Vikings and Virginians

I have recently come upon information that I am a close relative of the late Otis E. Saunders of Louisiana, whose descendancy from a Lemuel Saunders of Pittsylvania County, Virginia is genealogically proven.

The next step is genealogically to establish the links between Otis’ ancestor Lemuel and other Saunders lines (or in the lines of Surnames of families who have intermarried with and/are closely associated with the Saunders lines) in which the first name Lemuel recurs. There are a number of records that researchers have found with that name or that appear indexed official records. This exercise is designed to place these records in chronological order.

In addition to placing these references in chronological order, I believe it constructive to note the geographical areas that these records reference, in preparation for a more thorough analysis of migration patterns of various branches of the Saunders family through Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.

This exercise is proving instructive, suggesting new places to concentrate research, and noting some obvious and some probable errors in information currently available on the Internet and elsewhere.

Such areas of further research, are:

1. the identification of the religions in whose services each person participates, particularly those demoninations that in the English colonial period would have been considered “dissenters”, especially Quakers and Baptists.
2. the influence (or attempted influence) of the English Quaker movement on the colonial Quakers.
3. the tenets of the Quaker faith in conflict with existence of slavery in the colonies, and to the Revolutionary spirit of th 1770s.

I invite other researchers interested in this exercise, who have information not shown here to contact me at [email protected].

1618

Lamuell Saunders, male, son of Francis Saunders

Christening Date, 6 April 1619 Saint Andrew Parish, Enfield, London, England

[WHB – Note that the name Lemuel appear in the 17th century in England and

1675

Lemuel Saunders, son of Francis Saunders and Isabell, christened 16 January 1675, in Saint Andrew Parish, Enfield, London County, England

1735

Lemuel Saunders, born in Virginia, later marries Martha Selling (1748-1800), has nine children (Sarah, 1770; Mary, 1771, Edward, 1774, Samuel, 1777, Lemuel, 1779, and Jessee, 1780).

[WHB – See my remarks for 1740 entry. Note also that the surname “Selling” does not appear in the index of heads of household in the 1790 Virginia or North Carolina census documents. The surname “Salling” (which also does not appear in either index does occur Bedford County, Virginia records.]

1740

This entry from Joyce Emalene (Little) Graham, dated from 2010, appears on Geni:

Lemuel Saunders, born 1740 in Augusta County, Virginia, died October 26, 1795 in Lincoln County, NC. Husband of Martha (Self) Saunders and Martha Self. Father of Lemuel Saunders, Thomas Saunders and Lemuel Saunders.

[WHB(1): On the Geni Timeline it shows Lemuel Saunders born 174o in Augusta County, and son Thomas Saunders born Augusta County 1765, the first son named Lemuel Saunders born in Lincoln County, NC in 1769 with unknown dates for Lemuel Saunders (b. 1740) marriages to first, Martha Self and then Martha Saunders, and no date for an unknown date for his second son named Lemuel. In Emmalene Graham’s documentation on son Thomas Saunders (born in Augusta County), she shows him as the brother of Lemuel and half-brother of the other Lemuel, then as father of Elisha Saunders.]

[WHB(2) – In the second entry below for the year 1767, refer to Bill Browder’s speculation (made in 1998) on the information that a Lemuel Saunders showed on a delinquent tax role in Augusta County. Although unproven, this was perhaps the source of the belief that Lemuel Saunders (died 1795 in Lincoln County NC) was born in Augusta County, Virginia.]

1746

Lemuel Sanders, son of Daniel Sanders (?-1816) and Mehitable Pratt Sanders (1720-1746) born 7 Jun 1746 in Rutland, Worcester County, Massachusetts. Married Thankful Mason Watson (1742-1818) c. 1770. Died February 5, 1800.

1749

The following is from Alfred Nixon’s The History of Lincoln County, North Carolina, a series of newspaper arciles published in 1935 in the Lincoln County News which indicates that attributing the birthplace of Lemuel Saunders (died in Lincoln, N.C. in 1795) as having been born in Lincoln in 1735 is suspect:

“The first pale face (WHB-sic!) to set foot on the soil of Lincoln was the bold pioneer, John Beatty. One of his land grants bears the date of July 17th, 1749, He settled on the west bank of the Catawba . . .”

