of the scope of my Sanders lines, it may also contain material about Sanders who are not related to me. I am not actively researching those non-related lines but retain them in my GEDCOM for informational purposes. Likewise, some of the articles at this site may also contain material about Sanders that are not related to me. In most of those cases, I felt compelled to do research because other researchers were claiming a relationship that I did not believe was justified by the evidence. Any article here that deals with a non-related Sanders is clearly labeled as such.
It is always well to remember that, although the lineages presented in these articles 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. For comments, questions, or suggestions please contact me at my e-mail address. I hope you find the information provided here interesting and helpful, and I welcome any additional information, corrections, or updates you can provide to these articles or to my GEDCOM file. 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.
If you are a descendant of the four brothers--Moses, William Aaron, Isaac, 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 our Facebook group.
History of our research groups:
In the late 1990s, Sam Sanders, a descendant of William Aaron Saunders, founded a Web site named The William Aaron Saunders Research Group. It was a means by which researchers could exchange and share information and at one time there were about fifty members, though Sam eventually took the site down after over ten years of operation. A MyFamily.com site was founded in 2008 under the name Sanders/Saunders and Associated Families by Chuck Sanders of Nevada, a descendant of the Reverend Moses Sanders. It was open to anyone who was descended from the Moses, Aaron, Isaac, Francis line of the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery, or from the related Lewis Sanders line of Fairfax County, Virginia, or to anyone who had a proven Y-DNA connection to these Sanders lines. After the demise of MyFamily.com, the group moved in October 2014 to the Web site of Spokt.com. In October 2015 the group moved to a Word Press site, but members now stay in touch through personal e-mails and Facebook.
Sanders/Saunders
and Associated Families
This
is our Facebook group. There are currently well over a hundred members.
Bill Saunders Curry, a descendant of Jesse Sanders of Moore County,
North Carolina, and Karen Moore, a descendant of the Reverend Moses
Sanders, are
the primary administrators. You can join by sending an e-mail describing
your connection to our Sanders line. Please note that this site is only
for individuals who have a documented relationship to our Sanders
line.
Note:
Over the years, beginning in 2003, I have maintained several Web sites. For the most recent updates to my work and for future articles that may be added, please consult this site:
https://www.sandersgenealogy.net/RandolphMontgomery.html
I also have a site at Ancestry.com, but since early in 2024, that site cannot be updated. Here is the link for it:
https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~sandersgenealogy/genealogy/garybsanders/
From 2003 until March of 2020, I had a Web site at Earthlink.
If you have questions about my genealogical work, I welcome research inquiries. --Gary B. Sanders
Please send me a message 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.
Like music while your browse? Five traditional Scottish tunes from the Barry Taylor songbook. |
||
Four Marys | Tramps & Hawkers |
Most recent articles or features:
April 28, 2024: The Theory of the German-Jewish Origin of the Moses Family of Monroe County, TennesseeMarch 30, 2017: Mary Hamilton, wife of the Reverend Moses Sanders (revised)
May 30, 2016: Reverend Moses Sanders, life and career (revised)
February 1, 2016: Biographical Sketches, Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery and related familiesJanuary 31, 2010: Jacob Saunders (1760-after 1818), furniture maker
January 31, 2010: "Uncle Joe" Sanders of Randolph and Jackson counties, died 1863
January 20, 2010: Joseph Sanders of Randolph, died 1803 (revision of earlier article)
September 3, 2009: A Sanders coat of arms
August 17, 2009: John Saunders and Catherine Nimrod (revision of earlier article)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;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 for popularizing the theory that the Reverend Moses Sanders was born in Wiltshire County in England when he erected a new tombstone in 1902 for his great grandfather and added the inscription "born in England 1742." This 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 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 sons named Silas and Peter, and we have tentatively identified other children named Moses and Sarah.
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 by 1800, when he is enumerated on the 1800 census of Randolph County as over forty-five years of age. 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.)
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 |
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 and his wife Rebecca had at least seven children. 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. Y-DNA testing suggests he may have been a brother to William Sanders who died about 1790 in neaby Chatham County. DNA tests also show that he had relatives who lived in Goochland County, Virginia.
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.
Joseph Sanders
(born
about 1755, died between 1803-1805)
||
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: Rachel Randon |
Sarah, 1787 spouse: Peter Wall Rich |
Phoebe, 1789 spouse: Jesse Sanders (son of Jacob Saunders, son of Isaac) |
Joseph,
1793 spouse: Martha Saunders (possibly, a daughter of Benjamin ) Joseph's 2nd wife was Deborah Saunders, (a 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
F. 1813 |
Rebecca 1820 |
Rebecca 1820 |
Rachel 1825 |
|
Mary Jane 1823 |
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 |
||||
Phebe Emaline (by 2nd wife) 1842 |
||||||
John (by 2nd wife) 1845 |
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, of the famous old family of Virginia. My grandfather was killed in a fight with the Tories. His brother, Isaac, which is your great grandfather, was the first man that ever built a house on Cross creek below Fayetteville. And another brother by the name of Moses was a Baptist preacher and they had one sister. I have seen her myself. She married a man by the name of Hamilton. I have seen your great grandfather and his wife, and they were very old then. Your grandfather had two brothers, Ben and Joe, they moved to Alabama and their families are there yet. I saw an old lady in New Orleans a few years ago, she was a Saunders and she told me the same story about the Saunders. I have told you all about the old generation that I know…This letter gives us valuable clues to the family relationships among the people who are named:
Your Uncle,
T. B. Saunders”
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 were indeed brothers. They 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 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.
Carroll Jackson Brewer stated in his deposition to the Southern Claims Commission about 1873 that he had a half-niece who was married to John Sanders.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.
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Testimony
of John Sanders and Carroll Jackson Brewer,
Southern Claims Commission
(This material written October, 2004, revised February 2006)
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 Benjamin was the one 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:
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 |
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, brother of Francis,
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? The 1820 census is missing, 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 various land deeds, the Benjamin who later moved to Alabama owned property on the Randolph/Montgomery county line. 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 the same person as the Benjamin Sanders who appears on the 1800 census in Montgomery County. He is listed in 1800 as between twenty-six and forty-four years old, which is 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 of Anson. 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, mentioned in Carroll Jackson Brewer's testimony. 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, where he appears on the 1782 tax list. He still owned property in Montgomery in 1794 when he is referenced as a neighbor to George Sugg. He and Joseph Sanders, Benjamin's future father-in-law, were chain carriers for a survey of land for Benjamin Sanders in Montgomery in 1798. Isaac moved across the county line by 1800, when he appears on the Randolph cenusus. His son Benjamin probably continued to live in Montgomery, possibly until his marriage to Mary Sanders. Maybe the motivation for the move was that 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.)
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onicon to return
to Index
Benjamin
Saunders family in 1800 and 1810 |
|||||
|
0-10 |
10-15 |
16-25 |
26-44 |
26-44 |
1800 |
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 |
Ben,Jr.
1804 Rebecca
1806 Female#7
1808 |
Female#4
1797 Female#5
1799 |
William
1789 |
Ben
1776-1770 |
Wife 2 Mary 1782 |
Benjamin
Saunders family in 1830 and 1840 |
|||||||
|
0-5 |
5-10 |
10-15 |
15-20 |
20-30 |
40-50 |
60-70 |
1830 |
Male#1
1825 Alfred
1827 |
Female#9 1820 John
1822 |
Isaac
1818 |
George
1812 |
|
Mary
1782 |
Ben
1766 |
1840 |
|
|
Male#1
1825 Alfred
1827 Male
1825 |
John
1822 Male
1822 |
Female#9
1820 |
Mary
1782 ([age should
be 50-60) |
Ben 1766 |
Francis
Sanders Family in 1810 and 1820 |
||||
|
0-10 |
10-16 |
16-18 |
26-45 |
1810 |
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 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 |
Male#3
1820 MaryJane
1823 |
William
Pat 1819 |
Elisha
1814
|
|
Francis 1782 |
Rachel 1779 |
1840 |
|
|
|
William
Pat 1819 Male #3
1820 Male
1815 |
|
|
Isaac Sanders was born on June 20, 1817 in Randolph County, North Carolina. He was my great grandfather and I first heard of him in stories told to me by my father when I was a child. Evidence from several sources and from a land transaction suggests that Isaac was a son of Benjamin Sanders (1766-1849) and a grandson of another Isaac Saunders (1737-1825), one of the four brothers who moved from Virginia to Anson County, North Carolina in the 1770s.The first documentary record of my great grandfather 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, one of Isaac's sisters. "Uncle Billy Cornelison" was married to another of Isaac's sisters, Rebecca, who was called "Aunt Becky."
In 1833, according to Isaac's brother John, Isaac's parents, Benjamin and Mary Sanders, moved to Jackson County, Alabama. On September 18, 1836 Isaac married Elizabeth King (born May 22, 1817). Her parents are not known but she may have been a sister to Isham J. King (1810-1884). Isham married Annie Sanders about 1832 in Randolph County, and Annie appears to have been one of Isaac's sisters. Isham King was the bondsman when George W. Sanders, a brother of Isaac, married Anna Johnson in 1833 in Randolph County, North Carolina
On July 24, 1837 the first son of Isaac and Elizabeth was born and named Aaron. On October 26, 1837, Isaac volunteered for the Seminole Indian War, as did many young men from Jackson County. For the most part, they saw little fighting. Isaac 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 is enumerated next door to 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. The two cousins often visited each other until Jesse's death in 1903. A second child, Mary, was born in 1839 but died before the census of 1840 was taken.
Isaac Sanders moved his family to Old Tishomingo County, Mississippi, in 1841 and he is listed on the 1844/45 Mississippi state census for Tishomingo County which shows four males in the household and one female. Four children were born while the family was living in Tishomingo: Isaac, Jr., (1841) Benjamin, (1843), Jesse (1845), and Calvin (1849) and William (1849). William died in January 1850.
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.Isaac's brother George W. Sanders and his family were living nearby, having moved to Montgomery in the 1840s. In the 1850s, Isaac's half-brother William Sanders and his family moved to Montgomery County. Five children of Isaac and Elizabeth were born while the family was living in Arkansas: Amanda (1850), (Elizabeth, 1853), an infant son (1855), Sarah (1855), Rebecca (1858). Elizabeth died a few days after birth and her sister Sarah was born later in the same year.
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 enlistment 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 the following year.
John Sanders (1822, North Carolina-August 11, 1896, Jackson County, Alabama) stated on the Southern Claims Record in 1876 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. John recounted "I have a brother said to be in the Confederate army. I did not see him [join?] Isaac Sanders, forty-four or five years of age on entering the Confederate army in Montgomery County, Arkansas. I have no influence on him, he lived in Arkansas when he joined the army. [He or I?] contributed nothing to his outfit. [?] [He] would not of have been living here. [Meaning, possibly, that he would not have joined the Confederates if he had still been living in Jackson County.]"
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 story probably refers to John and Isaac, but it is unlikely that the two brothers were in the same battle because Isaac's service in the Confederacy was brief. He was on furlough for much of the winter of 1861-62 and returned to duty with pneumonia. 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 for the Confederacy. Apparently, this was the only unit of its kind in the state. Isaac’s son Aaron was a first sergeant in the same company. There is also a "J. Sanders" listed who may be Aaron's half first cousin, Joseph Sanders, the son of William Sanders, who had also served in Company F of the 4th Arkansas Infantry; or "J. Sanders" could be Isaac’s seventeen year old son 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 William's sons joined the 4th U.S. cavalry in November of 1863. They were accompanied by some of the related Biddy and Lamb families and a son of Isaac's half-brother, William Sanders. Isaac's son Jesse joined the 4th U.S. cavalry, Company D, in February 1864 and Isaac himself enlisted at Dardanelle in Yell County in March, 1864. The Arkansas natives who joined the federal forces this late in the war apparently usually did not participate in major battles but spent most of their time in units assigned to to suppress the Confederate guerillas and irregulars in the area.
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 been abandoned 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."
The official military record of Isaac's service indicates that he was listed as "missing in action" during the skirmish. What happened to him immediately afterwards is not clear, though we know that he survived the battle and lived for at least another sixteen years. Maybe he escaped from the woods and joined some other unit to continue the fighting in another unit; or maybe he, like many other farmer-soldiers of the time, decided he was finished with fighting and went back home to take care of his family's needs. This record of the battle of Dardanelle is the last record I can find of Isaac in Arkansas, though his son Jesse continued serving in the U.S. army until October of 1864 when he went A.W.O.L., possibly to join Isaac and the rest of the family. There is no record that Jesse ever returned to his unit but he did make an unsuccessful application for a military pension on January 23, 1899 while he was living in Henderson County, Texas. On the application he stated that he was living in Mount Ida in Montgomery County in February 1864.At some point between September 1867 and 1869, Isaac's family moved back to Tishomingo County, Mississippi, for they appear on the 1870 and 1880 Booneville, Prentiss County, Mississippi, census. Prentiss was formed in 1870 from a part of the old Tishomingo County. The 1880 census is the last documentation I have been able to find for Isaac and Elizabeth. The census taker recorded that Elizabeth was bedridden with "dyspepsia," or what we would call an upset stomach today.
The children of Isaac and Elizabeth:
1. The oldest son, Aaron Sanders, was born July 24, 1837 and married Deborah Ann Swaim April 7, 1859 in Montgomery County, Arkansas. They had a son, William Isaac Sanders, who was born December 29,1859 and died on January 23, 1860. Deborah, who was Aaron's second cousin, died on May 3, 1860. Aaron is enumerated both in Isaac's household in the 1860 census and as a single person living alone. He enlisted on November 21, 1861 in Company F., 4th Arkansas Infantry, at Fort Smith, Arkansas. By occupation he was a blacksmith and he probably followed that occupation while in the army. After the Civil War, when the Sanders family returned to Mississippi, Aaron married Hester Ann Champion on December 2, 1872 in Prentiss County, Mississippi. Aaron died in Prentiss County on November 28, 1902, and Hester later applied for a Confederate widow's pension. In her first application in 1904 she provided the information that her husband had enlisted in 1861 in Arkansas and served in Co. F, Hardiman's Regiment. She said his first captain was Simson[this would be John M. Simpson who was also Isaac's commander] who was killed at the battle of Elkhorn, and the next captain was head lieutenant Givens. She said Aaron served four and a half years and was was discharged Aug. 9, 1865, at Marshall, Texas. In 1916 she filed to continue her pension and stated that Aaron served in Company H, Regiment 31, Texas dismounted cavalry, Hardiman regiment, Harrison brigade. She gave the same 1861 enlistment date and the August 9, 1865 discharge at Marshall, Texas. I believe the explanation for this difference is that at some point in Aaron's service in Earnest's local defense company, he joined up with Harrison's brigade, 31st Texas dismounted cavalry, possibly when that Texas group was near Fort Smith, Arkansas (the Harrison she mentions is James E. Harrison). This theory would explain why Aaron was in East Texas at the close of the war. The mystery still remains why he was not discharged until August 1865 whereas the war had ended in May. The fact that Aaron and his father fought on separate sides during part of the war didn't seem to affect their relationship.
I have more information on Aaron and have exchanged correspondence with several of his descendants. He appears to have maintained some contact with his cousin Levi Lindsey Sanders of Texas, who also served as a blacksmith in the Confederate army, for Aaron named one of his sons after Levi Lindsey Sanders.
2. Mary Sanders was born October 15, 1839 in Jackson County, Alabama, and died in March 1840 in Jackson County, Alabama.
3. Isaac Sanders, Jr., was born December 8, 1840 and died January 10, 1862 from illness or injury during the Civil War while serving in the Confederate forces. Like his brother Aaron, he enlisted on October 21, 1861 in Company F, 4th Arkansas Infantry. It does not appear that he ever married or had children.
4. Benjamin Sanders was born February 20, 1842 in Tishomingo County, Mississippi. He enlisted with the rest of the Sanders sons at Fort Smith in October of 1861 in Company F, 4th Arkansas infantry, and served at least until 1863, including some time in the Tennessee Theater. He was with Humphries Batallion on April 29, 1863 at Shelbyville, Tennessee. It's not clear whether he served after that. 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. Benjamin was suffering from cancer at the time of the visit which must have occurred in the late 1890s, perhaps in 1900, just before Benjamin died. Benjamin and Sarah Lamb had two children, but only one survived until adulthood.
5. Jesse Sanders was born June 30, 1845 in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, and died December 12, 1903 in Murchison, Henderson County, Texas. He was too young to serve in the early years of the Civil War. On February 5, 1864, he joined Company D of the 4th Arkansas Cavalry, U.S. This was the same company in which some of his 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 Tishomingo 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 Arkansas 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, in Erath County, Texas, 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. Two of the children, John Taylor Sanders and Sarah Elizabeth Sanders, were born in Erath County; the rest were born after the family moved back to Murchison in Henderson County, Texas, where Amanda's father had previously lived.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 and my father, Jesse Jackson Sanders, who lived from 1885 until 1964, was the source of much of my information about Isaac and his children.
6. Calvin Sanders was born July 21, 1847 in old Tishomingo County. He married Mary Clark on August 25, 1867 in Sevier County, Arkansas. He died June 6, 1877 in Prentiss County, Mississippi. According to his descendants, his wife may have married a second time, to a man named Butler, after Calvin's death. Mary is also said to have been of Indian ancestry and to have moved to the Chickasaw Nation in the Indian Territory, where she died on August 6, 1899. Calvin and Mary had four children, but descendants are known for only three of them: Sarah Caldona Sanders who married Robert Benjamin Ellis, Isaac Sanders who married Alice Spears, and Rebecca Sanders who married Benjamin Franklin Butler.
7. William Sanders was born May 18, 1849 in Tishomingo County. He died January 20, 1850.
8. Amanda Sanders was born November 21, 1850 in Montgomery County, Arkansas. She died in September of 1867. Since her brother Calvin married in September 1867, it is likely that the family was still in Sevier County, Arkansas at that time.
9. Elizabeth was born January 10, 1853 in Montgomery County, Arkansas, and she and she died August 26, 1855.
10. There was an unnamed son who was born on January 5, 1855 and died four days later.
11. Sarah Sanders was born December 24, 1855. She was still living with her parents in Prentiss County, Mississippi, in 1880. I have no information about any marriage or descendants.
12. Rebecca Sanders was born March 21, 1858 in Montgomery County, Arkansas. She was also still living with her parents in Prentiss County, Mississippi, in 1880. I have been unable to trace her after that date.
In 1880, there was a Martha A. Sanders, born in 1877, living with Isaac. She is listed as a grandchild. She could be a child of Calvin and Mary and temporarily living with her grandparents or she could be a child of Isaac's daughters Sarah (age 25) or Rebecca (age 22).
In January of 2013 and November 2016 additional information about Isaac's family was given to me by Cathy Eshmont (now Cathy Latrelli), a descendant of Calvin Newton Sanders (1874-1957), a son of Aaron Sanders, and grandson of Isaac. She had access to a book that was compiled in the 1980s by a relative, Barbara Radcliffe Rogers, who had married a great grandson of Aaron Sanders. Barbara had access to a material that was copied by Alma Sanders Owen, a granddaughter of Aaron Sanders, in the 1960s or 1970s from a family Bible that had belonged to either Isaac Sanders or to his son Aaron.
Revised January 17, 2013, December 1, 2016
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Francis and Rachel Sanders of Jackson County, Alabama
January 15, 2007
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. Francis and his brother Benjamin appear on the
1815 tax list of RandolphCounty. 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.
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Peter Sanders and the Sanders/Moody Families of Wright County, Missouri
May, 2006
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. It was also
speculated that Daniels' wife was Jane Lyon Sanders who 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 seemed a logical inference that Jane Lyon
Sanders
may have
been the mother of Peter of Wright County (actually, as we will see,
this may not be the case).
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 was
the father of Lucretia Sanders who married Carroll Jackson Brewer, who
testified before the Southern Claims Commission in the 1873 that
Lucretia was the half-niece of John Sanders of Jackson
County,
Alabama. It
follows from this statement that William Sanders, father of
Lucretia, 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 William,
son of Jane Lyon Sanders, 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 for Mary 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.
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.
Click
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June 3,
2017
August 19, 2020
It has been over ten years since I last updated the preceding article on Peter Sanders of Wright County, Missouri, and my first thought was to revise the entire article, but on second thought, I believe most of what I previously wrote holds up well. Nevertheless, the additional evidence that has been accumulated through Y-DNA tests and through further documentary research warrants mention and there are a few areas where some clarification may be in order. In addition, I did not really discuss in any detail Peter's father, whom I believe to have been the brother of the Reverend Moses Sanders, Francis Sanders of Franklin County, Georgia.
We know that Francis was a brother of the Reverend Moses through the ordinances that were done for the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City by Moses Martin Sanders (1803-1878) in the 1870s. In those documents, Moses Martin Sanders, a grandson of the Reverend Moses Sanders, referred to Francis Sanders of Franklin County Georgia as his uncle. From Jim Sanders (May 2008):
"In 1878, Moses Martin Sanders, grandson of the Reverend Moses Sanders, while completing his Vicarious Ordinance work at the Temple in Saint George, Utah, stated that his Grand Uncle was Francis Sanders. Francis Sanders was endowed as entry # 2343, January 31st, 1877. In other terms he was the brother of the Reverend Moses. Two of Francis Sanders' sons were listed. Silas Sanders, Entry # 4191, in book A and Peter Sanders, entry # 4022, both endowed January 31st, 1877. They were listed as 2nd cousins to Moses Martin Sanders. In other terms, they would be cousins to David Sanders, Moses Martin’s father. Why Moses Martin did not list other members of Francis Sanders family remains a mystery. Perhaps they were the two members of the family that were in Bedford and Maury Counties at the time that Moses Martin was there and old enough to remember them."Even if we did not have the testimony from Moses Martin Sanders, there is documentary evidence that a Francis Sanders lived in Franklin County, Georgia in the early years of the 19th century. We know this from tax lists and other references. We also know Francis was associated with the Reverend Moses Sanders in Franklin County, Georgia.
The first mention of our Francis anywhere
is his signing a petition in Anson County April 19, 1777. Also signing
was Aaron Sanders; this Aaron is the Aaron who was the brother of Moses
and Francis. Thomas Bailey Saunders of Texas stated in his 1890s letter
that Aaron had brothers named Isaac, and Moses, a Baptist
preacher. The purpose of the petition was to divide Anson because the
county was growing in population. Montgomery, where most of our Sanders
lived, was created in 1779 from Anson.
http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.usa.states.northcarolina.counties.anson/2261/mb.ashx
Source: L. P. 13, Nov-Dec. 1776, April-May 1777.
I was the one who first suggested that Francis was born about 1755 and
that he was the youngest of the four brothers, with either Isaac or
Aaron
having been the oldest. Isaac is known to have had a child, Jacob,
who was born in 1760 and since Isaac was still living about 1825 (from
the letter written by Thomas Bailey Saunders, his grand nephew), Isaac
probably couldn't have been born much before 1740.I chose the date of
1737 as an estimate for Isaac's birth year because Thomas Bailey
Saunders said that Isaac was one of the first people to live in Cross
Creek (in Cumberland County, near Fayetteville) which was founded about
1757.
We know that the Reverend Moses and his brother Aaron were in Anson
County by the early 1770s and they acquired rather large quantities of
land. Isaac remained in Cumberland County, but he bought land in the
part of Cumberland that later became Moore County in 1780. By 1782
Isaac was in Montgomery County, and by the 1790s he was in Randolph,
where he appears on the 1800 census.Aaron died in November 1782.
Letters of administration for his estate were issued but the actual
content has been lost or destroyed. The Reverend Moses died in 1817 in
Georgia. In the first decade of the nineteenth century, Francis Sanders
appears in many records in Franklin County, Georgia, as an associate of
the Reverend Moses Sanders.
The late Elden Hurst (1922-2009) was the first researcher to do solid research on the Reverend Moses Sanders and his brother Francis. On page 8 of Hurst's book we find:
Moses Martin Sanders indicated his grandfather, Moses Sanders, had a brother Francis Sanders. On file in the Secretary of State's Office in Raleigh, Wilkes County, Number 284 is a warrant of 100 acres to Francis Sanders. It is situated "Lying on ye Bear Branch, the water of Hunting Creek." It was surveyed 20 Apr 1685. It was originally entere 18 Nov 1783 and issued 22 Sept 1785. (Grant 719 Entry No. 284 Book 59 327) Wilkes County Tax list for 1782 shows Francis Sanders in Capt. Alexander Gordon's District (same as Moses) with 2 mules and 3 cattle. In years 784-1791 he is taxed on 1 poll and 100 acres.
A census for 1787 shows Francis Sanders with 1 male, 2 males under 21 and 3 females. (Film 901, 216)
Wilkes County Deeds (020,133 Pg 525) 26 Mar 1792 Francis Sanders, farmer; sells to Benj. Crabtree 100 acres of land on water of Hunting Creek for 10 lbs. It is the property he received under grant 719 22 Sep 1785.
Francis Sanders is taxed on 200 acres on Hudson River, Franklin Co., GA. in 1800. He is listed as a single poll in 1802 and in 1803, 1805, 1806 is taxed on 60 acres orginally granted Geo. Vaughn adjoining Moses Sanders on Grove River. He moves to Smith County Tenn. in 1807 as noted in Sep 1807 minutes of Grove Level Baptist Church. He has sons Silas and Peter who appear as single polls on 1806 tax rolls. In 1820 census of Smith Co., Tenn. Francis Sanders is listed with 1 son 16-26 and he and wife Mary (Polly) are both over 45. Silas has two sons under 10, 1 son 10-6, 1 dau 10-16 and he and wife are 26-45.
Elden's Hurst seminal work was continued by Jim Sanders of Ojai, California. Jim is a descendant of Silas Sanders, one of the two sons of Francis mentioned in the ordinances done by Moses Martin Sanders in the 1870s. In Jim's words,
...we
will work backward in time, as it
is our belief that our progenitor, Silas Sanders, is first noted as one
of the young males listed in the 1787 and 1790 census of Wilkes County,
North Carolina, in the Francis Sanders family. From this beginning, we
then trace him to and from the entries of the Groves Level Baptist
Church of Franklin County (now Banks County), Georgia.
In May of 1802, during the era of the great Baptist revival, 62 members
of the Nails Creek Baptist Church (located in present day Homer, Banks
County, Georgia), left the Nails Creek Church, moved down the road a
bit to the banks of the Grove River and formed their own church. They
called it the Groves Level Baptist Church. They chose Reverend Moses
Sanders and Anderson Ivey as their leaders.
In 1878, Moses Martin Sanders, son of David Sanders and Grandson of the
Reverend Moses Sanders submitted to the Latter Day Saints of Saint
George, Utah, information in which he identified his forebears and
family. Among these submissions was the identification of
Francis
Sanders, his Granduncle (hence, a brother to the Reverend Moses
Sanders). Also identified is Silas Sanders (son of Francis), as a 2nd
cousin. (David and Silas are cousins; hence, Francis Sanders children
were 2nd cousins to David Sanders children).
It is our belief that the Silas Sanders of Franklin County, Georgia,
moved to Smith County, Tennessee sometime after 1807 and we have
abstracted documents, which support our belief. Although, we have found
no documentation that absolutely states this.
We have found no indication that there was a second Silas Sanders, in
the Southern states, during this time frame.
We reviewed the federal censuses of 1820 and 1830 and they were the
primary "proving grounds" for our opinion that the Silas Sanders, who
is noted in Franklin County, Georgia, in 1802, then Smith County
Tennessee, 1820, then Maury County, Tennessee 1824, then Marion County,
Illinois and finally Jefferson County, Illinois, in 1835 was the same
man.
We also analyzed Grants, Deeds, Tax Records and Court Minutes from
Smith County and Maury County, Tennessee and Marion County and
Jefferson County, Illinois, to see if there might have been a second
Silas Sanders in these records. Our conclusion is there was not.
According to Elden Hurst, in the St. George Temple Sealings for the Dead (Films 170, 542, 583, 840), Moses Martin Sanders (1803-1878) identified over twenty-five deceased relatives and stated their relationship to him. Among these were his second cousins Peter and Silas, the sons of his granduncle Francis. We have already identified the son named Silas, his whereabouts in his early life, and his descendants.
The son of Francis named Peter was the subject of my article written in 2006 that is posted immediately preceding this one. So far as I can tell, I was the first person to identify Peter of Franklin County, Georgia, with the Peter of Wright County, Missouri, and I still feel that the bulk of the evidence suggests that Peter who appears on the tax roll of Franklin County, Georgia, in 1806 is the same person who appears on the 1812 Maury County, Tennessee tax rolls; who served in the War of 1812 in Capt. Gist's Tennessee Company; who was in Lawrence County, Tennessee, in 1830; who was in Gallatin County, Illinois, briefly in the 1830s; who appears on the 1840 census of Greene County, Arkansas; and who appears on the 1850 and 1860 census of Wright County, Missouri. The evidence that clinches this identification of Peter the son of Francis with Peter who died in Wright County is that the Wright County Peter's widow, Michel Tarbutton Owens Sanders, in her application for a widow's pension in 1878, stated that she and Peter were married in Franklin County, Georgia. [The name of Peter's wife is not certain; it is sometimes given as Michel or Marchail in documents, but for consistency, I will refer to her as "Michel" here.]
Peter, therefore, belongs to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery group. The only way he could not belong to this group would be if there were two Peter Sanders in Franklin County, Georgia, in the first decade of the nineteenth century and one of them did not leave any records. Though I believe it has been demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that Francis and Peter were father and son, a major problem remain in that, with few exceptions, we are not certain of the names of all of the children of Peter or of his father Francis. With the latter, we have the children Peter and Silas as firmly established through inference from reliable documentation that does not admit of any other reasonable interpretation. For the other children of Francis, we have to rely on inference from documentation that is somewhat ambiguous. For the time being, any conclusions about additional children have to be accepted as reasonable possibilities, not as certainties.
So, what are the names of these other possible children of Francis and what are the reasons for assigning them this status?First, we believe that Francis was probably the youngest of his brothers even though we do not have exact dates of birth of any of the brothers. Francis' brother William Aaron may have been born between 1735 and 1740; Aaron's first son was born in the late 1760s. Francis' brother Isaac is said in family tradition to have been the first person to build a house at Cross Creek near Fayetteville in North Carolina. Since Cross Creek was settled just before 1760, Isaac may have been born about 1737. The Reverend Moses is said to have been born about 1742. The reason to think that Moses' brother Francis was born somewhat latter, about 1755, is that the first of Francis' children was not born until about 1779, and, if he is the really the same fellow on the 1820 census, it's a reasonable inference to place his birth date in the 1750s. Francis' marriage probably occurred about 1778 and would have been in Anson County, North Carolina, where he was living in that year. Francis' son Peter was born about 1779 according to census records and Peter's brother Silas seems to have been born between 1785 and 1788, based on Silas' own marriage and the birth dates of his children.
Church records of the Groves Level Baptist Church in Franklin County Georgia provide information that Francis and his wife "Polly" were granted letters letters of dismissal in September 1807 for a move to Smith County, Tennessee. His nephew David Sanders moved to Franklin County, Tennessee, shortly thereafter, but was in Bedford County, Tennesse by December 1810. The two counties are less than a hundred miles from each other. Maury County, where Peter's son John Archibald was born in 1812, in a home on the Duck River, is about forty miles from Smith County, and the Duck River flows through both counties.
When Francis and his family moved to Smith County, we do not know how many children were in the family. Peter and Silas have been previously identified, but the names of the others have various degrees of uncertainty. In 1787 a state census in Wilkes County, North Carolina, shows that Francis had two sons, presumably Peter and Silas. The 1790 national census indicates he had three sons. The 1820 census of Smith County is the only other documentary enumeration of his children, showing that he had one son aged 16-18 and one 16-25. Daughters are also indicated in these records, but Elden Hurst and Jim Sanders were able to identify only one daughter, Sarah Sanders (1794-1860) who married David Dodd and who moved to Saline County, Arkansas.
Among the possible other sons of Francis, the most obvious one is Moses Sanders (about 1795-about 1865). Elden Hurst and Jim Sanders agree that he appears to be a son of Francis. Moses married Goolie or Gooley Bean, possibly as early as 1819 in Smith County, Tennessee, but we have no documentation on any of their children until their son Walter was born in 1832, apparently in Marion County, Illinois. In 1836 in Jefferson County, Illinois, Moses Sanders signed a bond for the estate of Silas Sanders. Jim Sanders believes the Moses in Jefferson County is Silas' brother and the same person who by 1838 was in Greene County, Arkansas where he and Gooley remained until the 1850s when they moved to Johnson County, Arkansas.
After Peter, Silas, Sarah, and Moses, the names of the children are based less on documentation and more on inference from geographical location and proximity--and from recent Y-DNA tests. What follows is my enumeration of the most likely children.
Children of Francis Sanders (1755-1820)
Peter Sanders (1779, Montgomery County, North Carolina--died August 15, 1864, Wright County, Missouri). The paper trail is solid and as of August 2018, we have Y-DNA confirmation through a test on a descendant of Levi Sanders, son of John Archibald Sanders and grandson of Peter. This participant matched the others in the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery group. Oddly, a descendant of Levi's brother James Mattison Sanders did not match any Sanders line, indicating that somewhere among the descendants of James Mattison, there was adoption, name change, or infidelity.Silas Sanders (1785-1788, Wilkes County, North Carolina--died before June 1836, Jefferson County, Illinois) . We have a Y-DNA test on a descendant of Silas (as well as a very good paper trail based on Jim Sanders' research), and we are therefore certain that he was one of the sons of Francis.
Sarah Sanders (about 1794, Laurens County, South Carolina, married David Dodd--died July 1860, Saline County, Arkansas). This identification is based on the research of Elden Hurst.
Moses Sanders (1795, Franklin County, Georgia--died after 1860, Johnson County, Arkansas). We do not have a Y-DNA test on any of Moses' descendants, just the paper trail, but Jim Sanders and Elden Hurst agree that the paper trail is convincing.
Isaac Sanders (born between 1776 and 1794-died after 1820). The only reason to think this Isaac may be a son of Francis is that he is enumerated as household 1184 and Francis is 1171 on the 1820 Smith County, Tennessee, census. It's tempting to think this Isaac may be the same one listed on the Franklin County, Georgia, tax rolls of 1802 and 1803 but I think it more likely that the Franklin County Isaac was the one who moved to Pickens County, Alabama and lived there near Obadiah Hooper who married Sarah Sanders, the daughter of the Reverend Moses Sanders of Franklin County. That Isaac later moved to Leake County, Mississippi and died there. The whereabout of the Isaac of Smith County (1820) before and after 1820 are unknown. I think it unlikely that he is the same person as the Isaac who died in Fayette County, Illinois after 1840. We know nothing about the Fayette County Isaac except that he was born in the 1780s and that an Isaac Sanders (or Landers) of Fayette County married Polly Cook in 1838. It is very possible that the Isaac who married Polly Cook was a "Landers" rather than a Sanders, as there was a Landers family that left numerous descendants in the Fayette County.
John Sanders (born 1795-1804 per 1820 Smith County census; born 1790-1800 per 1830 Smith Census; appears on 1834 Lawrence County, tax list; born 1790-1800 per 1840 Greene County, census. John may very well be a son but documentation for him is scant. We don't know whom he married or the names of his children.
Francis Sanders (born about 1797--died between 1840-1850, Greene County, Arkansas). This Francis is enumerated near Peter on the 1840 United States Federal census. Three sons are listed : one 10-14, possibly the John, age 21, who is on the 1850 census; one who is 10-19, possibly the Elijah, age 28 on the 1850 census; and one 20-29, possibly Francis M., age 30, on the 1850 census. On the same census of Greene County, there is also a David Sanders, age 31;he is enumerated near Moses and Gooley and may be their child or he may also be a child of Francis. The only one of these where anyone has traced the descendants, so far as I can tell, is with the Francis Sanders who was born in 1820. He married Rachael Bumgarner about 1841. A Y-DNA test of his descendants would be helpful.
Hiram Sanders (born about 1800 in Georgia--died after 1850, probably in Union County, Illinois. I am relying heavily on Thomas Stephen Neel for my analysis of Hiram. Apparently, there is a Bible record passed down among the descendants of one of Hiram's daughters, Mary Ann, who married Eliel Freeman. The Bible record gives the birth dates of all the children of Hiram and his wife Rebecca McDaniel but does not mention Hiram's parents. Stephen Neel believes Hiram may be a son of Peter Sanders rather than a brother but agrees that the question is open. The 1800 birth date for Hiram may be a little early for a son of Peter, however, and for this reason, I am inclined to list him as a possible son of Francis. We do not have a Y-DNA test on any of the descendants of Hiram, but I myself have a very good autosomal DNA match (shared CM of 74) with a descendant of Archibald McDaniel Sanders, one of Hiram's sons. (The other participant and I are probably fifth cousins if my interpretation is correct). This Archibald McDaniel Sanders lived at one time in Jack County, Texas, which is one of the reasons I think his father Hiram may have been a brother to the next two individuals.
Elijah Sanders (born about 1801, supposedly in Tennessee--died 1840-1850 in Arkansas. Elijah married a woman named Catherine Eaton and his brother John Randall Rufus Sanders married Catherine's sister Phoebe Eaton--this comes from family tradition that was passed down among their descendants in Jack County, Texas. Elijah and Catherine are believed to have been in Greene County, Arkansas in the 1830s. In 1850, two of their sons, Alexander and James, are in Fannin County, Texas. In 1860. Catherine and her children are living in Jack County, Texas.
John Randall Rufus Sanders (born about 1804--died between 1847 and 1850, probably in Navarro County, Texas). He is apparently the same person as the Randall Sanders listed on the 1840 Greene County, Arkansas census. In 1850 his widow, Phoebe and her children were living in Navarro County, Texas, and by 1860 they were in Jack County, Texas, along with the widow and children of John's brother Elijah. In 1860, Archibald McDaniel Sanders, a proven son of Hiram, was also living in Jack County. A Y-DNA test of a descendant of Elijah Sanders proves that Elijah and his brother John belong to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery group.
In the 1820 Smith County, Tennessee census, Francis Sanders had two males ages 16-18 and 16-25 in his household. I think these may be Elijah and John Randall Sanders. Though I have enumerated eleven possible children for Francis (1755-1820), but I would be very surprised if all of these were ever proven through a paper trail. Some of them may be either grandchildren or cousins of Francis. I feel confident, however, that nearly all the Sanders in Greene County, Arkansas, in the 1830s and 1840s were closely related to Francis Sanders.
Children of Francis Sanders' son Peter Sanders (1781-1864)
In my 2006 article, I mentioned Andrew Jackson Sanders and John Archibald Sanders as two commonly accepted children of Peter Sanders and Michel Tarbutton and provided examples of children attributed to Peter and Michel that were obviously not theirs because of existence of documentation that proved the children belonged to another couple. Thomas Stephen Neel, a descendant of Hiram Sanders, has written a very informative article (dated December 2016) on Peter's children. My analysis is heavily indebted to his but differs slightly on the identity of the children. I think we both agree that any enumeration is tentative at the present time.
According to Michel Tarbutton Sanders' pension application of 1878, she was married about 1800 in Franklin County, Georgia. She stated she was married under the name Michel Owens, but family tradition among her descendants was that she was the child of Joseph Tarbutton of Richmond County, North Carolina. As Thomas Neel suggests, she may have been married to a Mr. Owens first, then to Peter. If that is the case, however, it is likely the 1800 date is the date of her first marriage, as she was supposedly born in 1781 and would have been only nineteen in 1800 and probably too young to be entering a second marriage. My opinion is that she married Owens about 1800 then married Peter Sanders about 1807 or 1808. We know that Andrew Jackson Sanders was born either in 1809 (September 13, 1814 according to Find-a-Grave), and if there were any children born before 1809, they do not appear to have lived until adulthood. According to Stephen Neel, the tradition in the Barnett family (descendants of Peter's daughter Margaret Jane who married William Barnett in the 1840s), Michel had eleven children, nine of whom reached adulthood. Below is my present enumeration of these children.
Andrew Jackson Sanders (born 1809--died October 15, 1858). He is enumerated near his brother John A. Sanders in 1840 in Greene County, Arkansas, and John A. Sanders was the executor of his will in 1858.
John Archibald "Archie" Sanders (born February 14, 1812--died December 29, 1876). According to Linda Simmons , relating a family tradition, "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. " John Archibald, therefore, is quite certainly a son of Peter.
Catherine Louisa Sanders (about 1814--about 1882). She married John Forrest in 1834 and a Goodspeed biography published in 1889 states that her mother lived over a hundred years. This is almost certainly a reference to Michel Tarbutton Sanders who was known to be alive in 1878 when she was already close to one hundred years old.