1760

From Quaker records: Gunpowder, Maryland

Monthly Meeting, Baltimore County, Maryland, “Richard Belt, son of John Belt, of Gunpowder in Baltimore County married Keturah Price, daughter of John Price of Gunpowder in Baltimore County on 24th day of first month called January 1760.” Among those in attendance was a Lemuel Saunders. 

1767

Brethren historian Roger Sappington and John Scott Davenport research deeds and other land records to find out more details about the Carolina Brethren. They noted that Christopher Guice (or Guss) purchased land along Middle Creek, west of the Catawba River in 1756. Guice sold is land in 176. Edwards reported that Samuel Saunder, not Guice, was the minister at Catawba, so Guice must have moved away. Samuel Saunder (or Saunders) appeared in land records in 1767. Thereafter he appears as Lemuel Saunders, who was named in land transactions in the same are in 1772 and in the 1790 census.

Religious Traditions of North Carolina: Histories, Tenets and Leaders, edited by W. Glenn Jones, Jr., p. 50

[WHB: There is evidence of a tendency of some researchers to assume that the “Samuel” and “Lemuel” are simply misspellings of the same name. Both, however, are Biblical names. “Lemuel” mean “for god” in Hebrew, is the name of a king mentioned in the Book of Proverbs, and (although, it seems less likely that it would influence the naming of Quaker boys in mid-Atlantic colonies), it was the first name of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver of Gulliver’s Travels (1726). The Hebrew name “Samuel” often is translated “God has heard”. It became a popular English name associated with Protestantism.]

[WHB: Catawba, NC is in the Piedmont at 886′ elevation. It is 125 miles Southeast of Martinsville, VA (1017′ elevation), county seat of Pittsylvania County.]

1767

“Lemuel Saunders witnessed a deed in January of 1767 in what is now Lincoln Co., N.C. (A Lemuel Saunders appeared on a delinquent tax list for Augusta County, VA. that same year but we’re not sure it was the same one.) Lemuel Saunders died in 1795 leaving a widow (Martha), five sons and at least four daughters. The sons were identified in the estate settlement as Thomas, Lemuel Jr, Edward, Samuel and Jessee. The daughters were not identified but w are sure they included Mary (No record of birth, death or marriage. Witnessed deeds and other papers along with Lemuel), Sarah (married John Self), Elizabeth (married Jacob Henry Painter) and Martha “Patsey” (married Hezekiah Beaver) . . . There are some researchers who believe that Lemuel’s parents could be Thomas and Juduth? Saunders. Thomas was a descendant o the Edward Saunders who came to Virginia on the ship “Safety”. Thomas married Juduth about 1742 and after selling land he inherited from his father in 1755, moved to southern Maryland.”

Bill Browder, Selmer TN, Sanders Sifting, No. 15 October/98

1769

Lemuel Saunders is born August 29, 1769 in Lincoln County, North Carolina. He is the son of Lemuel Saunders and Martha Self Saunders. He marries Willy Ann Abernathy (1772-1860), daughter of James Abernathy and Elizabeth. She is the mother of Joseph Thomas Saunders, born January 25, 1803 (died 1881 in Sherrills, Ford, Catawba County, NC)

Sources: Tricia Leazur Beaver and Rosemary Moore (Descendants of Lemuel Saunders Sr. of Lincoln County, NC).

1772

” . . . Lemuel [Saunders] first appears in the land records [of Lincoln County, NC].

The Brethren in the Carolinas: the history of the Church of the Brethren in the District of North and South Carolina, Duke University Library.

1779

Lemuel Saunders (1779-1843), born in Lincoln, North Carolina on 29 August 1779. He was son of Lemuel Saunders (1735-1795) born in Virginia, and Mary Selling (1748-1800). According to entries on Ancestry.com Lemuel Saunders married Willey Ann Abernathy (born in Lincoln, NC in 1813, daughter of James Abernathy and Elizabeth Cox). and had nine children.