Sarah "Sally" Sanders (born March 1817--died May 26, 1903). She married Samuel McKinley in Lawrence County, Arkansas (from which Greene County was formed). She and her husband are enumerated near Peter Sanders in the 1840 Greene County, census, and they apparently moved to Wright County, Missouri, at the same time as Peter and Michel, arriving before 1850. In the 1956 book The Barnett Clan, Sally is identified as a daughter of Peter and a sister to Margaret Jane Sanders. This is based on tradition passed down in the family of Margaret Jane Sanders Barnett.
Peter Sanders (born February 9, 1818--died November 6, 1882). Even though no document indisputably ties this Peter to the Peter who married Michel Tarbutton, I see no need to question his status as a son of the elder Peter.Apparently, the younger Peter's first children were born in Illinois at the same time that the elder Peter lived there. The younger Peter appears on the 1850 Wright County, Missouri, census and the 1860 Texas County, Missouri census. He later moved to Marion and then Newton County, Arkansas, where he died in 1882.
Lewis Sanders (born about 1820, died between 1845-47). He appears on the 1840 census of Greene County,Arkansas, where he is listed as age 20-29. The only other person in the household is a female age 15-19. From family tradition passed down through their son Peter, born in 1841, the female in the household was Lewis' wife, Matilda Jane McIntosh. After Lewis died, she married Cornelius Sanders (1828-1877). Family tradition was that Cornelius was Lewis' brother, but, according to a Bible record mentioned by Stephen Thomas Neel, Cornelius was actually the son of Hiram Sanders (1800-about 1859; see above for more about him and his children). These two very different family traditions are difficult to reconcile, but I think we can say that the two Sanders husbands of Matilda Jane were either brothers, uncle and nephew, or first cousins. My tentative conclusion is that they were first cousins and that family tradition was garbled in some way. I am indebted to Stephen Thomas Neel for first suggesting that Lewis was a son of the elder Peter, and I concur in accepting his conclusion.
Jacob Sanders (born about 1822, died after 1840). The only census record of Jacob is on the 1840 Greene County, Arkansas census where he is enumerated next to John Forrest who married Catherine Louisa Sanders, the daughter of the elder Peter. Both Jacob and John Forrest are enumerated near Peter Sanders, Francis Sanders, and Samuel McKinley who married Sarah Sally Sanders, daughter of the elder Peter. Jacob appears also on the 1840 tax list for Greene County. As with Lewis Sanders, I am indebted to Stephen Neel for the idea that Jacob was a son of the elder Peter.
Margaret Jane Sanders (born August 31, 1834--died April 18, 1909). She appears almost certainly a daughter of the elder Peter. According to family tradition passed down among her descendants and related in a book by B. D. Barnett published in 1956 and titled The Barnett Clan :
William Barnett was born March 22, 1814 near Bowling Green, Kentucky.Young William did not get along with his step-father and he left home within a year of his mother's re-marriage, riding horse-back to Tennessee, where he fell in with a man named Peter Sanders. William lived with them and they moved to Arkansas a couple of years later. Peter Sanders homesteaded a farm near Crowley Ridge in Greene Co., Arkansas. In 1839 William fell in love with Peter's youngest daughter, Margaret Jane. Peter objected to their marriage because William was 10 years older than Margaret Jane, so the young couple eloped to an adjoining county, Margaret Jane riding behind William on horseback. After they were married they returned to Crowley Ridge and received the family blessing. They set up housekeeping and on 23 Apr 1845 a daughter was born to them whom they named Sarah Louisa.
William Overton Sanders (born 1827--died February 14, 1882). Although William Overton appears on the 1850 census of Wright County living next door to the household of Peter and Michel, there is still some question whether he was a son or grandson of Peter and Michel. If Michel was born in 1781 as she claimed on her 1878 pension application for her husbands War of 1812 service, she was at least forty-six years old when William Overton was conceived(the 1850 census has a birth year of 1782, the 1860 one has 1785). She also claimed on the pension application that her marriage took place in the year 1800, but that seems unlikely to me. All the children that we have been able to assign to Peter were born between 1809 and 1827, a span of less than twenty years. Women don't usually give birth to children twenty-seven years after their marriage date. This is why I think the marriage to Owens was probably childless and that the marriage to Peter Sanders probably occurred about 1807 or 1808. I am also inclined to think that William Overton was indeed a son of Peter because there was male child of the right age in Peter's household in 1830 and in 1840.
So far we have listed children born in the following years:
1809
Andrew Jackson Sanders
1812 John Archibald Sanders
1813 Catherine Louisa Sanders (possibly, actually born in
1814)
1817 Sarah Sally Sanders (March 1817)
1818 Peter Sanders (February 1818)
1820 Lewis Sanders
1822 Jacob Sanders
1824 Margaret Jane Sanders
1827 William Overton
According
to Stephen
Thomas Neel and the Barnet Clan
book, Michel had "eleven children,
nine reaching adulthood." If this is so, we have accounted
for
the nine who reached adulthood, with the first being born in 1809, the
last in 1827. If we look at the 1830 census of Lawrence
County,
Tennessee, and the 1840 census of Greene County, Arkansas, we may be
able to estimate the birth years of the two missing children who died
young. Below is a chart that gives the census ages of the
children in 1830 and 1840. The names of the children, of course, are
not listed in either 1830 or 1840 but it is relatively easy to match
the ages with the known children. The two oldest children, Andrew
Jackson Sanders (born 1809) and John Archibald Sanders (born 1812) were
living on their own by 1830 and do not appear in their parents'
household in either census. From this chart, we can estimate that there
was an unknown son and an unknown daughter, both of whom were born in
the mid-1820s and both of whom apparently died before reaching
maturity. I think the male chlild was born about about 1823
and the unknown
daughter about 1826. I realize all of this is tentative, of course, and
I find it somewhat troubling that it requires four children
having
been born in the five years between 1820 and 1825, but that is the
number of children of those ages in the household in 1830.
Name: Peter Sanders
household |
no. in
1830 |
|
|
Home,
1830: |
|
|
|
Free
White Persons - Males - Under 5: |
1 |
William
Overton (age 3) |
William
Overton ( age13) |
Free
White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9: |
3 |
Jacob (8), |
Jacob and
Lewis not present, |
Free
White Persons - Males - 10 thru 14: |
1 |
Peter
Junior (12) |
Peter Junior not present, already married |
Free
White Persons - Males - 50 thru 59: |
1 |
Peter
Senior (51) |
|
Free
White Persons - Females - Under 5: |
1 |
Unknown
daughter (4) |
Unknown daughter
(14) |
Free
White Persons - Females - 5 thru 9: |
1 |
Margaret Jane
(6) |
Margaret
Jane, not present, |
Free
White Persons - Females - 10 thru 14: |
1 |
Sarah
Sally (13) |
|
Free
White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19: |
1 |
Catherine
Louisa (16) |
Catherine
Louisa, not present, already
married |
Free
White Persons - Females - 40 thru 49: |
1 |
Michel (49) |
Michel
(59) |
Free
White Persons - Under 20: |
9 |
|
|
Free
White Persons - 20 thru 49: |
1 |
|
|
Total
Free White Persons: |
11 |
|
|
According to family tradtion, the youngest child of Peter and Michel, William Overton Sanders "was known as Black Bill because he was an Indian" and he "joined the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and didn't like it there and moved back to Wright County, Missouri." There also seems to be a tradition that Peter who married Michel Tarbutton was of American Indian ancestry and possibly a "full-blooded Cherokee." I tend to discount these stories because nearly every white family in the South has a similar tradition There are several such traditions in my branch of the Sanders family, especially those in Jackson County, Alabama. However, the Y-DNA test results for the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery show that the male Sanders line is European and most likely from the British Isles. If there is American Indian ancestry in any branch of the family, and I believe there are some branches with a small amount of such ancestry, it has to come originally from someone who had a surname other than Sanders. It would be helpful if a male Sanders descendant of Peter participated in a Y-DNA test, as have many Sanders men from other branches of the family.
We already know through previous Y-DNA tests that any Sanders descendant of Francis Sanders of Franklin County, Georgia, belongs to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery group. We know from these tests that Benjamin Sanders (1804-1866) of Wright County, Missouri, belongs to this group and that descendants of the Sanders who moved from Greene County, Arkansas to Jack County Texas belong also. The Y-DNA tests have in nearly every case confirmed our paper trail and have been helpful, but we have not had enough tests or sufficient paper documentation to determine whether all the Sanders men listed on the 1840 and 1850 census of Greene County, Arkansas are related. Compared to the situation in 2006, much progress has been made, but further research is still needed.
Note added, September 2018:
A Y-DNA test done in August 2018 established that Peter Sanders of Wright County, Missouri, belongs to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery group. The participant was a descendant of John Archibald "Archie" Sanders, known to be a son of Peter through solid family tradition. The descent was through John Archibald Sanders' son Levi Sanders, born in 1835.
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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 (1804-1858), but is not discussed
here. He was the son of Francis and Rachel Sanders).
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. For a long time,it was believed he was not
enumerated on the 1860 census, but he is there after all, but under the
surname of "Sandro," apparently an error on the part of the census
taker.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 Jackson County census with his wife M. J. Subsequent census
records reveal that her first name was 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 married Martha before 1860 because we have a
documentary record that he died on October 17, 1864. Further,
Ann
who married Elijah is the same Ann as the daughter of William
and
Martha, she
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. Therefore there were three Elijah G. Sanders, and the
middle name of all of them may have been Greenville.
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. to 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.
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 Sanders with wife M.J. on the 1860 Jackson County census is the
son of William and
Martha
Sanders who were in Jackson County in 1850 and in Montgomery County,
Arkansas in 1860. William was by occupation
a
blacksmith and he appears to be the half-brother of my
great-grandfather Isaac who was also living in Montgomery County in
1860.
Here is some of the information I have about this family:
WILLIAM SANDERS (BENJAMIN, ISAAC SAUNDERS) 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 1880 in Jackson County, Alabama.
Children of WILLIAM SANDERS and MARTHA UNKNOWN are:
MARY POLLY A. SANDERS. who was born about 1821 in Tennessee. She died after 1880. She married John H. B. Walker, February 27, 1856 in Jackson County, Alabama.
TWO UNKNOWN SONS, born about 1826 and 1828. Whether they lived until adulthood is unknown.
ELIJAH SANDERS, 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 this
Elijah died October 17, 1864 because, as a Union veteran, a
tombstone was purchased after the Civil War by the federal
government for his grave. His wife Martha
appears on the 1870 and 1880 census, where she is listed as a
widow. According to descendants of this Elijah, his middle
name
was also Greenville.
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, died December 22,
1882 in Independence County, Arkansas. He was married twice,
first to Rebecca Jane Lee who died right after childbirth in 1860. John
then married his cousin Margaret Sanders, daughter of Elijah
Greenville Sanders and Martha Jane Alisa Isbell.
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. Brewer 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 her father's 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.
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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 | |
1755 |
|
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. |
1757 |
November. Morgan
Brown, surveyor in |
1757 |
|
1758 |
November. Patrick
Sanders buys 300 acres in |
1759 |
On July 26 1759,
Patrick sells 100 acres of this land in Anson to
John |
1761 |
James Sanders buys
land from Henry Touchstone on the east side of Mountain Creek in |
1763 |
Patrick and James
Sanders appear on the list of people paying taxes in |
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 |
1764 |
William and Susan
exempt from paying taxes in |
1764 |
William
Sanders of Anson County, |
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 |
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 |
1773 |
April. Patrick
Sanders sold 100 acres on the north side of the Pee Dee river and the
south fork of Mountain Creek in |
1773 |
May. Walter Gibson
sells to William Sanders 100 acres in |
1774 |
James Sanders
witnesses deed of John Cockerham to Thomas Mason for land on
Mountain Creek in |
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 |
Ca. 1776 |
James Sanders was
appointed Constable in |
1779 |
January. Richard
Powell enters 50 enters in |
1779 |
April 12. Patrick
and wife Mary deed 112 acres on south side of north fork of Mountain
Creek of Pee Dee River in |
1779 |
April 13. Patrick
and Mary sell to Richard Powell “lower
end” of
100 acres on Broonas |
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 |
1789 |
William receives
several land grants in |
1780s |
Patrick, Sr. in
Rutherford County, North Carolina, then moves to |
1790 |
Two James Sanders
appear on the 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 |
1790 |
March James
Sanders’ west line is referenced in a grant of 100 acres to
Benjamin Randle on Barnes Creek in |
1790 |
James Sanders
acquires land in |
1790s |
James, Sr.
moves to |
1794 |
January. Jeffrey
Sanders granted 50 acres on Clark Creek in |
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 |
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 |
1799 |
James Sanders
receives land grant in |
1799 |
February. James and
William Sanders witness a deed in |
1800 |
James Sanders, 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 |
1800 |
James Sanders
appears on the |
1800 |
James Sanders
appears on the |
1800 |
Patrick
Sanders, 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 |
1801 |
James Sanders sold
50 acres in |
1807 July |
James Sanders
sold 264 acres in |
1810 |
Billy Saunders
(presumably William Moses) appears on the |
1810 |
Patrick Saunders
appears on the 1810 |
1810 |
William Saunders
appears on the 1810 |
Between 1800-1810 |
James Sanders, Sr.,
dies in |
1814 |
July, a reference in
a deed to the border of James Sanders’ line in |
1815 |
William Moses
Sanders moves to Rutherford County, North Carolina from |
1820 |
William Moses
Sanders listed on |
1830 |
William Moses
Sanders listed on |
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 |
In my "burton-sanders" World Connect file, several Sanders lines from the Southern United States are included in addition to my own lines which descend from Isaac Saunders of the four brothers of Anson group and from Joseph Sanders of Randolph County. The relationship of these lines to my Sanders lines either has been disproven or has not yet been documented. 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. These lines and individuals were added early in my research efforts before I knew that my Sanders ancestry belonged to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery group and the Sanders of Randolph and Chatham group. Here are some of these lines that I am not actively researching but which may be found in my files.
The first documentary reference to Joseph Sanders is his military service during the American Revolution. Here is an excerpt from the Sons of the American Revolution membership application of Thomas E. Jacks, a descendant of Joseph's son, Joseph, Jr.:
Joseph Sanders
was listed as a private in Walker's Company, Colonel James Hogan's 7th
regiment, North Crolina Continental Line. (p. 95). He is listed in "an
account of allowances made officers and soliders of the late
Continental line at Hillsboro." (p.193). Joseph Sanders, Continental of
Hillsboro district is listed on a list of "vouchers of soldiers in the
Continental Army." p. 399. From the Roster of Soldiers from North
Carolina in the American Revolution, Daughers of the American
Revolution, Genealogical Publishing Company, 1984.
Although we do not have firm documentary evidence that the Joseph Sanders who served in the Revolution is the same Joseph as the Joseph Sanders who later lived in the Hillsborough District of Randolph County, it is a reasonable assumption that these references are to the same individual, as no other Joseph Sanders is known to have lived in the area.
The next reference to Joseph is a deed by which he was granted land 330 acres of land in Randolph County by the state in 1787. The land was described as on Abraham's Creek, bordering "Haskett's line." This is a reference to Abraham Haskett, who had been granted land as early as 1784. I believe this land was somewhat northwest of the present city of Asheboro. Over the years, Joseph acquired other property, most of which seemed to be in the same area, though there are indications he may have had some property to the south, near the Montgomery border. Here is a 1797 entry:
August 1, 1797 Joseph Sanders enters 250 acres in Randolph Co on waters of Back Creek and Deep River joining his own land on E,W., &S bounded by Peter Rich, Feaquar, Abraham Haskit, Joseph Osburn, and Joseph Close beginning at NE corner of his former survey and running for compliment; June 23, 1796 for grant see file #1180 in Secretary of State's files.)
Joseph next appears on the 1790 census of Randolph as the only Sanders listed in the county, though we know that another Sanders family (Isaac and his wife and children) were living in Randolph by 1794.
Joseph Sanders appears on th 1790 U.S.
Census as
follows:
white male over 16 1
white males under 16 3
white
females
5
Joseph, of course, is the white male over 16. He had two male
children who are known to have been born before 1790. Rebecca
and
the four daughters known to have been born before 1790 account for the
5 white females. That leaves one white male under 16
unaccounted
for.
In 1798 Joseph Sanders and Isaac Saunders were chain carriers for a survey of land that had been sold by Edmund Carns to Isaac's son Benjamin in 1790. This Montgomery County land is described as being on Barnes Creek, which is near the Randolph County border. This would seem to indicate that Isaac and Benjamin were neighbors at that time, though all other references I have found to Joseph's land refer to the area of Back Creek, Abraham's Creek or Deep River, all to the northwest of Asheboro. Here are typical entries:
August 1, 1797 Joseph Sanders enters 250 acres in Randolph Co on waters of Back Creek and Deep River joining his own land on E,W., &S bounded by Peter Rich, Feaquar, Abraham Haskit, Joseph Osburn, and Joseph Close beginning at NE corner of his former survey and running for compliment; June 23, 1796 for grant see file #1180 in Secretary of State's files.)
March 10, 1798 Jesse Huff enters 100 acres of land in Randolph Co on water of Deep R or E side of Abraham Haskit's land bounded by the lines of Joseph Sanders and Feauquar and running for compliment;Joseph also is enumerated on the 1800 census. The census appears to give accurate estimates of the ages of the children, based on what we know from subsequent marriage records and census reports:
Males under 10 (1, Joseph, Jr.); males 10-16 (1, John); males 16-26 (1, George); males over 45 (1, Joseph)
Females under 10 (1, probably, Phebe, though she was born in 1789); females 10-16 (1, Sarah); females 16-26 (2, Rachel and Mary); females over 45 (1, Joseph's wife Rebecca)
Though DNA tests indicate that Joseph was not related to Isaac Saunders of Randolph County, there was extensive marriage between the children of Isaac and those of Joseph:
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., first married Martha Sanders. We don't know her parents, but she almost certainly is related to Isaac, though probably not his daughter.
Joseph's son Joseph, Jr., married secondly,Deborah Sanders, the daughter of Jacob.
Joseph's daughter Mary married Benjamin Sanders, the son of Isaac.
Joseph's daughter Rachel married Francis Sanders. In my article on Benjamin and Francis, I presented evidence for these two brothers having married two sisters.
That makes five of Joseph's children who may have married a child or grandchild of Isaac. Many of these couples later moved to Jackson County, Alabama: Benjamin and Mary, George and Phoebe, Franicis and Rachel, and Joseph and Martha.
Benjamin Sanders moved to Jackson County when he was a very elderly man in the 1830s, probably following the lead of his brother Francis and his son Benjamin, Jr., who was born in 1804. Jacob's grandson, Jesse Elbert Sanders, son of the Sampson Sanders who witnessed Nimrod Saunders' 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.
Because of these extensive connections, until the DNA tests were conducted, I assumed that Joseph, Sr., 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.
So--it's still a big mystery to me, and I assume to others who have researched this problem, why these two Sanders lines (that of Joseph and that of Isaac) 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.
Some early researchers 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 Wight indicates that his son Joseph Sanders was scheduled to inherit a couple of hundred acres. It is 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 individual as Joseph who died in North Carolina in 1803. The fact that both men were named Joseph, one in Virginia, and one in North Carolina, does not prove anything..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 Gray
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. Joseph is my third great grandfather-GS)
The settlement of Joseph's estate occurred in 1811:
Order to
settle with executors August Term 1811.
Josphua Craven and Benjamin Marmon appointed committee to settle. Test:
Jesse Harper, C.C. C. Settlement of estate, 14 November 1811.
Executors, Rebekah Sanders & George Sanders. Names: Francis
Sanders, Peter Rich, Benjamin Sanders, Jesse Sanders, Rebekah Sanders.
The individuals named here are readily identifiable. Francis Sanders,
of
course, was the husband of Joseph's daughter Rachel; Jessem
Sanders was the
husband of Joseph's daughter Phebe; Benjamin Sanders was the husband of
Joseph's daughter, Mary; and Peter Rich was the husband of Joseph's
daughter, Sarah. George Sanders, Joseph's son, and Rebecca Saunders,
Joseph's widow, were the executors.
In his will, Joseph mentioned that if his children were to be apprenticed out, that they be employed by someone of the Quaker faith.This does not necesarily mean that Joseph himself was a Quaker. He may have admired their honesty, trustworthy qualities, and fairness. We cannot rule out the possibility, however, that he was a former Quaker and, as previously mentioned, there is evidence that he lived near other Quakers and former Quakers.
In a effort to find Quakers who may
have been
related to Joseph or his known DNA relative, William Sanders of Chatham
County, I have looked through Hinshaw's The Encyclopedia of
American Quaker
Genealogy, volume I, for
references to Quakers named Sanders in
North Carolina. There were a surprising number of Quakes who had the
surname of Sanders, but, unfortunately, I haven't been able to
establish a kinship between any of them and the Joseph Sanders
line. Many of these Quaker Sanders moved frequently from one Monthly
Meeting to another, making identification even more
difficult. Among the Monthly Meetings in the Piedmont area of
North Carolina were the Cane Creek Monthly Meeting in Orange (now
Alamance), established about 1751; the New Garden Monthly Meeting in
Rowan County (now in Guilford), established in 1778; the Deep River
Monthly Meeting in Guilford County, establish in 1778; and the Back
Creek Monthly Meeting, established in 1792 in Randolph County.
One well-known Quaker family was that of John Sanders and
Jane
Crew of the Deep River Monthly Meeting in Guilford County, just to the
north of Randolph County.. The children
and descendants of Joel and John are pretty well-established through
the Quaker records, but the identity of the ancestors of Joel and John
is still very much in doubt (in spite of various postings on
the
Internet that purport to give their ancestors).
Looking once again at the Sanders in Randolph County in the
period from
1790 to 1810, I found that, for the most part, they easily fit
into known family groups, but there are a few that seem to spring from
nowhere and then disappear just as rapidly.
Joseph Sanders is the only Sanders listed on the 1790 census of
Randolph, but we know Isaac Saunders was there because there are
references to him in the land records in the early 1790s. In 1800
Joseph,Isaac, and Miles are the only Sanders listed. Miles
Sanders and
his children are pretty well documented. It appears he moved to
Randolph just before 1800 from Pasquotank County, he lived in Randolph
about fifteen years, and then he moved elsewhere. He doesn't appear to
have any connection to Joseph or Isaac of my Sanders lines.
In 1810, we find the following Sanders:
Benjamin,
married Jane Jenny Clark August 31, 1803. He lived near the Back Creek
area of northwest Randolph near the Quakers and he was active in the
Manumission Society in Rowan County. He disappears from
records
about 1825 and we have no records of whether he had children or not). I
believe he is probably the same Benjamin Sanders who was living in
Rowan County in 1830. I
am unable to determine whether he is related to either of my two
Sanders lines; however, James Winningham was the bondman for the
marriage of Benjamin and Jenny. Apparently, this is the same James
Winningham whose daughter Nancy married a Moses Sanders. in 1818. The
bondman fo that wedding was was George Sanders, son of Joseph, Sr. One
possibility is that this Benjamin and Moses were the sons of Joshua
Sanders who appears on the 1790 Montgomery and the 1810
Randolph
census. A Joshua Sanders was a chain carrier for a 1793 land grant to
Reubin Sanders, who was a neighbor to George Sanders. Aaron
Sanders, the Reverend Moses Sanders, and George Sanders owned land
adjacent to Nathaniel Steed and in 1774, George, Moses, and Aaron were
ordered to repair a road in Montgomery County, suggesting they were all
neighbors.
Benjamin,
my g-g grandfather,
son of Isaac Saunders. Benjamin married Mary, the daughter of Joseph.
He lived near the Montgomery County border.
Francis,
brother of my g-g
grandfather. Francis married Rachel, another daughter of Joseph. He was
enumerated near Benjamin on the census, but land records indicate
he owned land in the Back Creek area where the Quakers lived.
George,
a son of Joseph. He
married Phebe, a granddaughter of Isaac Saunders. Based on references
to him in land and legal records, he had a great deal of association
with Quakers or former Quakers.
Richard,
a Quaker who came to
Randolph from Perquimans in 1804. He was expelled in 1813 because his
sons joined the army to fight in the war of 1812). Richard
doesn't appear to be related to our group.
Josh
Sanders (there are two
Josh Sanders listed on the census). The Ancestry.com index lists three
Josh Sanders and does not list Francis. However, Francis is on the
actual image page, so I think the indexer made a mistake here and
recorded a third "Josh" instead of Francis. Also, one of the
Josh
Sanders may be unmarried (if the female living with him is not his
wife). I think his name may not be "Josh" at all, but that he
may
be John Sanders, the brother of George. John married Rachel Randon on
October 23, 1811. Who the other "Josh" is, I have no idea, but they are
both listed near Benjamin who married Mary, so I think Josh is
related to the Benjamin or Isaac line, even though we don't have
documentation. "Josh," who was probably a relatively
young
man in 1810, may be the same person as "Josiah" who appears on
the 1815 tax list of Randolph. There were also two Joshua Sanders
listed in the 1790 census of Randolph County. Whoever, these
individuals are, they are obviously related to the main Sanders line of
Randolph/Montgomery.
Quaker records have references to other Sanders who do not appear
on the census in 1810. For example, in 1807 a Joseph Sanders and his
wife, the former Martha Wells, were received into the Back Creek MM in
Randolph from Suttons Creek in Perquimans. They remained in Randolph
through the birth of several children and then in 1816 moved to Ohio. I
can't find any record they are related to Isaac or to the Joseph who
died in 1803..
I used to think that of the
property of
Joseph who died in 1803 was near the Montgomery County border.
This was based on the marriages of his children to Isaac's children and
to Joseph and Isaac being the chain carriers for a 1798
survey "beginning at Benjamin Sanders' corner post
oak." This land was on Barnes Creek, presumably just
over
the border in Montgomery County. However, after a survey of references
in Randolph County deeds, it is apparent that Joseph acquired
land
in the Back Creek and Deep River area of Randolph which is northwest of
Asheboro. In addition, Francis
Sanders(Benjamin's brother) and John Sanders (Benjamin's
brother-in-law) acquired land in the same area.
Here are a few of the many references I found:
May
30, 1813, Joseph Rich enters 40
ac. on waters of Back Cr.; border;
John Sanders and Peter Rich.
(John
Sanders is the son of Joseph
Sanders. Peter Wall Rich married
John's sister, Sarah, and was expelled by the Quakers for "marrying
out.")
1816,
Joseph Rich acquired 40 acres
in Randolph County, on Back Creek,
joning John Sanders, and Peter Rich.
Francis
Sanders purchased 100 acres
of land in 1804 from John Stalker.
This John Stalker was probably related to the Thomas Stalker who bought
land from Aaron Sanders of Loudoun County in 1828. Aaron Saunders of
Loudoun belongs to a unrelated Sanders line according to DNA tests.
August
14, 1804 Francis Saunders
enters 100 ac on waters of Back Cr;
border; begins on John Reading’s line and joins Thos
Reading’s entry.October 8, 1804 Francis Saunders enters 50
ac. On
waters of Back Cr; border; joins his own line and Thos
Reading’s
entry.
1817,
Francis Sanders is a chain
carriers for a grant of 200 acres to
Jonathan Reading in Randolph County, on the water of Back Creek,
adjoining Jacob Green and John Richardson.
596
(526). Peter Rich 305 ac.;
warrant #181 issued Jul. 30, 1786(Quaker
style date) by Sam Milikan to Peter Rich for 305 ac. on Gabrils Cr.,
joins Jos. Sanders, George Farlow, begins on Sanders' line, rune E to
George Farlow's, S, & entered Apr. 29, 1786; 305 ac. surveyed
Dec.
6,1 788 by Wm Millikan; Joseph Sanders & George Farlow, chain
carriers, grant #563, issued Nov. 24, 1790.
August
1, 1797 Joseph Sanders enters
250 acres in Randolph Co on waters
of Back Creek and Deep River joining his own land on E,W., &S
bounded by Peter Rich, Feaquar, Abraham Haskit, Joseph Osburn, and
Joseph Close beginning at NE corner of his former survey and running
for compliment; June 23, 1796 for grant see file #1180 in Secretary of
State's files.)
Gabriels' Creek, Hasketts Creek, and Back Creek are all north or north
west of Asheboro, the county seat. The Deep River seems to flow north
west to southeast and without other reference points it is difficult to
locate land that is identified only as along the Deep
River. Still, I believe the area referenced in the preceding
deeds
is
near the Quaker community of Back Creek.The Rich family,
neighbors to Joseph, were birthright Quakers, or at least some of them
were. Peter Rich married Joseph's daughter, Sarah, sister of the Mary
who married Benjamin Sanders who lived along the Randolph/Montgomery
border.
In 1803 when the the "other" Benjamin
Sanders(the one who attended
Manumission Society meetings) married Jenny Clark, the bondman was a
James Winningham. This James Winningham had a daughter named
Nancy. On March 18, 1818, she married a Moses Sanders in
Randolph
County. One of the witneses for that marriage was George Sanders.
Apparently, the only George Sanders in the county at that time was
George, the son of Joseph. George married Phebe, the
grandaughter of Isaac. The identity of this Moses Sanders who married
Nancy Winningham is unknown.
The Benjamin Sanders who married Jenny Clark and the Moses Sanders who
married Nancy Winningham were probably born between 1780 and 1800.
However, there appears to be no one on the 1790, 1800, or 1810 census
of Randolph who could be their obvious father and none of the Quaker
records
seem to indicate any possible parents. I believe, however, there is
enough evidence to
indicate they are related to Joseph Sanders, though the nature of that
relationship is presently unknown.
( Revised January 20, 2010)
Name on 1810
census of |
M under 10 |
M 10-15 |
M 16-25 |
M 16-44 |
M over 45 |
F under 10 |
F 10- 15 |
F 16- 25 |
F 26- 44 |
F over 45 |
Josh (born
before 1765) |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
1 |
|
Josh (born
1785-1794) |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
Benjamin (son
of Isaac, born about 1766) |
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
2 |
|
1 |
|
Francis
(another son of Isaac, born 1782) |
3 |
|
|
1 |
|
3 |
|
|
1 |
|
Richard
(recent arrival in 1810 from Pasquotank, born 1755) |
3 |
|
|
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
George
(brother of Joseph, Jr., born 1785) |
|
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
Benjamin
(born 1780, no known relationship to the other Benjamin |
2 |
|
|
1 |
|
2 |
|
|
1 |
|
(The Sanders family discussed in the following article is not related to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery.)
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 cannot 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 on descendants of Richard (though James Sanders and Sarah Tully of North Carolina) provide a standard for testing the claims of those Sanders who claim descendant from John of Nansemond; unless the living Sanders match the Y-DNA of the living descendants of James Sanders and Sarah Tully, we can probably rule out descent from John of Nansemond.
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 1681 land grant? Basically, almost 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).
Click
on icon to return
to Index
“A
Notorious Actor”—John Sanders of
Virginia—and His
Descendants
by Gary Sanders
(The Sanders family discussed in the following article is not related to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery. This article first 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 not the same person as the young son named Francis mentioned in the will of Francis Sanders of Gates County in 1783.)
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 was probably at least twenty-one years old 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, 1751This 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.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 markOctober 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?).
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, 1783Gates County, Original Wills, 11763-1904
CR 041.801.10In 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 markWilliam Odom
Uriah Odom
Kedam (?) ParkerState 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.
Note: Evidence discovered after the article was written pretty well rules out any possibility of the young Francis of Gates being the same person as Francis of Randolph County.
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The progenitor of the
Henry Sanders line appears to have
been Hugh Sanders who is first noted in a record dated March 8, 1664
(O.S.)
when he patented 400 acres in the Upper Parish of Nansemond County
adjoining
the
Henry himself was
married twice. His first wife was a Miss
Lawrence, a daughter of the John Lawrence who died in 1695 in
Henry’s second
marriage was to Margaret Sellaway, the
daughter of John and Margaret Sellaway. John Sellaway made his will in
From John
Sellaway’s will, we can establish that Henry
Sanders married Margaret Sellaway after the death of his first wife,
Miss
Lawrence. Since only one grandson is mentioned, the Sellaway marriage
probably did not
occur much before 1712, and John was probably still an infant at the
time.
Although numerous individuals
named
John
Sanders lived in
Further, the same
John Sanders gave land to his brothers Robert and
Henry in October 1732:
DB 4 p. 194. 24
Sept.
1732 deed of Gift of John Sanders to his brother Henry Sanders...455
acres
(being part of the land conveyed from John Lear to Robert Cooper on 11
Dec
1688, another part came from Thomas Gale to Robert Cooper on 1 Sep.
1688, a
third part was granted to Thomas Cooper with part in Isle of Wight and
part in
Nansemond county on 7 Nov. 1700 and another part is a patent granted
Henry
Sanders containing 118 acres joining on the land of John Roberts). Wit:
Thomas
Gale, Jr., Thomas (x) Sykes and Edward (x) Johnson. Singed John (x)
Sanders,
rec. 25 Sep. 1732
DB 4 p. 206. 23
Oct
1732. John Sanders to his brother, Robert Sanders, for Love and
Affection...350
acres on Horse Branch (being part of a patent granted Hugh Sanders on 8
Mar
1664). Wit: Thomas Gale, Jr., John Pope, Jr. and William Bryan. Signed
John (x) Sanders Rec 24 Oct 1732.
(Isle of Wight County, Virginia deeds 1720-1736 and Deeds 1741-1749 by
William
Lindsay Hopkins, 1994)
From these deeds, we
can establish that this is the John who
was the son of Henry Sanders and Margaret Sellaway and that John had
brothers
named Robert and Henry. Further, we know the land given to Robert came
from the
Hugh Sanders grant and that the land given to Henry came from the land
grant to Thomas
Cooper, who had been married to John’s aunt Sarah.
Since
Robert and
Henry are not mentioned in the will of their grandfather in 1712, we
may assume
(though this is not certain), that they were born after John. We
know that Henry, Jr. was at least 14 years
old in
February 1726 because of he
was a witness to the will of Ann Exum in
that year. Fourteen was the age at which one was allowed to witness a
will in
colonial
In 1981,
architectural historian Dell Upton, did research on
a house that is still standing in
Four years later,
Barbara Clark Smith, devoted a chapter of
her book, "After the Revolution: A Smithsonian History of Everyday Life
in
the Eighteenth Century," (Pantheon books, NY 1985) to
the life of the same Captain Henry Saunders of
Except for the
material about the murder and trial, Smith
took most of her genealogical material from the previous work of Dell
Upton who traced the
As previously
mentioned, Henry and Margaret had three sons, as follows:
John Sanders
(1710-1772). I have another article
that deals with John’s will of 1772
and with his descendants, so far as we are able to trace them.
Robert Sanders (about
1714-1794). Robert, who may have been the youngest son, received
property from his brother John in 1732. In 1772, he witnessed
John’s will.
Robert died in 1794. His will mentions a daughter Ann, married to Mills
Pope; a
daughter Betty married to Perkins Carstarphen; a daughter Peggy,
married to
Robert Roberts; and a daughter Catherine, married to Richard Pope.
Henry Sanders, Jr.
(about 1712-1761). The second son of Henry Sanders and Margaret
Sellaway,
Henry, Jr., also received land from his brother John in 1732. Henry
married a
woman whose name was Martha (or possibly, Mary) and they had two known
children: Henry Saunders and Sarah Saunders.
Very little is known about
Henry, Jr., but he apparently died
about
1761. An inventory of his estate was done in that year, listing
everything from
six slaves (but only one adult male) to one candle stick. He appears to
have
been a substantial and prosperous middle class farmer. In 1771 his
widow Martha brought suit
on behalf of her daughter Sarah against her son Henry Saunders in a
dispute
over the estate of her deceased husband. Sarah was living in
The focus of Barbara
Clark's Smith's book is the son of Henry Sanders, Jr., Captain Henry
Saunders (about
1740-about 1811)
“This is the
story of Henry Saunders, his community, and his
ambitions. It is important to know at the outset that Henry Saunders
was no
ordinary
Many details about
Captain Henry Saunders’ life are somewhat
sketchy, but it is known his wife was the former Anne Tallough and that
he had
two children named Betsy and Job. Smith believes that Henry may have
died in
prison;
Both authors
provide a fascinating glimpse into Henry’s
many land deals and agricultural pursuits, and about the culture and
society of Virginia
(May 25, 2014)
Will of John Sanders of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, 1772
The Sanders family discussed in the following article is not related to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery. As mentioned in the preceding article, the John Sanders who made his will in 1772 was the son of Henry Sanders (about 1664-1733) and Margaret Sellaway. The Joseph Sanders mentioned as a son in this will is sometimes said to have been the same person as my third great grandfather 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.
Dell Upton ("The Virginia Parlor: A Report on the Henry Saunders House and Its Occupants," MS, Smithsonian Institution, 1981, 152 pp.) provides useful information about some of the children of John mentioned in the will.
Thomas, probably the oldest son, died in 1784, twelve years after his father. His wife was named Elizabeth and their children were anotherThomas (died 1815) whose wife was the former Anna Johnson, John, who died in 1797, and a daughter named Mary.
John, Jr., was married to a woman named Anne (possibly Anne Fleming). His son was another John who married Holland Britt in 1792.
Joseph, who appears on the 1810 census of Isle of Wight, died about 1819. Among his children were Anne who married Robert Bateman and Morning who married a Mr. Crumpler. Joseph Sanders had a grandson named Robert Bateman.
Henry died in 1792. His children were Benjamin, Henry, Jr., and Elias who married Elizabeth Roberts in 1817.
Jacob was dead by 1784 when his brother Thomas made his will.
Sarah married Thomas Dunston.
Mary married Simon Westray. Descendants of Mary are rather well-researched.
There do not appear to be many individuals working on the genealogy of this Sanders family, but Dell Upton provides a useful genealogical chart of John Sanders' descendants on page five of his manuscript that would be a good starting point for anyone who is interested in doing further research. Using Upton's chart as a guide, I have prepared a chart of my own and added a few dates and other details.
-Gary Sanders (revised May 25, 2014)
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. [Joseph died about 1819 in Isle of Wight-gs]
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
unto my son John one young calf, one slate,
one stone pitcher, one small iron pot.
Item
I give
unto my son Joseph Sanders one pair of
Neelyard
(?) and all my hogs that ---- (?) at the Sipos (?) Swamp.
Item
I give
unto my son Jacob Sanders one iron gun rod
and all my hogs that ----(?) at the Hickory and all my cider
casks.
Item
I give
unto my son Thomas Sanders five shillings.
Item
I give
unto my son Henry Sanders five shillings.
Item
I give
unto my three sons John Sanders, Joseph
Sanders, and Jacob Sanders the remainder part of my estate that I have
not already mentioned to be equally divided between the
three. I
also appoint my loving wife Elizabeth and my son John Sanders to be my
whole and sole ----(?) of this my last will and testament. In
witness
I have hereunto set my hand and fixed my seal this third day of
February,
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-two.
Witnesses
Jethro
Gale
Robert
Sanders
Anne
Sanders
John Sanders
his mark
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on icon to return
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Jim Sanders of California was the first to notice that the description of the land sold in 1836 by Nimrod Sanders matches the description of the property that was granted to Aaron Sanders in Anson County in 1772. This discovery provides irrefutable evidence that the Aaron who appears in land transactions, often along with Moses Sanders, in Anson County in the 1770s is the same person as William Aaron Saunders of family tradition. Moses Sanders and Isaac Sanders owned land in the same vicinity, on Barnes Creek in what is present day Montgomery County.
William Aaron is described in family
tradition as someone who lived in the Anson/Montgomery County area who
had children named Stephen, Nimrod, and Luke and a wife named Joan.
His son Nimrod, father of Thomas Bailey
Saunders, sold land
in the mid-1830s in preparation for a move to Alabama. The legal
description of the land that Nimrod sold matches exactly the legal
description of the land that Aaron was granted in the 1770s. Further,
after Aaron's death in 1782, the land was referenced in land
transactions as belonging to the "widow Sanders"
or Joanah Sanders. The chain bearers on one of these
surveys
were Nimrod and Stephen, thus confirming family tradition that these
were the names of the sons of Joan and Aaron. Joanah or Joan
appears to be the older woman living with her son Nimrod on the 1800
and 1810 census.
Jim Sanders has done extensive research in the land records of Montgomery County. Here is part of his analysis from his booklet, "The Sanders family of Montgomery County, North Carolina."
p. 6
"Joanah Sanders. On November 29th, 1803, grant #1023 was
issued
to Joanah Sanders. It was for 50 acres described as 'beginning at a
hickory on Barnes Creek.' The survey was adjacent to Jacob
Sanders
and Stephen Sanders. Luke and Nimrod Sanders, her sons, were the chain
carriers. Entered August
20, 1803. Entry 5760. Bk 100 pg. 416. Card #1449. At first glance, we
assumed we had found a new Sanders. However, after reading the warrant
for the survey, closely, we discovered 'Joanah' is noted as a her. The
warrant also
stated the survey was to include her improvements. This would indicate
that this property would be part of the original grant to Aaron in 1773
as her home was located there. She lived there with Nimrod her youngest
son, until her death. Her sons, Luke, Nimrod, Stephen and possibly
Jacob, if he were a son, lived contiguous to her." [Most
researchers, including myself, regard Jacob as a son of Isaac, not as a
son of Nimrod.-gs].