WHB – The Ancestry.com record includes the information that Lemuel Saunders and Willy Ann Abernathy had nine children Joseph Thomas Saunders (1804-1892), Louisa Saunders (1805-1847) and Amy Maria Saunders (1808-1894), Ann Saunders (1808-unknown) and Miles A. Saunders (1812-1840) were born prior to their mother’s birth and one Hiram Casson Saunders (1816-1849) was born when Willy Ann was an infant. The only plausible child listed is Martha Salina Saunders (1831-1850).

1780

Jessee Saunders, son of Lemuel Saunders (born 1735 in Virginia) and Mary Selling, born, dies in 1830). He marries Willy Ann Abernathy (1813-1850).

1783

The following entries from the 1783 census of Virginia County (Richmond County on Virginia’s Northern Neck (no proximity to the state capital). This is apparently the only county in the state in which families surnamed Saunders or Sanders and surnamed Self appear.

The following entries are possibly related to Lemuel Sa(u)nders who married Martha Self, prior to the birth of their first son Thomas Saunders in Lincoln County, N. C. The two figures after each name represent “whites” (first numeral) and “blacks” (second numeral)

Richmond County Port of Toluskey: Jeremiah Self (3-0)

Upper District of Lunenberg Parish: William Sanders Jr (7-0), William Sanders Sr (3-0), Almond Sanders (2-0), Alexander Saundeers (2-0), Presley Self (4-0)

1790

From Heads of Families, North Carolina – North Morgan District, Lincoln County – Ninth Company, p. 114

[WHB – numbers following each “head of family” are the count of 1) free white males 16 and over; 2) free whit males less than 16; 3) free white females; 4) all other free persons; and 5) slaves. Heads of families are listed alphabetically rather than the order appearing in the list.]

Abernathy, B 1-2-3-0-1; Abernathy, Charles 1-3-3-0-1; Abernathy, David, Sr. 3-1-2-0-18; Abernathy, David 1-2-3-0-2; Abernathy James 1-0-4-0-0; Abernathy, John 1-0-6-0-1; Abernathy, Robert 1-1-5-0-1; Abernathy, Sarah 5-0-1-0-11; Abernathy, Tarnu 2-2-1-0-2; Abernathy, William, 1-3-3-0-0

Sanders, Lemuel 3-4-5-0-0; Sanders, Thomas, 1-0-1-0-0

1794

That Lemuel was a minister was indicated in 1794 when he was listd as the elder of the Long Creek Baptist church at the time of its re-organization. This congregation which is thought to have been in existence at least as early as the 1770’s may well have been the successor of the Catawba Brethren congregation.

From The Brethren in the Carolinas” the history of the Church of the Brethren in the District of North and South Carolina, Duke University Library

1794

Jane, wife of Lemuel Sanders, buried 23 Jan 1794 at Mitcham, Surrey, England

1794

In 1794, Lemuel Saunders was listed as the pastor of the Long Creek Baptist Church.

1795

At the time of Lemuel Saunders’ death on October 26, 1795, he had at least six children: Thomas, Lemuel Jr, Edward, Samuel, Jesse and Martha.

From The Brethren in the Carolinas” the history of the Church of the Brethren in the District of North and South Carolina, Duke University Library

[WHB: There is considerable confusion around the birthplace and birthdate of Lemuel Saunders, who died in August 1795 in Lincoln, North Carolina. Various family trees show Lemuel Saunders as born “in Virginia” in 1735, or in Lincoln, North Carolina in 1735, or in Augusta County, Virginia in 1740. I think the claim of a birth in Lincoln in 1735 is erroneous (see the WHB note o the 1749 entry), and the claim of a birth in Augusta County very suspect (see the entry for 1740, note WHB(2).]

1798

Lemuel Saunders (1798-1849), son of Edward Saunders (1775-?) and Elizabeth Goodson (1774-?) and grandson of Lemuel Saunders (1740-1795) born in Lincoln County, NC

1803

Joseph Thomas Saunders, born 25 January 1803 in Lincoln County, North Carolina. He was the son of Lemuel Saunders (1769-?) and Willy Ann Abernathy Saunders (1772-1860).

He was the father of Wade Lemuel Saunders (1852-1933) by his first wife Margaret (Saunders) (1829-1911)

The information appears on Geni, added and managed by Suzanne Marie Saunders in 2010.

[WHB – The birth and death dates for Willy Ann Abernathy Saunders are plausible, whereas the dates appearing on Ancestry.com are impossible.]

1808

Purchase of land by Lemuel SAUNDERS in Lincoln County, North Carolina, then sold in 1811.

belonging to said tract which was sold Apr 12, 1808
by Richard WALKER to Lemuel SAUNDERS. [signed] Lemuel
SAUNDERS; witness John B HARRY jurat & Jacob MICHAELS.
Rec. Jul 1812 Bk 25 p 347

1811

Lincoln County Deed Book 23:

1036. Nov 2, 1811 Lemuel SAUNDERS to John HOKE; for $180
sold 393 ac in two tracts: (a) 354 ac on waters of Buffaloe Cr &
Little Cr of Buffaloe Cr; border: SAUNDERS, WALKER & a branch;
and (b) 39 ac on Little Cr of Buffaloe Cr and in the forks of a branch
of said creek; belonging to said tract which was sold Apr 12, 1808
by Richard WALKER to Lemuel SAUNDERS. [signed] Lemuel
SAUNDERS; witness John B HARRY jurat & Jacob MICHAELS.
Rec. Jul 1812 Bk 25 p 347

1829

Lemuel S. Saunders born 9 May 1829 in Lincoln County, North Carolina, son of Samuel Saunders (1810-1860) and Mary Miller ()

1835

Macon County Poll Books Scroll of 1835 Voters for Congress

Entry 166 p. 233 Lemuel Saunders

[WHB – Macon County (county seat, Franklin) is located in the Great Smoky Mountains, 282 miles Southeast of Martinsville, VA]

1836

Marriage Bonds of Bedford County, Virginia

• Dec. 5, 1836; Lemuel Saunders & Polly McGhee, dt Martha N.; Flail P. Payne, Surety.

1875

Lemuel S. Saunders (1829-1909), son of Samuel Saunders (1810-1860) and Mary Miller (1791-?), marries Mary Elizabeth Keys in Flint District, Indian Territory, Oklahoma about September 1875.

Source: Rosemary Moore, Descendants of Lemuel Saunders Sr of Lincoln County, North Carolina

1880

Lemuel M. Sanders, son of Willis Troy Sanders (1853-1938) and Ella Moye (1855-1911), born in Wilson, North Carolina. Married Bernadette Cheevers (1878-1936). He died in Mobile, Alabama in 1941.

1881

From The Baptist Home Mission Monthly, Volumes 3-4

Missionaries appointed in January 1881:

Rev. Lemuel Sanders, Pilgrim Rest Church, Flint, Indian Territory

1889

Branson’s North Carolina Business Directory …: Volume 7

List of Farmers – Currituck County – Poplar Branch: Lemuel Saunders

[WHB: Poplar Branch is on North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast on Currituck sound.]

In a previous post about Julius Saunders of Bedford County, and the fact that he apprenticed three boys born to Priscilla Carter Burnett, the wife of Williamson Burnett. All three of the boys were disinherited and repudiated by Williamson Burnett in his will at Williamson’s death in 1823.

I had noted the intervention of a David Saunders in obtaining an official warning from Bedford County leaders in 1805 to Williamson Burnett regarding his behavior towards is wife Priscilla, followed by another complaint about Williamson’s behavior in 1806.

I had asked the question as to the identity of the person who obtained an official reprimand for Williamson’s behavior towards Priscilla.

Although I do not have evidence at present that the David Saunders for whom selected life milestones follow is the David Saunders who brought Williamson Burnett’s transgressions against his wife, Priscilla Carter Burnett, David Saunders did have magisterial duties in Bedford County.

Although David Saunders is not a brother of Julius Saunders, he appears to be a first cousin. He also has a connection to Priscilla’s family. He is married to a Leftwich, as will be Priscilla’s son, Christopher Ammon.