Jim continues: "We realize that Aaron's wife was Joanah Bailey Sanders.
Joanah remained on her husband's land grant after his death in 1781.
Her youngest son, Nimrod, stayed on the land grant also and he was
enumerated there in the 1800 census of Montgomery County. Nimrod
Sanders is the
only male in the house. He is listed as aged between 26 and
25.
The only female listed is aged over 45, born before 1755. I submit that
this is Joanah or the 'widow Sanders.' They are living on the property
on the Reedy Fork of Barnes Creek. In 1810 Nimrod's family has grown.
He has a wife and 2 sons under 10 and 2 daughters also under 10. His
mother is still with him and she is shown as being born before 1765. In
1836 Nimrod sold the land grant
to William Strider."
Jim shows that Jacob Saunders's land
was
adjacent to Joan Bailey
Saunders' land. Benjamin Saunders owned property about 1.5 miles north
of the "widow Sanders," separated only by Stephen's land.
Luke
Saunders' land was nearby. Also nearby were properties that
belonged to Nathaniel Steed and to members of the Hamilton
family. Apparently, all up and down the waters of Barnes
Creek
there were farms that belonged to member of the Saunders and related
families. This area was only a few miles from the Randolph
border, and apparently, at some time before 1800 Isaac Saunders moved
across the border, but Benjamin remained in Montgomery for several more
years until he, too, moved just over the county line. Also Randolph
County was Joseph Sanders, who died in 1803 and whose sons and
daughers married into the Saunders line of the Randolph/Montgomery
group.
The 1811
estate settlement of Joseph's estate reveals that one of his
daughters, Mary, was married to Benjamin Sanders. this Benjamin later
moved to Jackson County, Alabama.
Unfortunately, though we know that William Aaron died in 1782 or earlier, we know very nothing about how or why he died. All we have regarding William Aaron's estate is this:
Montgomery Co., NC Records
Letters of Admr on estate of Aaron Sanders, deceased.
Granted William Miller, Sec(?) Mark Allen, Esq. & John Hopkins,
for
100
pounds
Recorded 12 Nov 1782 Book A, Folio 19 - George Davidson, Clerk
SS 884 Dept of Archives & History, Raleigh, NC
Leg. papers House of
Commons Nov 3-15,
1788 L.P. 80
Leg. papers L.P 46
Letters of administration for his estate were granted in November 1782,
but William Aaron may have died a year of more before that
date.
Did he die in a skirmish with the Tories, as tradition would have it,
or in bed? My guess is that he was a middle aged man or
younger
when he died. Since his wife lived at least another twenty years after
his death, I don't think he could have been much older than about 45 at
the time of his death. We know his brothers were probably born in the
1740s. Moses is traditionally said to have been born in 1742,
which appears about right. Isaac and Tabitha are said to have
been living when Thomas Bailey Sanders was a child in the 1820s.
Therefore, I think most of the children in this family were probably
born around 1740 or later, leaving them in their 80s in the 1820s.
William Aaron, rather than Isaac, may hve been the oldest child.
Though there is a record of the letters of administration of William
Aaron's estate, there is no record of the estate settlement or of the
will itself. I assume these once existed but were lost in the
fires and other losses at the Montgomery County courthouse. We
have to rely on land records, such as those below, to establish that
this is the same family.
Aaron Sanders' grant in in 1772:
"Beginning at a hickory standing on the Reedy Fork of Barnes Creek and runs thence No 52 W 127 poles to a stake among 1 Hickory, 1 White Oak and 1 Pine pointers. Then So. 38 W 127 poles, then So 52 E 127 poles, then No. 38 E 127 poles to the beginning. Containing 100 acres. Surveyed for Aaron Sanders June 27th, 1772 by James Cotton , Surveyor. Chain carries Aaron and Arthur Henry.[From Jim Sanders' notes].
Nimrod Sanders deed of the land in 1836:
Register of Deeds, Montgomery County,
North
Carolina,
Bk. 14
transcribed
by Gary Sanders
This indenture made the 24 day of November in the year of our Lord 1836 by and between Nimrod Sanders of the County of Montgomery and State of North Carolina of the one hand, and William Strider of the County and State aforesaid of the other part, witneseth, that for and in consideration of the sum of one hundred dollars to him the said Nimrod Sanders in hand paid by the said William Strider, before the selling and delivery of the presents and the said Nimrod Sanders bargain, sell and (?) seal over and by force of these presents have bargained sold and conferred, conveyed unto the said William Strider, his heirs and assigns, a certain tract or parcel of land lying in the county and state aforesaid on the water of Barnes Creek, beginning at a hickory standing on Reedy fork of Barnes Creek and running thence north 52, west 127 poles to a stake among one hickory, one white oak and one pine pointers thru south 38 W 127 poles, thence south 50 ex 120 poles, then north 38 ex 127 poles to the beginning, containing one hundred acres of land, be the same more or less, to have and to hold said premises to the said William Strider his heirs, assigns, clear and free of any incumbrances whatever, and will forever warrant and defend the rights, titles of aforesaid premises to said William Strider, his heirs and assigns, against myself, my heirs and assigns, or any other person, forever clear and free from all manner of claims so far as he is able under and by virtue of a grant from the state of North Carolina no further. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal the day and date above written, signed sealed and delivered.
Nimrod Sanders
Robert
Hudson
[Assumed
to be witness-gs]
Montgomery County Court, April 1839. Then this deed was proven in open court by the oath of Sampson [looks like Solomon but should be Sampson] Sanders and ordered to be registered.
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The original of the following document
is
very
hard to read; therefore some of my interpretation may be
incorrect.
In my transcription, I have added commas and periods as punctuation.
This
deed, combined with the statement in the Thomas Bailey Saunders letter
that Isaac Saunders had a son named "Ben," is the main
documentation
we have for the parentage of Benjamin. DNA tests also show
that
Benjamin's descendants belong
in
the same Sanders line as Isaac's descendants.
—Gary Sanders
Register of Deeds
Bk. 11,
pg. 98.
Asheboro,
North Carolina
This indenture made the 2nd day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & six between Isaac Sanders of Randolph County & State of North Carolina of the one part and Benjamin Sanders of Montgomery County and state aforesaid of the other witnesseth that the said Isaac Sanders, for and in consideration of the sum of one shilling, good & lawful money of North Carolina to him in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged by the said Isaac Sanders, hath granted, bargained, and sold and by these presents doth bargain and sell unto the said Benjamin Sanders his heirs and assigns a tract of land containing one acre being and lying in Randolph County and state of North Carolina on Sanders Bumpass fork of Little River, beginning at a red oak standing on the south side of said river and turning North, crossing with the river ten poles to a stake, thence west sixteen poles to a stake, then south ten poles to a stake, then last sixteen poles to the first joining.
Including a mill site, it being part of the land whereon the said Isaac Sanders now lives, together with all woods, ways, water, mines, minerals heretofore in appurtenances. To the said land belonging or appertaining with the river flow; and reversions, remainders, and remainder rents, specie and profits thereof; also all the estate rights and title interest property claims and domains whatsoever of him.
The said Isaac Sanders, his heirs, executors, administrators of, in, and to the said hereby granted land and premises, with all and singular, the appurtenances unto the said Benjamin Sanders, his heirs and assigns for ever, and the said Isaac Sanders himself, his heirs, executors, administrators, the said tract of land and premises and every part thereof against him his heirs and against all and every other person and persons whatsoever to the said Benjamin Sanders, his heirs and assigns, shall and will warrant and ever defend by these presents, in which whereof the said Isaac Sanders hath hereunto set his hand and seal the year and day above written.
State of North Carolina
Randolph
County
November
10, 1806
The executor of the written deed was
duly proven
in open court by John Graves and ordered to be registered.
Test.
J.
Harper , Clerk
Justin Sanders provided valuable assistance in helping me with some of the difficult to read words in the following deed:
This Indenture Made the 26 Day of January in the year or Lord 1808 Between Isaac Sanders of the one part of the County of Randolph and State of No. Carolina & Benjamin Sanders of the County & State afs'd, of the other part Witnesseth that for & in consideration of the Sum of two Hundred pounds in hand paid hath Given Granted Bargained & Sold unto the Said Benjamin Sanders all that tract or parcel of land Lying & B[e]ing in' Randolph County on Bumpas fork of Little River & bounded as f[ollows]
Beginning a Hickory thence East 20 po.
to a
hickory thence South 120 po. to a Black Oak, thence E't 240 po. to a
White Oak, Being a Cond[it]ional Corner, thence No. 130 po. to a Stake,
in the old line thence West 260 po. to a Stake, thence South to the
Beginning Containing two Hundred acres be the Same more or less, To
have & to hold the afs'd 200 acres of land with all Privileges
& Improvements to the Same Belonging to him the s'd Benj'n
Sanders his Heirs, Ex'rs, Adm'rs, or Assigns forever,
& he
the s'd Isaac Sanders Doath hereby Covenant & agree to
& with
the s'd Benj'n Sanders Shall & May forever, hereafter peaceably
& Quietely have hold Occupy possess & Enjoy the above
Mentioned
Land & premises Without the Least Molestation of any person
Whatsoever Claiming by from or under him. In Witness Whereof
I
have hereto Set my hand & affixed My Seal the Day &
year above
Written
State of No. Carolina }
Randolph
County }
May Term 1808
The Execution of the Within Deed was Duly Given in open
Court by Jesse Sanders & ordered to be Registered
A .Copy.
Test
Jesse Harper CC
Deed of Benjamin Sanders to John Lucas, 1833, Randolph County, North Carolina
Benjamin Sanders sold several parcels of land in the early 1830s as he and his family were making preparation for the move to Jackson County, Alabama. Among the transactions was a sale to John Lucas whose grandson was married to Benjamin's grandaughter:
Benjamin Sanders to
John Lucas, Bk 29, p. 220, Randolph County, 1833
This indenture made and entered into this sixteenth day of November,
one thousand eight hundred and thirty three between Benjamin Sanders of
the county, state of North Carolina and County of Randolph, of the one
part and John Lucas of the said state and county aforesaid of the one
part witness that for and in consideration of the sum of one
hundred and fifty dollars to him in hand paid, hath bargained and sold
and delivered into the said John Lucas a certain tract or parcel of
land lying and being in the county of Randolph on the waters of Barnes
Creek, beginning at a red oak marked H running thence south forty
chains crossing a branch to a hickory, thence east crossing? said creek
seventy five chains to a post oak and black jack near the Fayetteville
road, thence north crossing said road forty chains to a post oak,
thence crossing? said road and creek back to the beginning,
containing three hundred acres of land in this tract. I the
said
Benjamin Sanders do bind myself my heirs and executors unto the said
John Lucas for two hundred and twenty seven acres of land in and ? to
have and to hold to occupy and possess and enjoy by the said Lucas and
his heirs forever and the said Benjamin Sanders do bind myself my heirs
and assigns unto the said John Lucas and his heirs and assigns from all
other person having any liens? or claim or title to the above mentioned
boundary of land in witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
seal the said? date above written in the presence of us.
Joel Lucas
P. C. Sanders
Benjamin Sanders
His mark
According to Justin Sanders, this land was not the same land that Benjamin acquired from Isaac in 1806, but Benjamin sold that land, too, in 1833: "The deed of Benjamin to Henry Woolever, 7 Nov 1833, (Randolph Deed Bk 19, p395) is the one where Benjamin conveys the land that Isaac deeded him in 1808. The calls are exactly the same, except that he includes a 130 ac tract to the north of Isaac's. And Isaac's has an odd little neck 10 poles wide and 20 poles long sticking off to the west at the NW corner that isn't included in the Woolever deed. I suspect that the additional 130 ac on the north is Benjamin's land entry of 1830 which amounted to 130 ac.I have not found any deed or land grant so far (but I don't have the calls for most of the grants) that has any calls like the Lucas deed."
I have attempted a map of the general lay of the land described in the deed to John Lucas in 1833. The most obvious point is that it was on the Fayetteville road, but it could not have been very far from the border with Montgomery County. While emphasizing the caveat that I hope no one assumes my map is based on anything other than my own speculation about what the deed describes, here is a link to the map:
Benjamin Sanders to John Lucas, 1833
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Deed
of Israel Sanders, ex al, to Mary Sanders, 1830,
Montgomery County,
North
Carolina
This was a deed by which the children of Jacob Sanders, son of Isaac Saunders, sold their interest in the land inherited from their father to their mother, Mary Sanders, and to their brother, Henry Sanders.
Book 29, p. 33
Transcribed
by Gary Sanders
(Many
words are illegible, but, fortunately, not
the names of the individuals; transcription should be checked against
the
original. My understanding of the will is that it is a conveyance of
land
from the children of Jacob to their mother Mary Sanders and to Henry
Sanders.
The first sentence seems to say that Mary is a widow of
Henry, but the subsequent sentences have the "&"
instead of
the word
"of." The material in brackets is commentary or corrections added
by Joe Thompson who has done extensive surveying in the Montgomery
County area. )
Israel Sanders ex al to Mary Sanders, Deed
This indenture made the sixteenth [date illegible-gs] day of August one thousand eight hundred and thirty between Mary Sanders, widow, of (and?) Henry Sanders of the State of North Carolina and County of Montgomery, we Israel Sanders, Deborah Sanders, Mary Sanders, Anna Sanders, Pheba Sanders, Jesse Sanders, and Rebbecah Adams of the state and county aforesaid of the other part, witnesseth that the said legatees of Jacob Sanders, dec’d, we Israel Sanders, Peggy Hardister, Jacob Sanders, Sampson Sanders, Deborah Sanders, Mary Sanders, Anna Sanders, Pheba Sanders, Jesse Sanders, Rebecca Adams of the state aforesaid, for and in consideration of the sum of two hundred dollars to them in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged before the signing of these presents, doth hereby grant, bargain and sell unto the said Mary Sanders, widow, and Henry Sanders, and their heirs forever a certain tract or parcel of land lying in the county and state aforesaid as follows: lying on the waters of Barnes Creek, beginning on a post oak opposite Reed branch fork, Barnes Creek, and runs thence south forty four west one hundred and twenty seven poles to a black oak, thence south forty six east one hundred and twenty seven poles, thence north forty four east one hundred twenty seven poles, thence north forty-six west one hundred and twenty seven poles to the beginning, containing one hundred acres more or less. Also one other tract adjoining the other, beginning at a hickory his [meaning Jacob Sanders] old corner in James Neal’s line and runs with the said line south fifty (?)[South 50 E 56 poles] and fifty-five poles to a red oak by a hickory, Jesse Sanders’ line, thence east fifty six poles, thence north forty four degrees East 100 poles, [this corner is on the side of Weisner Mountain. It is a corner of a Henry Saunders Land Grant dated September 25, 1846], thence north 16 west one hundred and three poles [also a corner of the Henry Saunders land grant], thence south forty-four west forty-three poles, James Neals’ line, thence with his line north forty six west one hundred twenty-seven poles, thence north [an error-grant calls for south] forty four west sixteen poles to Jacob Sanders’ old line, thence with his line south 46 east one hundred twenty seven, thence south forty-four west one hundred and twenty seven poles to the beginning, containing one hundred acres, be the same more or less, adding the two together makes two hundred acres more or less.
To have and to hold the aforesaid premises with all and singular the rights, privileges and appurtenances, thereto belonging to them, the said Mary Saunders, widow, and Henry Sanders, their heirs and assigns for ever clear and free from we the said Jacob Sanders, Peggy Hardister, Jacob Saunders, Sampson Sanders, Deoborah Sanders, Mary Sanders, Anna Sanders, Pheba Sanders, Jesse Sanders, Rebecca Adams. Do by themselves and their heirs ------- ----warrant and defend the aforesaid premises unto the said Mary Sanders, & Henry and their heirs forever from any claim of Israel Sanders and all the above legatees named their heirs and assigns forever, in witness we hereunto set our marks and seals the day and date above written in the presents of the witnesses.
[Witnesses names are illegible.]
Signed:
Israel
Sanders seal
Peggy
Sanders seal
Jacob
L. Sanders seal
Sampson
Sanders seal
Deborah
Sanders seal
Mary
(his mark) Sanders seal
Anna
Sanders seal
George
Sanders for Pheba Sanders
North Carolina
Before
Montgomery County C. C. Wade
On this
10 day of December 1885 personally appeared
before me, Henry Sanders, the owner who being duly sworn, says that the
grantor, bargainer, or maker of the annexed deed and the witness
thereto
are dead and cannot be found and that he cannot make proof of their
handwritings.
Sworn
and subscribed before me and is therefore
ordered that said deed by other Henry (his mark) Sanders with this
affidavit
be registered
CC Wade
Clerk,
Superior Court
Montgomery
County.
Six years later, in 1837, Mary Sanders, who was in her late seventies at that time, sold her land to her son Henry:
Montgomery County Deeds, Book 29, p. 41.
Mary Sanders to Henry Sanders Deed
This indenture made on the twenty-fifth day of February in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty seven between Mary Sanders of the County of Montgomery and State of North Carolina of the one part and Henry Sanders of the County and State aforesaid of the other part, witnesseth that for and in consideration of the sum of two hundred dollars in hand paid, the receipt and payment whereof is hereby acknowledged by the said Mary Sanders to the said Henry Sanders, hath bargained and sold and by these presents doth bargain sell, ? [illegible-gs] and confirm unto the said Henry Sanders two certain tracts or parcels of land, situated, lying, and being in the County and State aforesaid on the waters of Barnes Creek.
The first x begins and runs as follows: beginning at a fork x oak opposite Reed Creek, fork Barnes Creek and runs thence South 44 west x one hundred and twenty seven poles to a black oak, thence ch (?) 46 East x one hundred and twenty seven poles, thence North 44 east x one hundred and twenty seven poles, thence North 46 west x one hundred twenty seven poles to the beginning containing one hundred acres more or less. Also one other tract adjoining the above.
Beginning at a hickory ? ? ? [three illegible words-gs] in James Neal’s line and runs with the said line ?[illegible word-gs] 50 east x fifty five poles to a red oak by a hickory [on] Jesse Sanders line, thence east fifty-six poles, thence No. 54 east one hundred poles, thence N [NW?] 16 west x one hundred and three poles, thence So. 44 west x forty three poles to James Neal’s line; thence with his line N.E. 46 west x one hundred and twenty seven poles, thence N [?] 44 sixteen poles to Jacob sanders old line, then South his line SE 46 East x one hundred and twenty seven poles; thence NE [?] 44 West one hundred and twenty seven poles to the beginning, containing one hundred acres, more or less, make in all two hundred acres, together with all woods, ways, waters, and water courses mines, minerals, here ? [illegible-gs] and appurtenances belonging in any way, appertaining to the said lands and premises and that the said Mary Sanders does for herself, her heirs, executors, and administrators or assigns covenant and bargain and sell and convey the said lands and premises to Henry Sanders, his heirs and assigns.
To have and to hold forever and their only proper use and benefit and that said Mary Sanders does bind herself her heirs and assigns to warrant and forever defend against the lawful claims of any person or person whatsoever.
Whereby the said lands and premises might or may be affected or encumbered contrary to the true intent and meaning of these presents, in testimony whereof, I, the said Mary Sanders, have hereunto set my hand an affixed my seal the day and date first above written.
Mary Sanders
seal
Wm Crook
Jacob
L. Sanders
North Carolina
Before
Montgomery County CC Wade, CSC
On this 10th day of December 1880,
personally
appears
before me Henry Sanders, owner, who being duly sworn, says: that the
grantor,
bargainer or maker of the annexed deed and the witness there to are
dead
or cannot be found and that he cannot make proof of their handwriting.
Sworn
and subscribed before the same and is
therefore
ordered that said Deed together with this affidavit be registered.
his
Henry x
Sanders
mark
C. C. Wade, Clerk Superior Court
Montgomery
County
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Obituary of Levi Lindsey Sanders of Van Zandt County, Texas, 1917
This obituary is from the Canton, Texas Herald, January 12, 1917. Levi Lindsey Sanders was the son of Benjamin Sanders, Jr. (1804-1863), and the grandson of Benjamin Saunders, Sr., who moved from Randolph County, North Carolina to Jackson County, Alabama in the 1830s. According to this account, Benjamin Saunders was ninety-eight when he died; according to an account by Levi's son, Benjamin was over one hundred. The truth may be that he was only in his eighties, but Levi left home when he was teenager and his grandfather must have seemed very ancient to the young man. According to census and other records, Benjamin was probably born between 1766 and 1770 and probably died between 1840 and 1850. The statement that Ben was an Irish Catholic is also something of a puzzle because none of the other Sanders associated with Benjamin and his family seemed to have any tradition about an Irish Catholic origin for the family.
Mr. L. L. Sanders, one of the oldest and most highly respected citizens of Van Zandt County, died at his late home at Ben Wheeler, Thursday, Jan. 4, at 3:30 p.m. Levi Lindsey Sanders was born in Jackson County, Ala., February 21, 1837, his age being 79 years, 10 months and 17 days. He was a son of Buck Ben Sanders, a gunsmith, and came of Irish Catholic ancestry, his people settling in North Carolina. Uncle Levi's paternal grandfather, Ben Saunders, as the name was orginally spelled, was converted from the Catholic faith at a camp meeting in Jackson County, Ala., at the age of 96 years, dying two years later. Uncle Levi was one of nine children and left home at the age of 16, working on a steamboat on the Mississippi for some time. Later, he setttled in Arkansas, following his trade of blacksmith. He came to Texas in 1857 and married Miss Susan Collins in 1858, the marriage occurring in Dallas when that city was a mere village.
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Biography of D. Leon Sanders of Willis Point in Van Zandt County, Texas
(Dwelly Leonidas Sanders was the son of Levi Lindsey Sanders, the grandson of Benjamin Sanders, Jr., and the great-grandson of Benjamin Saunders, Sr., who is probably the same person as the "Ben" mentioned in the Thomas Bailey Saunders letter which is discussed elsewhere at this site. D. L. Sanders was the half-brother of Morgan Gurley Sanders, who served in Congress from 1921 until 1939. Apparently, Dr. Sanders was not fond of his full first name or his middle name; in most documents, he appears as "D. Leon Sanders." His first name is listed as "Dwelly" on his military service record for World War I and he is listed as "Dwelly Leonidas" in a directory of the Texas Medical Association during the 1950s.)
From: A History of Texas and
Texans
Johnson,
Francis White
Chicago:
American Historical Society, 1914
5
vols., p. 1746
D. LEON SANDERS, M.D., of Wills Point, where he has been engaged in practice since 1906, is the representative of one of the oldest families in the south, members of the family having been identified with affairs in Alabama, North Carolina and Texas for several generations past.
Born in Ben Wheeler, Texas, on October 2, 1871, Dr. Sanders is the son of Levi L. Sanders, a retired merchant and farmer of Ben Wheeler, himself the son of Benjamin Sanders, a Blacksmith of Jackson county, Alabama. The latter was killed by the Federals during the war of the sixties. He was born in North Carolina, and was the son of an Irishman of that state, who died in Alabama when he was more than one hundred years of age. He had two sons and six daughters, and one of his sons was Levi L., the father of Dr. Sanders of this review.
Levi L. Sanders was born in Jackson county, Alabama, in 1837, and he learned something of blacksmithing from his father while in his youth. He became dissatisfied with his home while yet a mere boy and ran away, thinking to better his conditions and for a time he was employed on a Mississippi River Steamboat. When he reached Texas in 1848, he found a home with Rev. Nels King, of Rowlett, Dallas county, and he stayed there until he took unto himself a wife, Miss Susan Collins, who was a daughter of William and Minerva Collins. Our subject's mother had three brothers, Leon, Van and Tom, who were Texas Rangers and who were stationed at Ft. Worth with Gen. Worth, who was in command of the fort, Ft. Worth being named in honor of him. And it was through the three brothers' influence that the Collins family came to Texas in the pioneer days, and Collin county was named in honor of some of the Collins boys. Levi Sanders was a settler to Texas from Alabama. In Oak Cliff, Dallas county, he established his home. The town was then in embryo, and he opened a shop, engaged in blacksmithing, and continued there for a few years. He moved then to Brownsboro, in Henderson county, going there prior to the war, and after four years of residence there he joined the Confederate army as a mechanic in the company of Captain Bridges, Company O, Sixth Texas Infantry Regiment in General Ross's Brigade, and he was made brigade blacksmith by General Ross. He served throughout the war without accident or untoward happening, and when peace was restored he returned to his place at the anvil, moving his shop to Ben Wheeler, in Van Zandt county, continuing there in his trade until about 1870, when he established himself in the merchandise business in Ben Wheeler, continuing in that enterprise until 1905. During the passing years he prospered, in whatever line of business he was engaged in, and he acquired considerable farm lands thereabout and developed a number of fine farms, at the same time engaging to a greater or less extent in the business of stock riasing. He was well in the advance of his community in the introduction of blooded horses and cattle and in the breeding of fine mules, as well, and the influence he had thus spread abroad over a considerable portion of the country. He has ever been an active man in the Methodist church, and is a Maste Mason. He is a Democrat, and as a veteran of the Civil war is an enthusiastic member of the Confederate Veterans of the South.
The first wife of Levi L. Sanders died in 1877, and she left children as follows: Lorenzo Dow Sanders, who died in Smith county, Texas, in 1899, leaving a family; Henry W., died in Leon county, this state, also leaving a family; Mrs. H. J. Craft, of Canton, Texas; Mrs. H. E. Wallace, the wife of Dr. Wallace of Ovalo, Texas; B. Franklin, a resident of Ben Wheeler, Texas; Josiah, who died unmarried; Dr. Leon, of the review; Mrs. T. C. Sharp, of Leon county, Texas; Levi S. , died young; and James F., a merchant of Ben Wheeler, Texas. Later in life Mr. Sanders married Fannie Smith, the daughter of Nick Smith, a German resident of Ben Wheeler, and their children are Morgan G., county attorney of Van Zandt county, and Grace, the wife of Henry Cates, a farmer of Van Zandt county.
Dr. Leon Sanders was born in Ben Wheeler, Texas, on October 2, 1871. When he had finished the common schools he studied in Alamo Institute, and then took a course in Transylvania University, being graduated therefrom with the degree of B.S. He entered the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville and was graduated there in 1894, after which he spent two years in school teaching in the country schools of Van Zandt county. When he was ready for medical practice he located at Edom, and he came to Wills Point in 1906, where he has since continued. Since his graduation, Dr. Sanders has taken four post graduate courses in the New Orleans Polyclinic. He is a member of the County and State Medical Societies and the North Texas and Southern Medical Associations, and is secretary of the county society.
Dr. Sanders is a Mason, with affiliation in the junior orders, and he is a Pythian Knight and a member of the Woodmen of the World. The Doctor has been twice married. He was married first on July 5, 1893, in Van Zandt county, to Miss Alice Gray, whose father was Dr. A. J. Gray. She died 1907, leaving three small daughters--Constance, Blance and Mary Lee. On June 30, 1909, Dr. Sanders married Miss LaNear Aldridge, a daughter of John Aldridge, of Weatherford, Texas. They have no children. Dr. Sanders is a member of the Methodist church and has for years been a member of the Texas State Historical Association, and is a member of the National Geographic Society.
Sanders/Saunders and Biddy/Biddie families of Montgomery County, Arkansas
March 2005
Revised February 2006
Revised July 2009
In October, 2003, I posted the following inquiry on this Web site and and in Sanders' Siftings:
I would like to exchange information with anyone who has material about the following three Sanders families who lived in Arkansas in the 1850s and may or may not be related to my great grandfather, Isaac Sanders (1818, North Carolina-after 1880, Prentiss County, Miss.) who lived in Montgomery County, Arkansas from about 1851 until after the Civil War:
1. William Sanders, born about 1789 in North Carolina. He appears on the 1850 Jackson County, Alabama census (at least, I think it’s the same person) and the 1860 Montgomery County, Arkansas census. He married Martha T. Unknown. A son of William may have served in the same Confederate unit as a son of my Isaac in 1861 in Montgomery County. Another researcher has proposed that William is a son of the Daniel Sanders who appeared on the 1779 tax roll of Montgomery County, North Carolina, a suggestion based mainly on the fact that both William and Daniel were blacksmiths. The children of William were Joseph, Lucrecia, Hiram, John B., Ann B., and Martha L.
2. George W. Sanders, reportedly born December 17, 1812 in North Carolina, married Anna Unknown 1833 in Randolph County, North Carolina, and appears on the 1850 Montgomery County, Arkansas census with children Mary E., Benjamin F., Isaac Brantley, Martha Ann, Sarah Jane, and Andrew J. George Sanders apparently owned land near the property of my great grandfather Isaac in Montgomery County, Arkansas.
3. George’s daughter, Sarah Jane Sanders married Greenville Sanders, August 6, 1865 in Montgomery County, Arkansas. Greenville was the son of William Patrick Sanders, born about 1819 in North Carolina. William Patrick Sanders appears on the 1860 Pike County, Arkansas census, occupation blacksmith, with wife Elender (maiden name Southerland according to other researchers), and children Frederick, Greenville, Arminta, Elender, and William J.
As a result of these postings, I was able to contact other researchers, and eventually I was able to document that William of Montgomery was the half-brother of my great grandfather Isaac Sanders; that George was a brother to my Isaac; and that William Patrick was a son of Francis Sanders and Rachel Sanders. The information about William Patrick came about during an exchange of information with with Cathy Gallen in the spring of 2005. She had been researching the Biddy family and she provided information about the migration of the family of James Jones Biddy and his wife’s Sanders family in 1851 from Marshall County, Alabama, to Hempstead and Montgomery counties in Arkansas. Her research indicated that the Sanders family involved in this pioneer movement was that of William Patrick Saunders who appears on the Pike County, Arkansas census of 1860. The information she provided and documents previously sent to me by Ralph Jackson and Don Schaefer indicate that William Patrick Saunders was the brother of the Mary Jane Sanders,wife of James Jones Biddie (or Biddy as it is often spelled) and that the parents of William and Mary Jane were Francis and Rachel Sanders.
Below,
I have summarized the evidence that leads me to this conclusion.
William Patrick Saunders married Ellender Southerland March 9, 1843 in Marshall County, and their family appears on the 1850 Marshall County, Alabama, census, living near Phoebe Sanders Lee and her husband Henry Lee. Phoebe is believed to be a daughter of Benjamin Sanders, brother of Francis. Enumerated two houses away from William Patrick is the family of James Jones Biddy. James Jones Biddy married Mary Jane Saunders December 1, 1838 in Marshall County. Their first child was named Rachel, their last child was named James Francis, and at least one grandchild of this union was also named Francis, indicating a close connection to Francis and Rachel Sanders, who appear on the DeKalb County, Alabama census. By 1851 Francis and Rachel were in Marshall County, Alabama. Francis made an application in Marshall County in January 1851 for bounty land based on his service in the Seminole Indian War in Jackson County, Alabama, in 1838.
In 1851, probably in the spring or summer, the Biddy and Sanders families made the move to Arkansas. James Jones Biddy lived in Hempstead and Montgomery counties through the 1850s and 1860s and moved in 1873 to the Indian Territory, where he applied for Choctaw citizenship. He was rejected on two occasions but his son James Francis continued the effort until at least 1903. In the 1903 hearing, the surviving children were asked by the court about their childhood and ancestry. Most of the questions were directed toward whether they had sufficient Choctaw ancestry to qualify as citizens, but the children did make several references to their Sanders relatives. Some of the testimony is contradictory and vague, but over fifty years had passed since the 1851 migration, and there is no reason to doubt any of the statements as they relate to the Sanders family. According to the testimony in 1903 of Sarah Ann Biddy Kinsey, who was born in 1841 or 1842, the Sanders relatives who moved were one of her mother's brothers and her Sanders grandparents. Based on subsequent events, these grandparents appear to be Francis and Rachel Sanders, and the brother appears to be William Patrick Saunders. It was the following exchange in the transcript that really convinced me that Sarah Ann was referring to Francis and Rachel: 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. Francis was sixty-nine in 1851 and Rachel was seventy-one. It's doubtful they traveled to Arkansas alone, regardless of the year they came, and documentary evidence from Arkansas records of the 1850s appears to indicate that Sarah Ann was referring to Francis and Rachel.
Sarah Ann stated the Sanders and Biddys traveled in a wagon and a carriage. Her sister Elizabeth said they had five wagons and two buggies. There must have been at least twenty people in the group if all the children of each family are included with the parents and the two Sanders grandparents.
Isaac Sanders, who is usually regarded as a nephew of Francis, had been living in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, but moved to Arkansas in 1850 or 1851. This is known because he had a child who was born in 1849 in Mississippi and one born in 1851 in Arkansas. In 1855 and 1857 he acquired land in Montgomery County, Arkansas. Since he appears to have moved to Arkansas in the same year as the Biddys and moved to the same area they did, it's possible his move was co-ordinated with theirs or that there was a plan to meet them along the way. One of the judges asked Sarah Ann if the group traveled through Corinth, Mississippi, which would have been the usual route to Memphis and on to Arkansas. If they did indeed travel that route, they were probably not very far from where Isaac Sanders lived.
After arrival in Arkansas, the family lived near the White River for about a year. The exact location is not clear, but Ralph Jackson has suggested they may have resided near Des Arc in Prairie County. Other pioneers are known to have made that area a temporary residence on the way West. After the move to Arkansas, probably in late 1851 or 1852, Mary Jane Sanders Biddy died and William Jones Biddy remarried in 1853 to Mary Polly Burnam, but the family seemed to split up, and at the time of the 1860 census, some members are living in Hempstead County and some are living in Montgomery County. The Biddy family and the William Patrick Sanders family appear to have been neighbors in Hempstead just as they were in Marshall County, Alabama.
Francis Sanders' bounty land warrant request that he had initiated in 1851 in Marshall County was executed in August 1855 in Hempstead County, Arkansas, and one of the witnesses was James J. Biddie. This is believed to be the same person as James Jones Biddy. The application states that Francis was a resident of Hempstead County at that time. Francis seems to have received the right to eighty acres in Pike County and then 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. A William Sanders was the second witness on Francis’ 1855 application, and and this is probably the same person as William Patrick Saunders. William Patrick acquired land in Hempstead County in 1856, but he also bought land in Pike County and was living there at the time of the 1860 census.
In 1860, James Jones Biddy is still living in Hempstead County with his son James Francis and, curiously, there is a woman living next door living next door in a separate household whose marital relationship to James Jones is mysterious. She appears to be the Mary Burnam whom he married in 1853 and who still appears as his legal wife on a legal document issued in 1861. Only one of the Biddy children seems to have even a slight recollection of this marriage. It is possible the marriage was in name only and was related to an effort to acquire or retain land, but the circumstances surrounding it are extremely confusing. After the Civil War,Biddy would later marry a fourth and last time.
Two of Biddy's children, Lucy and Wilson, are enumerated in Montgomery County, Arkansas in 1860 near Aaron Sanders, the son of Isaac Sanders. Other of the children are scattered around the county, living with families whose relationship to the Sanders or the Biddys is not always clear.
The testimony of most of the children in the 1903 attempt by James Francis Biddy to acquire Choctaw citizenship is that James Biddy lived in Montgomery County, Arkansas during the Civil War and moved to the Indian Territory in 1873. Some of the Biddy sons served in he same unit of Montgomery County Confederate volunteers as the sons of Isaac Sanders. Isaac also moved from Montgomery County after the Civil War, but he went to Mississippi rather than to the Indian Territory.
The following excerpts from the testimony of Sarah Ann Biddy Kinsey and her sister Elizabeth Biddy Deaton were provided by Cathy Gallen.
IN THE CHOCTAW AND CHICKASAW CITIZENSHIP COURT, SITTING AT SOUTH McALESTER, INDIAN TERRITORY, JAMES F. BIDDIE, et al,---vs--- THE CHOCTAW AND CHICKASAW NATIONS. May 13, 1903:
Judge FOSTER:
Q. What is your name?
A.
Sarah
Ann KINSEY.
Q.
What
is your post office?
A.
Cameron.
Q.
Are
you an Indian, Negro or white person?
A.
Well,
I have been taught all my life that I was a Choctaw.
Q.
Who
was your father?
A.
James
Jones BIDDIE.
Q.
How
old are you Mrs. KINSEY?
A.
I
will be 61 the 3rd day of August. I was born in 1842.
Q.
How
long have you lived in the Choctaw Nation?
A.
About
thirty years.
Q.
Where
did you come from to the Choctaw Nation?
A.
From
Montgomery County, Arkansas.
Q.
How
long did you live in Montgomery County?
A.
Several
years, I don't know how long.
Q.
Where
did you come from to that county?
A.
Come
from Alabama.
Q.
When
did you arrive in Arkansas from Alabama?
A.
Well,
I reckon I must have been ten years old.
Q.
You
remember living in Alabama?
A.
Just
can recollect it and that is about all.
Q.
That
was on the Tennessee River, wasn't it?
A.
Yes
sir.
Q.
Close
to what town?
A.
None
around, close to no town.
Q.
What
was the closest town?
A.
GUNTHER's
Landing was closest town.
Q.
You
say you were born in Alabama?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
On
the Tennessee River?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
In
Marshall County?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
Or
were you born in Limestone or Madison County?
A.
I
was born in Marshall County
Q..
You
are sure you were born in Marshall County?
A.
I think that is what my father said.
Q.
You were born there; when you left there how did you come to Arkansas?
A.
We traveled in a wagon.
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.
Q.
They
were white people?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
You
traveled in a wagon with a lot of white people?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
Were
there any full blood Indians with you, coming to this
country?
A.
No sir.
Q.
You traveled in a wagon; did you have any buggies too?
A.
We had a hack, it was not called a hack in those days; it was a
carriage.
Q.
You
all traveled like white folks together?
A.
Yes sir.
Q.
No
Cherokee Indians living around GUNTHER's Landing?
A.
I don't know, but there were some there.
Q.
Well,
you came to Arkansas with a lot of white settlers; where did
they go?
A.
They stopped before we did; we came on to White River.
Q.
You
did not, any of you, come to the Indian Territory; you all
scattered
in Arkansas, whites and alleged Indians?
A.
Yes.
******************
Testimony of Elizabeth Biddy Deaton, p. 68:
Q. Where were you born in Alabama?
A.
Marshall County.
Q. In what part of the County?
A. Near
GUNTER’S landing.
Q. Where did you go to when you left
Alabama?
A. Came
to Arkansas; we started for the Nation
but did not make it here.
Q. That would have been about 1851;
about ten
years
before the War?
A. Yes
sir.
Q. You left Alabama when you were seven
or eight
years old and came to Montgomery County, Arkansas, is it true?
A. We
came to some place; I have forgotten the
name.
Q. How long did you live at that place
on White
river where you first stopped?
A. One
year.
Q. Did you make a crop there?
A. No
sir, my father sold goods at a store.
Q. Then where did you go in
Arkansas?
A.
Hempstead County.
Q. How long did you stay in that
County? Several
years?
A. Two
or three years.
Q. What did your father do there?
A.
Farmed.
Q. Where did he go from there?
A.
Montgomery County.
Q. You lived in Arkansas on the White
River, in
Hempstead and Montgomery Counties and around in there from about 1851
until
1873 or 74?
A. Yes
sir.
Q. What did your father do during these
years;
was
he farming?
A. Yes
sir, farming.
Q. What was the name of your
father’s
first wife?
A. I
cannot tell you.
Q. Your mother was named Mary SANDERS?
A. Yes
sir.
Q. Was your father married before that?
A. He
had three children by his first wife.
Q. What was the name of his first wife?
A. I
cannot tell you.
Q. When did your mother die?
A. She
died while we was on White River.
Q. In Arkansas?
A. Yes
sir.
Q. Did your father marry after that?
A. Yes
sir.
Q. Who did he marry after that?
A.
Elizabeth KINZEY.
Q. Where did he marry her?
A. I
believe in Montgomery County.
Q. What was the name of the oldest
child of your
father?
A. By
his first wife?
Q. Any wife.
A. Lucy
(BIDDIE); he had one named Wilson (BIDDIE),
but he died in the time of the War; but Lucy was the oldest one.
Q. Then it is not a fact that Rachael
LANKFORD
was
the oldest child?
A. She
was the oldest child by his second wife.
Q. Then she is not the oldest one?
A. No
sir, he had older ones.
Q. Do you remember whether you came
through
Corinth,
Mississippi after leaving Decatur?
A. I
remember going through swamps, but I
don’t
know the towns.
Q. How long did it take you to go
through from
GUNTER’S
Landing to Arkansas?