If this is the David Saunders who reported Williamson to county officials on two separate occasions, it does not necessarily follow that there was a personal relationship between David Saunders and Priscilla.

1761

David Saunders born February 1761 in Hanover County, Virginia, the son of Thomas Saunders (1730-1784) and Elizabeth Rice (1735-1790).

1780

 David Saunders joins the Virginia Militia.

During the revolutionary war, David Saunders lived in Charlotte County, Virginia.

1788 

4 September: David Saunders married Lockey Leftwich in Bedford County, Virginia

1792 

Daughter Mary Ann Saunders (married Perkins) born, died 1816

Son William Leftwich Saunders born, died 1882

1800 

Ann Dandridge Saunders born, died 1862 (married Mitchell)

1805

Malinda Lockey Saunders born, died 1868 (married Bouldin)

1808

Lucinda W. Saunders born, died 1854 (married Callaway)

1843

28 August: Revolutionary War Veterans Pension awarded

1845

29 September: Colonel David Saunders dies (Affiliate 121813148)

Burial: Col. David Saunders Cemetery – (Others in cemetery (from FindAGrave) are Lucinda W. Saunders Callaway 1808-1854; Ann Dandridge Saunders Mitchell 1800-1862; Leftwich Saunders)

18 August?: Widow pension awarded to Lockey Leftwich Saunders

WHB: Justin Sanders selected these land transactions as relevant to a Saunders family history. This post supplements Selected 17th Century Land Transactions between York and Rappahonnock (North of Mattapony) Rivers of Virginia.

1639

18 April 1639 – Richard Sanders, servant of William Bassett & wife

Isabella, trans by same, 150 acres on both sides of Chickahominy River, into woods known by Indians as Pottacocock. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, p. 107. (PB1:641)

1662

12 Oct 1662 – Wm. Sanders transported to New Kent County by Capt. George Lyddall, 3306 acres on both sides of Black Creek,[1] to Wanieoke Creek (or Warrieoke Cr.) 1750 acres of which granted to Joseph Croshaw 8 Nov 1653. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, p. 403. (PB4:324).

[1] Black Creek is a south branch of the Pamunkey River.

 1663

25 Sep 1663 – Jno Sanders, trans to Pequimmin River, about 6 or 7 miles up same, point of land near great marsh, running NE to the mouth of a small creeke called Curratick. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, p. 427. (PB4:96).

1665

9 Nov 1665 – Thomas Saunders was transported to New Kent Co., on S. side & in freshes of Yorke River above Mohixen by Wm. Crump, Charles Edmonds & Robert Whitehaire[2], 2700 acres Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, p. 538. (PB5:444).[2] Robert Whitehaire & Charles Edmonds also transported Alexander Brice; see 25 April 1667.

 

1666

19 March 1666 – Wm. Sanders transported to New Kent, South Side of Yorke River adj. Manskin (Cr.?), mouth of Tottopottomoyes Creek by  Moyses Davies, 1450 acres adj. Capt. Anthony Langstone & Robert Anderson. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 2, p. 6. (PB6:19).

9 June 1666 – Wm. Sanders transported to New Kent, adj. Warrani Swamp and Capt. Barnehouse, by John Glen. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers Vol. 2, p. 6. (PB6:18).

1669

23 Oct 1669 – Wm. Sanders transported to New Kent, S. Side of the Yorke River adj. Tankes Queens Cr.,[3] Geo. Hill, Ridge Path, by Wm. Blackey. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers Vol. 2, p. 70. (PB6:278).

[3] There is a Queens Creek in present day Williamsburg; not certain if they are one and the same.

1682

20 April 1682 –  John Lane, 76 acres in New Kent, Co., upon SE side of Mattaponi River, and SSW side of Assatians Swamp. . . . to his seat of land purchased of Thomas Sanders. . . .” Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 2, p. 240. (PB7:173)[4]

[4] Thomas Sanders appears to have had land on Pamunkey Neck. This may be the 43 acre patent obtained by his son, Thomas Sanders for paying for his own transportation to the colony about 1760. Patent is referenced in “Generations” but has not been located in C&P.