A. I
cannot tell you; five or six weeks, or may
be eight.
Q. How did you travel?
A. In
wagons and in a buggy.
Q. About how many of you were there?
A. Five
wagons and two buggies.
Q. Who were along with you?
A. Some
of my mother’s family, the SANDERS.
Q. They were white people?
A. Yes
sir.
Q. You all traveled in wagons and buggies when you came to the Mississippi River?
A. Yes sir.
Q.
Where did you cross the Mississippi River?
A. At Memphis.
Q.
The other people did not claim to be
Indians?
A. No sir.
Q. They
were white people?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Did
they say they were coming to the Choctaw
Nation?
A. No sir, they were coming to Arkansas.
Q. When
he left Alabama and came west, did your
father have any well-defined idea of coming to the Choctaw Nation on
that
trip?
A. That was his talk.
Q. What
did the other people say as to where they
were going?
A. They wanted to come to Arkansas or
Texas.
Q. Why
did you not come to the Nation?
A. My mother did not want to come to the Nation to have her children raised with the Indians.
Q. Your father agreed with her and did
not come?
A. Not
until after her death.
Q. In what year did she die?
A. I
cannot tell you.
Q. How long after your father came to
Arkansas?
A.
About a year.
Q. You landed in Arkansas about 1851,
that is
true
is it not?
A. Yes
sir.
Q. Your mother died then, about a year
after
that
time?
A. Yes
sir. She died when we first came there.
Q. Your statement is that your mother
would not
come?
A. Yes
sir.
Q. It is a fact that your father did
not move to
the Choctaw Nation until 1873?
A. Yes
sir.
Q. And then lived on White river in
Hempstead
County,
in Montgomery County and made crops in Arkansas for more than twenty
years?
A. It
might have been.
End of
transcript excerpts
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The Civil War was a tragedy for individual families in addition to being a tragedy for the nation. I don’t know how typical my Sanders family was of Southern families generally, but the Civil War literally set brother against brother and father against son within the Sanders clan descended from the original settlers of Randolph and Montgomery counties, North Carolina. As if emblematic of the conflicting loyalties generated by the war, my grandfather, Jesse Sanders, appears to have served in both the Confederate Army and the Union Army before he was nineteen years old.
When the war began my great grandfather Isaac Sanders was living in Mount Ida in Montgomery County, Arkansas. He had three sons already of military age, and one, Jesse, my grandfather, who would become old enough to serve during the war itself. Numerous other related Sanders families lived in other counties in Arkansas, in Texas, in Mississippi, and back in Alabama and North Carolina, the points of origin for the westward Sanders migration.
The sentiment within Mount Ida was overwhelmingly in favor of secession, and those who had doubts were too intimidated to protest. On July 17, 1861, a unit called the “Montgomery County Hunters” was organized. It would later be designated as Co. F of the 4th Arkansas infantry. The small rural community celebrated the occasion with a home made drum and fife show using improvised instruments and joints of sugar cane stalks. Their collected baggage consisted of bed quilts, pots, skillets, coffee pots and other household items, all drawn by yokes of oxen. Their weapons of war against the Yankee invaders were old squirrel rifles and double barreled shotguns.
The leader of this group, Captain John Lavender, would later write a book about his war experiences, The War Memoirs of Captain John W. Lavender, C.S.A. (W.M. Hackett and D. R. Perdue Publishers, the Southern Press, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, 1956). He wrote, ”we was in high spirits and no one complained fearing he would be accused of being a coward or playing the baby act.” The company was mustered in Missouri and participated in the battles of Elkhorn, Richmond, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Georgia campaign of 1864, Franklin, and Nashville. There were some changes in the organization of the company during the war, and it is difficult to tell how many of the original men who joined in July of 1861 survived the war, but Lavender later estimated that of the one hundred or so who crossed the Mississippi and fought in the battles in other states only about a dozen survived the war.
The nature of Isaac’s combat experience is not clear, though it is known he was a member of the Montgomery County Hunters and Company F. We do have a record that Isaac enlisted on October 21, 1861 at Fort Smith Arkansas, and that he was furloughed from December 17, 1861 to March 1, 1862. His discharge papers state that he was suffering from pneumonia. His son Aaron enlisted on November 21, 1861 at Forth Smith and was present on December 31, 1861; his son Benjamin enlisted on October 21 1861 at Fort Smith and was with Humphries' Batallion at Shelbyville, Tennessee on April 29, 1863. His son Isaac, Jr., enlisted on October 21, 1861 at Forth Smith and died on January 10, 1862 from illness or an injury.
By June 4, 1863 Isaac, Sr., was back in Montgomery County because 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 may 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 (though "J. Sanders" may be Joseph Sanders, the son of Isaac's half brother William).
In the fall and winter of 1963-64 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."
The official military record of Isaac's service indicates that he was listed as "missing in action" during the skirmish. What happened to him immediately afterwards is not clear, though we know that he survived the battle and lived for at least another sixteen years. Maybe he escaped from the woods and joined some other unit to continue fighting the war; or maybe he, like many other solider-farmers of the time, went back home to take care of his family's needs."There is another story told about two of the Sanders. The story goes that the two brothers were fighting during the War Between the States. One had enlisted with the Union Army and the other was serving with the Confederates. They were mounted and fighting and charging with sword and saber. It was night and dark and they did not recognize each other, or who they were fighting against. One of them said 'Get Ert Aunt Becky,' and the other said 'Is that you, John?' and they then recognized each other as being brothers and stopped fighting. They had an aunt called Aunt Becky who had a 'By-Word' of Get Ert. I have a note of a John Sanders serving with Co. B. 3rd Ohio Regiment (Union Army). I don't remember where I got it but wonder if they might be the one in the story."
Regardless of whether this is a true story, it does coincide with the facts that John and Isaac, two Sanders brothers, fought on opposing sides during the war. The county where John lived, Jackson County, Alabama, was in the Alabama hill county, a region with few slaves and many poor whites who had no use for the planter aristocracy. Further, most of the Sanders families in Jackson County had emigrated from Randolph and Montgomery County, North Carolina. Many of the earliest settlers of these two North Carolina counties had been Methodists or Quakers, people with a strong social conscience, and, in some case, an aversion to slavery.
John Sanders was by no means alone in his service to the union cause. Two of his sons fought in the same Ohio Regiment in which he served. His elderly uncle on his mother’s side, Joseph Sanders, called “Uncle Joe” by nearly everyone, was a staunch Union supporter whose sons joined the Union army. Unfortunately, Uncle Joe’s public support for the Union led to his death on April 10, 1863. Here is one version of the story, again quoting from the same letter:
"I know you have some information on the Sanders that was killed by bushwhackers. I have heard a story here in Texas passed down through generations. One of the Sanders was caught off guard while plowing a field by bushwhackers. They took him and his horse to the top of a hill and made the Sanders dig a grave. Then the bushwhackers killed both man and his horse and buried both in the grave with the legs of the horse sticking up out of the grave. (This is some tale and may not be exactly true but is what I have heard.)”
There are other versions of this story, such as that Uncle Joe was taken from his home and killed. A Huntsville newspaper of the time was decidedly unsympathetic: "On the same day, we learn, an old man, named Saunders, who affiliated with the Abolition Army, when they occupied Jackson county, and went off with them, but returned to depredate on the neighborhood, was shot and killed by some unknown person, on Mud Creek in that county." The latter is from a posting on the Sanders-L list on January 27, 2004 by Don Schaefer who thinks there was probably some vigilante justice after the murder and at least one of the murderers may have been lynched, though the details of subsequent events are rather murky.* (see note at end of article)
The situation in Arkansas was similar to that in northeast Alabama. Pro-unionists, who had remained silent during the heyday of the Confederacy, began to surface whenever the federal troops were able to assert control. I have no family tradition about any competing loyalties within my great grandfather’s family in Montgomery County, but events suggest that, in spite of losing a son for the Southern cause, his family was not composed of wholehearted Confederate sympathizers. For example, his seventeen year old son Jesse, having signed up for the Montgomery County local defense troop unit in June of 1863, switched sides and joined the 4th Arkansas Cavalry, USA in February 1864. He served in the same unit as his cousin William Patrick Sanders and two of William Patrick’s sons. Also in the same unit was James H. Biddie who was related by marriage to the Sanders family, his father having married William Patrick's sister. Biddie had also previously served in the Confederate forces, as had two other 4th cavalry soldiers, Reuben Lamb and George Swaim, who also were related to Jesse by marriage.
Greenville Sanders, the son of William
Patrick
Sanders, related in an affidavit on April 5, 1900
about
how his father tried to avoid service in the Confederate
forces:
"In the matter of pension claims of Green Sanders, comes Green Sanders
and on oath swears he is 54 years of age, a resident of Sebastian Co.,
Ark, whose post office address is Hackett, Ark. I was just a boy at the
breaking out of the later war and when they[the Confederate
authorities-gs] came to force my father out in the Confederate service,
he (my father) let us two boys [Frederick and Greenville-gs] go instead
of him, as our mother was dead and my father did not want to leave the
little children at home and no one to see for them. My father was a
Union man at all times and died a Union man." Greenville served in the
Confederate forces from November 1861 until after August
of 1862. In November of 1863 he and his father enlisted in the Union
forces, serving in the same Cavalry unit as his cousin Isaac. By
November of 1863 the economic and political situation in Arkansas was
getting desperate and many farmers signed up for the Union forces
because of the steady pay. Greenville, however, was always proud that
his motivation was more than just one of economic survival.
Still another example is that of Stephen C. Sanders in Washington County in the northwest part of Arkansas. Stephen was the son of Nimrod Sanders of Montgomery County, North Carolina, and most likely a second cousin of Isaac in Montgomery County. Two of Stephen’s sons fought for the Confederacy, but according to his descendant Sam Sanders, Stephen said after the war, “I remained a Union man. I never got rebellish at all.” This was in spite of the fact that two Confederate sympathizers once threatened to kill him, and soldiers from both sides raided his farm for supplies.
Farther South, in Van Zandt County, Texas, lived another cousin of Isaac, Levi Lindsey Sanders who had moved to Texas from Jackson County, Alabama in the 1850s. Of Levi’s convictions, there was no equivocation, for he was firmly on the Confederate side. When the war began, he joined the 6th Texas Regiment, Ross’ brigade, Army of Tennessee, served as a brigade blacksmith throughout most of the war, and returned to his family in Texas in 1865. Later, in 1870, Isaac’s son, Jesse, who had served briefly in the Union army, would move to neighboring Henderson County, and Isaac and Jesse would remain good friends for the rest of their lives.
I have, of course, a mentioned only a few of the members of my Sanders line who served either side during the Civil War. No doubt there are many other interesting stories to be uncovered, some buried in archives and official documents, others existing only as fragments of nearly lost family tradition.
The following Web site gives further information about Arkansas in the Civil War: http://www.couchgenweb.com/civilwar/
************************************Click on icon to return to Index
Reprinted from Sanders Siftings,
No. 50, July
2007, p. 5.
An e-mail message from another researcher prompted me to take another
look at the 1850 slave schedules for the counties in North Carolina,
Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi where my ancestors lived. Although I
have spent quite a lot of time researching my Sanders family, I
haven’t really given much thought to the opinions of my
ancestors
regarding this central question in American history. My grandfather and
great grandfather, neither of whom owned slaves, first served in the
Confederate forces in Arkansas during the Civil War, and then, when the
Federals invaded the state, switched sides and joined the Union
cavalry. I have almost no information or tradition about their reasons
for this change of loyalty.
Others in the Sanders family were less ambivalent about the outcome. My
great uncle Aaron fought for the Confederacy throughout the war. Back
in Jackson County, Alabama, where many of my relatives lived, there was
strong opposition to secession and my great granduncle John fled the
state and fought for the Union in an Ohio Regiment throughout the war.
His uncle, Joseph Sanders, was murdered in 1863 while he was working on
his farm, apparently as revenge because Joseph's sons were in the Union
Army.
The 1850 slave schedules reveal a lot about the economic status of the
Sanders family, if not about their convictions regarding slavery. In
Randolph County, North Carolina, where my great grandfather was born,
not a single Sanders owned slaves. Randolph County had a sizable
contingent of Quakers who may have contributed to a less favorable
attitude toward slavery. In neighboring Montgomery County, North
Carolina, Aaron H. Sanders (second cousin of my great grandfather),
owed sixteen slaves and Pleasant C. Sanders (Aaron's brother) owned
three.
In Franklin County, Georgia, Aaron Sanders, the son of the Reverend
Moses Sanders and first cousin to my g-g grandfather, owed 18 slaves,
and Minyard Sanders, a grandson of the Reverend Moses, owned 14 slaves
in 1850. The Reverend Moses himself owned slaves; this is known because
they are mentioned in his will in 1817.
In Jackson County, Alabama, in 1850, only one Sanders owned slaves:
George Sanders, the brother of my g-g grandmother, Mary. His three
slaves were a forty year old man, a thirty year old woman, and a four
year old child. Even though only one of the numerous Sanders in the
county owned slaves, there were still over 2200 slaves living in
Jackson County in 1850 out of a total population of around 11,000.
In Tishomingo County, Mississippi, where my great grandfather Isaac
Sanders and his first cousin once removed, John Sanders, lived in 1850,
no Sanders owned slaves. Nor did they own any in 1860. John Sanders
himself owned only real estate worth $600, which would rank him as a
prosperous farmer, but certainly not a man of great wealth. He probably
thought of himself, however, as of somewhat higher social status than
his neighbors because his father (the Reverend Moses Sanders) had been
a wealthy planter and a slave owner and a minister.
To get some idea of what it meant to own slaves in those days, a slave
would bring one to two thousand dollars in the marketplace. Although
strong young male field hands were the first choice when slaves were
sold for their labor, good looking young women often fetched the
highest price, especially in cities like News Orleans-- sometimes up to
several thousand dollars. Slaves were not a cheap investment. A dollar
a day was considered good wages for a free worker, and a middle-class,
modest frame house could be constructed for around $500.
Of all the Sanders in my line, Aaron Sanders of Georgia, is the one who
comes close to being a major planter, but he had fewer than 20 slaves,
which would be the minimum needed to be considered among the
elite of society. If the Sanders in my line didn't own many slaves,
however, it was probably because they were not, on the whole, a wealthy
bunch. Certain individuals within the family might acquire lands and
wealth and even keep it for several generations, but they always had
plenty of "poor relations." I’m not sure any moral objection
to
the institution had much to do with the situation.
Undoubtedly, however, there were white Southerners named Sanders who
were major planters. It’s interesting to note that among the
around three hundred and fifty thousand slave owners in the American
South in 1850, there were about 7,000 whose surname was Sanders.
It’s been estimated that a quarter of all the white families
in
the South owned at least one slave, though ownership varied greatly
from area to area and state to state.
The recent movie “Amazing Grace” makes the point
that moral
choices are difficult to establish in the presence of countervailing
economic and cultural influences. Although I find slavery abhorrent, I
understand how my ancestors may have viewed matters through the
constraints of their own culture and time. Fortunately, we live in a
society that recognizes that slavery was wrong, but, sadly, the
institution itself has a history far older than America and still
persists in some cultures today. It is well to remember that if we go
far enough back in time with our genealogy, we all have both slaves and
masters among our ancestors.
(article written spring 2007)
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Isaac
Sanders of Leake County, Mississippi,
or the story of how a ninety-five
year old Revolutionary War veteran married a twenty-five year old
During the middle of the winter of 1843-1844, readers of the Jefferson Democrat of Macon, Mississippi, were probably startled to read the following wedding announcement:
"Married in Leake Co. by S.S. Pender, Esq.; Dec. 29, 1843; Isaac Sanders, Revolutionary soldier, aged 95, to Miss Mary Eerson, aged 23 years.”
News of the event reached the state capital as well, and the The Southron , a periodical published in the city of Jackson, provided a similar account of the event: "Married in Leake Co. on the 29th of December last by S.S. Pender, esq.: Mr. Isaac Sanders to Miss Nancy Ellison, the former a Revolutionary soldier, 95 years old, the latter 25 years old, all of Leake Co.” If people who lived contemporaneously to the event were puzzled, subsequent researchers have had an even more difficult time making sense of the mysterious marriage of Isaac Sanders and Nancy Ellison, who at that time already had a four year old child by her first husband. Did they really marry? Was Isaac really ninety-five years old? Were the three Sanders children living with Nancy in 1850 children of an improbable union between a man in his late nineties and a woman in her late twenties?
A few researchers have identified this Isaac of Leake County, Mississippi, with Isaac, brother of Aaron Sanders and the Reverend Moses Sanders, but Isaac of Leake is obviously a younger man than the Isaac who died in Randolph County. Isaac of Randolph had a son who was born in 1760. Even if the newspaper account of his age is correct, Isaac of Leake could not have been old enough to father a child in that year. Neverthless, there are indications that Isaac of Leake may have been related to the Reverend Moses Sanders. Isaac of Leake is believed to be the father of two twins named Aaron and Moses who were born in Bedford County, Tennessee in 1813. Obadiah Hooper, the son-in-law of the Reverend Moses Sanders, was in Bedford County at about the same time. Further, when Isaac was living in Pickens County, Alabama, Obadiah Hooper appears to have been a neighbor.
We do not know where Isaac of Leake was born but Virginia or North Carolina are the most likely possibilities. The year of his birth is also unknown, and the newspaper account of his age appears to be exaggerated. In a society without birth certificates or other documentary evidence of birth, anyone who reaches the age of eighty is probably going to lose track of his exact year of birth. Just as young adults often shave years off their age, very old adults often add years.
The 1840 Leake County census gives Isaac’s as 70-80, and he is listed on the 1830 census as 60-70. That would make his birth year between 1760 and 1770. If he was born in 1760, he would have been 83 in 1843, and though it’s unusual for an eighty-three year old man to father a child, it’s not quite as improbable as a ninety-five year old man doing so. Of course, he may have been as young as 73 in 1843, but he was probably in his late seventies or early eighties but most likely not ninety-five years old. If he was born in 1762 or 1763, it’s still possible for him to have served in the Revolutionary War. If he was born between 1760 and 1770, rather than in an earlier decade, it’s possible that he is a son of the older Isaac of Randolph County and therefore a nephew of the Reverend Moses Sanders. This is just a possibility, of course, and we have no real evidence to confirm or refute it at the present time.
If we accept the proposition that the marriage in Leake County in 1843 really took place and was not a marriage of convenience arranged for reasons that are lost in obscurity, we encounter a further difficult in determining whether Isaac was the father of the three Sanders children who were born in 1844, 1846, and 1848. By the time of the 1850 census, Isaac's widow Nancy has moved to Jackson Parish, Louisiana, and she appears in the household of David Stapleton. Most researchers think that David was most likely a brother or uncle rather than her husband.
In the household are the following children: Mary Jane Ellison, age 11, presumed to be the child of Nancy and her first husband, the unknown Mr. Ellison; Ellender Sanders, age 6; Shorlotter Sanders, age 4; and Greenbury Sanders, age 2. According to researcher Joyce Hervey, only Mary Jane Ellison and Ellender Sanders are remembered by their descendants as having been children of Nancy.
Nancy was still living at the time of the 1900 Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, census and it states that she was the mother of eight children, of whom two have died. Nancy is also believed to have had six children by a relationship that began in 1853 with John M. Crowell who was already married to another woman, also named Nancy. John M. Crowell was the son of Peter Crowell and Sarah Sanders, who was a daughter of Isaac of Leake, the Revolutionary War veteran. (Therefore, his wife Nancy Ellison was his former step-grandmother!) If we add those six children of Nancy and John Crowell to the three Sanders children living with Nancy at the time of the 1850 census and then add Mary Jane, the child by the unknown Mr. Ellison, we have ten children in all, not eight.
I’m not sure how to reconcile this difficulty, but one possibility is that Shorlotter and Greenbury Sanders, who are living with Nancy and David Stapleton in 1850, are not Nancy’s children but perhaps Sanders relatives who are living in her household. They may be children of Aaron Sanders, Nancy’s stepson, the son of Isaac of Leake. Greenbury is living with Aaron, not Nancy, at the time of the 1860 census. Shorloter is living with her uncle Moses Sanders in 1860. If Shorlotter and Greenbury are not Nancy’s children, they we are left with Ellender as the only child of the May-December match between the Revolutionary War veteran and the twenty-five year old. Some evidence, but not all, indicates that Ellender was born in August 1844, almost exactly nine months after the wedding.
Several researchers have provided information that contributed to this article. Joyce Hervey’s well-researched book Just Folk: the Crowell Family is available at her Web site and Ed Tatum has sent me much welcome information by e-mail. Gretta Saunders was one of the first to suggest a connection between the Randolph and Montgomery line and the Isaac Sanders of Leake County.
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In the five years since
my first article
on Isaac Sanders of
Leake County, Mississippi, I encountered virtually no new information
through
e-mail contacts with other researchers or through independent research
until a
Y-DNA test in the spring of 2012 compelled me to take a fresh look at
the
evidence regarding Isaac and his children. This DNA test revealed that
the male
descendants of George W. Sanders (1785-1853) of nearby
Therefore, I believe
it will be useful to summarize my
current information on Isaac’s biography and the possible
identity of his children.
Much of my initial information comes from the research of Ed Tatum.
According to the census
records of 1830 and
1840, Isaac was
born between 1760 and 1770. The 1880 census record of his son Aaron
Sanders
(1813-1881), suggests that Isaac was born in
If the children
attributed to him are actually his, we know
from their state of birth that Isaac appears to have lived in
Isaac Sanders of
Leake County may be the same person as the
Isaac Sanders who appears on the 1803 poll tax list of
Isaac Sanders died
between 1844 and 1850. If he is really
the father of the children living with his widowed wife in 1850 (their
names were
Ellender, Sharlotter, and Greenbury), then he survived at
least
until 1848 when Greenbury was born.
The children of Isaac
are not referenced as such in any
known document, but I agree with Ed Tatum that we can compile a list
of his
possible or probable children, based on “based on the land
records, census
proximity, and
the fact that they all went to the same general part of Mississippi and
Alabama.” Since these people were all born over a
thirty
year period, they may have been born to different mothers, and some of
them may have been cousins or other relatives rather than relatives of
Isaac.
Possible children of
Isaac Sanders (about 1763-about 1848) of
2. Isham Sanders was
born between 1790-1795 in North or
3. Travis Sanders is the second addition I made to Ed Tatum's list. Travis was born about 1795 in South Carolina. On April 8, 1819, he married Kesiah Gates in Lawrence County, Mississippi. The main reason to include him as one of Isaac's sons is that his pattern of migration was similar to the other sons; in 1850 he was in Jackson Parish, Louisiana. He died in 1875 in Winn Parish, Louisiana.
4. Peter Sanders is the third addition I have made to Ed Tatum's list. Peter was born about 1796 in North Carolina according to the 1850 and 1860 census. If he was really the son of Isaac, it is more likely he was born in South Carolina or Georgia. Peter bought land in 1835 in Pickens County, Alabama. A Peter Sanders had earlier bought land in 1823 in Tuscaloosa County. Peter moved to Winston about 1847 or 1848 and he appears on the 1850 and 1860 census. I have been unable to trace him after 1860. He is believed to be the father of Henderson H. Sanders who remained in Pickens County. Henderson named one of his sons George W. Sanders, presumably after his uncle. Another son of Peter, James J. Sanders, married Nancy Moody in 1854 in Winston County. It appears this marriage was terminated by 1870 because James does not appear in the household in 1870 with Nancy and their children. In the early 1870s, Nancy married Andrew Jackson Sanders, a son of George W. Sanders of Winston County. Therefore, the evidence seems to indicate that Peter Sanders and George W. Sanders were closely related, but there is no direct evidence that connects Peter or George to Isaac.
5. Isaac Sanders,
Jr., was born about 1798 in
6. Sarah Sanders was
born about 1800 in
7. Elizabeth Sanders
was born between 1800-1810 in
8. Reuben Marion
Sanders was born about 1806 in
9. Aaron Sanders was
born February 8, 1813 in
10.
Moses Sanders was Aaron’s twin brother. He and Sarah Crowell
signed an
affidavit in
11. Andrew Jackson
Sanders is another addition to Ed Tatum's list. According to census
records, he was born on January 11 in 1812, 1814, or 1815.
The
year on his tombstone is 1813, but if he is really the son of Isaac,
that year could not be his birth year because Aaron and Moses were born
in February 1813. Andrew Jackson married Frances Dyer in 1833 in
Lowndes County, Mississippi, but by 1850 he was in Jackson Parish,
Louisiana. Andrew Jackson Sanders died in Van Zandt County, Texas, in
1878. One
of
Andrew Jackson's descendants, Nancy Broumley, discovered a clue to
Andrew Jackson Sanders' parentage in November 2013:
"I
had already figured that Aaron
Sanders, and therefore Reuben and Moses, might be related because his
land grant
was right next to my Andrew's land grant in Jackson Parish.
I have been going through the little newspaper, Palo Pinto Star in Palo
Pinto, Texas. Andrew's granddaughter, who he helped raise after her
parents died moved to Palo Pinto Co along with Asbury, Andrew's
son. I have been going through the paper and found a lot of
stuff
on my family. It has been such a help. This weekend I
found
in the 8 Aug 1919 edition a one sentence statement: 'A.
Sanders
left yesterday to visit an uncle in Comanche county.' I back
tracked to see who was in Comanche County and found that Greenbury
Sanders died in Comanche county on 5 Aug 1919. So
obviously
Asbury wasn't going to visit but was attending a funeral of his uncle,
Greenbury Sanders. So if Greenbury is Asbury's uncle, then
Greenbury is a brother or one-half brother to my
ggg-grandfather,
Andrew Jackson Sanders." The Greenbury Sanders she
mentioned is
usually assumed to be the son of the elderly Isaac and his
young
second wife, Nancy Stapleton Ellison Sanders. Although we cannot be
certain that Isaac was the father of Andrew Jackson and Greenbury, the
probability is strong that these two were brothers, even though they
were born about thirty years apart.
We do not know the
name of the mother of the eleven preceding
children, nor do we know if they all had the same mother. I have
already
discussed in a previous article the marriage in 1843 of the senior
Isaac to the
twenty-five year old Nancy Stapleton Ellison, and anyone who would like
further
detail is referred to that article. In
the
1850 census of Jackson
Parish,
12. Ellen or Ellender
Sanders was born August 15, 1844,
about eight months after the marriage of Isaac and Nancy. She was
apparently
raised by
13.
Sharlotter(Charlotte?)
Sanders was born about 1846. She is living
with her mother
14. Greenbury Sanders
was born about 1848 and is
the only male
child living with Nancy
Stapleton in 1850.
In 1860, he is living
with Aaron Sanders, his presumed uncle, in Jackson Parish,
Because Isaac lived a long time and the census records show numerous people living in his household, it is very possible that he had children other than those in my list, and it is also possible that some of those I listed may not be his children at all. A Y-DNA test on a male Sanders descendant of the twin children Moses and Aaron would be helpful, and conventional paper research may eventually provide confirmation on the paternity of some of the reputed children of Isaac. Until then, the situation is similar to what it was several years ago: we can speculate on reasonable possibilities as children of Isaac, but the answer to whether Isaac belongs to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery group or another Sanders line is still elusive.
Written May 15, 2012, revised November 20, 2013.
Additional material written September 2016, February 2017:
We now have a Y-DNA match of a descendant of Aaron Sanders of Winn County, Louisiana (son of Isaac of Leake) to the Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery. Two descendants of George W. Sanders of Winston County, Mississippi, have their closest Y-DNA match with the the descendant of Aaron Sanders of Winn County, Mississippi. This bolsters the theory that Isaac of Leake was the father of George W. Sanders and of Moses and Aaron of Winn County, Mississippi. A tentative theory is that Isaac of Leake may be a son of the older Isaac who was the brother of the Reverend Moses. This would explain why Isaac of Leake appears to have been in Franklin County, Georgia, and why he had some connection to Obadiah Hooper who married the Reverend Moses Sanders' daughter. Or Isaac of Leake could have been a cousin to the Reverend Moses through some as yet unknown connection.
The descendant of Aaron recounted family tradition in an e-mail: "family lore says that six Sanders brothers migrated from Tennessee westward in the mid-1800's. The two that are my line, twins Aaron (1813-1881) and Moses Sanders (1813-1878) settled in north Louisiana. All my direct line from them have lived in Louisiana. Two other brothers were said to have settled in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. The remaining two were said to have continued to Texas... when members of my direct line made a brief move to Comanche, Texas in the early 1900s before returning to Louisiana, they encountered a woman along the way that they relieved was a descendant of the two Sanders brothers that were said to have moved to Texas." Aside from the reference to Tangipahoa Parish, this seems to confirm that Reuben, Travis, Isaac, and Moses were the four brothers who remained in Louisiana. Greenbury, as earlier noted, died in Comanche County, Texas. His brother Andrew Jackson Sanders died in Van Zandt County, Texas. It would be easy to imagine a scenario in which the family group from Louisiana encountered the desendant of Andrew Jackson Sanders in Van Zandt County in East Texas on their way to Comanche County in West Texas, though we do not know if this is what actually happened.
Let’s say that you are a descendant of a Sanders family that lived in the southern United States and that you are new to genealogy but enthusiastic about tracing your relatives. Armed with lore passed along by your dear old aunt Trudy, who, though slightly daft, was nevertheless a veritable storehouse of family scandal and gossip, you set out on your quest for your g-g-g-g-g grandfather Shadrack Sanders who lived in Bumpass County, North Carolina. Surely, you may think, a name as unusual and quaint as “Shadrack” will be easy to trace. Almost immediately, you make an exciting find: an individual named John Sanders, who lived in Plantation County, Virginia, left a will leaving his feather bed, his favorite mule, and two whiffletrees to a son named “Shadrack.” Aha, you say, this must be my Shadrack. O.K., so it’s another state, but how many individuals named Shadrack Sanders could there have been at that time?
With the many family tree programs available nowadays, it’s easy to load all your family tree information on your computer and even easier to send it along the way to your friendly family tree company that, for the right price, will sell or give all your information to millions of innocent seekers of long and distinguished lineages. The result is that soon ten or twenty other people have copied your file, with all the documentation about Shadrack Sanders being the son of the aforementioned John Sanders. And soon there will be others, new to genealogy, who see the many references to Shadrack being the son of John, and many of them will assume that there was either extensive documentation or family tradition proving the parentage, whereas in fact there was only a unwarranted assumption that a will made in one state refers to someone who lived in another state.
Let’s assume, also, that a couple of years later, you hear from someone who claims that a Shadrack Sanders who lived and died in Hoboken, New Jersey was the son of John Sanders of Plantation, County, Virginia. Further, she has evidence from a newspaper obituary confirming the identity of the New Jersey Shadrack. Your thesis, while somewhat plausible when first suggested, is now revealed as nearly beyond the realm of probability. What happens next? By that point, even if you want to correct old Shadrack’s parentage, it’s very difficult to do. And, unfortunately, many people will have invested so much time and effort into the concept of your Shadrack as the son of John that they are not inclined to abandon the idea and start all over.
So far, we have been dealing with people who inadvertently mislead others. One of the salient facts about genealogy is that there is no monitoring or enforcement procedure capable of correcting bad information. Contrary to popular opinion, the Mormon Church doesn’t check the accuracy of the genealogical information submitted by contributors and found at its Web site, and neither does RootsWeb nor Ancestry.com. The situation is like that of the Israelites described in the Bible during the time of the Book of Judges: everyone does what is right in his own eyes. The only barrier to the acceptance of genealogical information is the gullibility of researchers, and a quick glance at the family trees posted on the Internet shows that people are willing to be very gullible indeed. If you want to claim that you are descended from Montezuma in spite of the fact that your parents and all their ancestors lived in Switzerland before emigrated to the U.S., no one can haul you off to court to answer charges of genealogical misconduct. Post the theory on the Internet and someone, maybe lots of people, will accept it as true.
In most cases, of course, the misleading information is perpetuated unintentionally, but there are individuals who knowingly manufacture impressive lineages for themselves. They may not always make everything up out of whole cloth, but it is still easy to fudge the facts in convenient ways. Impressive documentation is not always convincing evidence if the documentation does not refer to the individuals being considered. When I first looked at my family tree on the Internet, I was astonished to discover that I was descended from a Sanders family that arrived in Virginia in the 1600s. Then I started to ask questions about the research and supporting documentation, and I was even more disturbed to find situations similar to the one I described above relating to the fictitious Shadrack Sanders.
For example, I found information on the Internet that one of my ancestors, Joseph Sanders, who died in North Carolina, was the son of John Sanders who died in Isle of Wight, Virginia. It’s true that a John Sanders of Isle of Wight left a will that mentioned a son Joseph; but no one had any proof whatsoever, so far as I can tell, that Joseph of Isle of Wight left Virginia and moved to another state. John and Joseph, of course, are very common names, and Sanders is a rather common name in the South. I also discovered that another researcher advanced a theory that Francis Sanders, a son of another John Sanders from Virginia, was the same person as Abraham Sanders who died in North Carolina in 1751. To all appearances, though, they were two different people, who lived in different states and even had different given names. This difficulty was resolved by a previous researcher who assumed that Francis was really named Francis Abraham, though there was no documentary evidence, such as a will or deed, that referred to an individual named Francis Abraham Sanders.
I don’t think my Sanders family is alone in possessing dubious research. Most people who have colonial Southern ancestors will have a great deal of difficulty separating truth from fiction in any genealogical research that deals with the period before American independence. Many courthouse records have been lost, the Southern states were notoriously poor at keeping records, and pioneer families were often illiterate and moved frequently. Family tradition and the census records may get one back through the nineteenth century, but unless one had well-known ancestors, it’s prudent to be wary of claims about ancestry prior to around 1800.
I would like to clear up a possible misunderstanding about my argument here. Though one should always strive to find the genealogical truth, that truth may be elusive. One may have an absolutely impeccable paper trail back to an ancestor in the 1600s, but one may still not be a descendant of that person. It’s always possible that infidelity or adoption existed in one given generation, and then one’s paper trail is worthless. There are many other similar constraints that arise when doing research. Genealogical investigation is not the same as proving something in a court of law, though the procedure may be similar in certain respects. An excellent explanation of the nature of genealogical proof can be found at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bbunce77/PrimaryVSecondary.html
As for my own research, I make no claims that it is beyond reproach, nor do I have any unusual expertise in genealogical research. I am merely an amateur family historian, and my work contains inevitable errors and inaccuracies, like all genealogical research. I know that I, like many other researchers, have posted material on the Internet that I believed true at the time but that later was proven untenable by subsequent evidence. Everyone who does genealogical research faces the problem that no one has the time, money, or inclination to verify everything we would like to verify. There are thousands of names in my file and much of my information was obtained from the World Wide Web and is based on the research of other researchers. Nevertheless, every individual in my file was entered by hand directly by me; I believe the merging of GEDCOMS tends to make people careless, and though I have relied on the efforts of others for most of my collateral lines, I have tried, whenever possible, to do my own research on my direct lines. When I am not sure about lineages or where documentation supports more than one interpretation, I try to offer an honest evaluation of the competing evidence and make a judgment accordingly to the facts as I see them. I always welcome any corrections or updates that are sent to me. A file as large as mine would not be possible without the many people who have generously shared information and have helped me with suggestions and comments. After all, genealogy not shared is worthless.
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The surname Sanders or
Saunders developed from the common given name, Alexander, originally
Greek
but adopted in some
form by most of the languages
of
It should therefore be noted that Sanders and Saunders are variations on the same surname, unlike, for example, Smith and Taylor, which derive from different occupations. How the name is spelled is a matter of personal preference and/or pronunciation. Therefore, it is usually of little consequence to genealogical researchers whether one’s ancestor is listed in a record as Sanders or Saunders.
Nevertheless, because many lowland Scots (not, however, the Highland
Scots) were
named Sanders or Saunders, the English in the early 18th century came
to use
the word "Sandie" or "Sawney" as a contemptuous reference
to a Scotsman.
This feeling was expressed in Dr. Samuel Johnson's statement
that
oats are
a grain fed to horses in
The surname Sanders or Saunders is far more common in the southern
January, 2013
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to Index
Remembering always that they are engaged in a quest for truth, family history researchers consistently—
There are many myths about copyright
and also a
great deal of honest confusion. I don’t intend to
try to
provide an exhaustive study nor do I claim any special expertise in the
area, but for what they are worth, these are my comments:
Copyright pertains only to descriptive narration, arrangement, and
organization that is an original expression of the author, together
with any accompanying graphics, charts, or arrangement of
elements.
It does not apply to facts, dates, titles, ideas, or even to
discoveries.
I don’t think this should be especially difficult to
understand
if we approach it as a matter of honesty and not as a matter of
law. The law may be confusing but honesty is not.
If I write several sentences and string them together in a narrative,
such as a paragraph, anyone who takes those sentences and uses them as
his own work is stealing the work of others. Even aside from the
ethical standpoint, stolen research is a dubious proposition.
Another “researcher” once sent me a large file,
filled with
notes about his ancestors. On first glance the research seemed
impressive, but then I noticed that he had merely copied word-for-word
the notes of others. Many of the notes were contradictory and
because there was no attribution of the source, there was no way to
judge the quality.
In one case, his notes had a sentence that read “my
grandfather
said” and some words that were quoted after that with the
implication was that he was talking about his grandfather, but the
words made no sense in reference to his grandfather. Actually, I had
written those notes and I knew the words referred to my grandfather.
Apparently, this person has forgotten that he had taken the notes from
my work.
Copyright law provides for what is called “fair
use,” which
I think is an apt term. If we use the sentences and
paragraphs,
charts, or designs of others in our work, we should give credit and not
claim these as our own. Either put quotation marks around the
material and state your source or arrange your own sentences and
narration so that your work will be an expression of your creativity
and not that of someone else.
Fair use goes along with common sense. The restrictions that law and
ethics place on using the research of others are not very burdensome,
and it is not a matter of ethics or law to give credit to the source of
where you found every single date, fact, or event. However, it may be
advisable to do so because it will help you at a latter point when you
may want to remember the source for your information.
Many of us who have spent years working out our ancestral tree feel a
proprietary right to the fruits of our labor, but no one
“owns” the genealogy of our ancestors or even of
our living
relatives. Everyone has as much right to investigate, ascribe dates,
and write biographies of my relatives as I do. Here again, however,
genealogical protocol asks us to be mindful of the interests of others,
especially in regard to sensitive or personal information about living
relatives.
I have tried to give proper attribution to the source of material on
this Web site, but if anyone whom I have used as a source feels that I
did not provide sufficient credit, please let me know, and I will add
the missing credit.
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on icon to return
to Index
Once upon a
time,
a very long time ago now, about last Friday, Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a
forest all by himself under the name of Sanders. "What does 'under the
name' mean?" asked Christopher Robin. "It means he had the name over
the
door in gold letters, and lived under it."
--A.
A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
Who was the mysterious Sanders who
lived in the
house before Pooh? Probably one of Pooh's
relatives, but
since
Pooh was more interested in the contents of honey jars than in
genealogical
documentation, we may never know for certain.
End Notes All the material on these Web pages was written by Gary B. Sanders, except for original documents or quoted material attributed to other authors. If you see any of these original sentences, paragraphs, charts, articles, or narratives posted elsewhere on the Web or in print without credit being given to the author or a link back to this site, that material has been taken in violation of copyright from this site and used without the permission of the author. Dates and locations of birth and death and marriage, or course, are not copyrighted information and may be freely used by anyone, with or without attribution as to source. Midi files on the site: "Sweet Afton," composed by Alexander Hume; "Bonnie Doon," traditional melody; "Ye Jacobites by Name," traditional melody; lyrics to all three tunes by Robert Burns. "Four Marys," traditional melody; "Tramps and Hawkers," traditional melody. All midi sequences by Barry Taylor, 1997. Used by permission of the copyright holders. Additional information at: www.contemplator.com/tunebook/readme.htm See Lesley Nelson-Burns' Web site of folk music of the British Isles and America, the music of our pioneer ancestors as they moved West: Celtic tree of life motif at the end of the Web page and other graphics and clip art are freeware from the collection of Cari Buziak: http://www.aon-celtic.com/ Our Sanders of Randolph and Montgomery were a border people, tradition ascribing their origin to England, Scotland, or Ireland. If any of our Sanders ancestors had a coat of arms, that design should have been reflective of the diverse geographical origins and pioneering spirit of the Sanders family, so click on the link above for my attempt at heraldic design, keeping in mind that all of this is kind of silly, at least for Americans. This Web page was last updated April 28, 2024 by Gary B. Sanders. Web site created October 2003, Thanks for visiting. Remember the past and our ancestors who lived before us--- What are those blue, remembered hills,What farms, what spires, are those? I see it shining plain, the happy highways where I went --A. E. Housman Click on icon to return to beginning of the Web page
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