20 April 1682 – John Sanders transported to New Kent, St. Stephen’s Parish, adj. Exoll’s Swamp,

Gabriel Hill, John Richards, by Hugh Lawrence. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 2, p. 229. (PB7:127).

1689 – Vestry Book St Peter’s Parish, New Kent, Processional list of landowners living in parish. James Sanders is listed twice; also Jno. Sands.

1690

21 April 1690 – James Sanders transported to Henrico County, Varina Parish, N. Side of James River nigh Chickahominy Swamp, adj. Lionell Morris & Gilley Grummeron, crossing a bridge of Gilley’s Cr., by Wm. Porter and Daniell Price. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 2, p. 340. (PB8:131).

23 Oct 1690 – Eliza. Sanders transported to New Kent on S. Side of Tottamottapoy Creek [5]adj. Cornelius Debony and Jno Davies, by Charles Fleming. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 2, p. 354. (PB8:106).

[5] A south branch of Pamunkey River. Same location Wm. Sanders was transported to in 1666.

23 Oct 1690 – Mr. John Chiles,[6] 345 acres in New Kent Co., Beg. at Mr. Whitehair’s on Crump’s Creek, to a branch of Mathumps Creek, adj. Capt. Bassett. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 2, pp. 352-353. (PB8:97).

[6] Son of Walter Chiles II?

[WHB – Crump Creek is a physical feature (stream) in Hanover County. Crump Creek is located within the Henry district at latitute 37.7246 and longitude -77.2972. The primary coordinates for Crump Creek places it within the ZIP Code 23069 delivery area.]

28 April 1691 – Mr. John Chiles, 900 acres in New Kent Co., S. Side & in freshes of Yorke River above Mehixon (Creek), part of 2700 acres granted Mr. William Crump, Mr. Charles Edmonds & Mr. Robert Whitehair, & in division dated 3 Nov 1688 fell to sd. Whitehair, escheated by inquisition under Mr. William Leigh, Dpty. Esch’r. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 2, p. 364. (PB8:163). [7]

[7] Whitehair, Crump & Edmonds received their grant 9 Nov 1665; Thomas Saunders was one of the transported persons listed in connection with this grant. Is John Chiles related to Sanders persons in New Kent?

1694

20 April 1694 – Edwd. Schrimshire & Jno Schrimshire[8] transported to to Nansemond Co., by Henry Hackley. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 2, p. 389. (PB8:338).

[8] Edward Scrimshire was transported to New Kent, N. Side of Mattapony by Joshua Story in 1691; because James Sanders & Sarah Scrimshire named 2nd son John, Jonathan Scrimshire may be her oldest brother, named after their father.

1696

29 Oct1696 – Wm Winston, 2057 acres in New Kent Co., St. Peter’s Parish, S. Side of Crump’s Creek along land, now or late, of Henry Chiles. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 3, p. 10. (PB9:59). [9]

[9] Henry Chiles is in possession of part or all of land of John Chiles, suggesting they are father & son.

1702

1702 Militia New Kent Co VA (age 16+?)

John Sanders – brother of James & William?

James Sanders – married Sarah Scrimshire

Thomas Sanders – brother of James & John?

William does not appear on list.

1704

1704 Quit Rent Rolls St Peter’s & St Paul’s Parish New Kent.[12]

[12] St. Paul’s Parish was formed in 1704 in the western part of New Kent; Hanover Co. was formed 1719, conforming to the parish boundaries. Thomas Sanders may have resided there; he is not mention in St. Peter’s Vestry Book.

John Sanders – brother of James & William.

James Sanders – brother of John & William, spouse Sarah Scrimshire.

William Sanders – brother of James & John, spouse Elizabeth Major.

Thomas Sanders – brother of above?

http://www.vagenweb.org/newkent/1704va.txt

1705

20 Nov 1705 – Henry Nelson of St. Stephen’s Parish, King & Queen Co., sells to William Saunders of King Wm. Co., for 2,000 lb tobo, 170 acres in Pamunkey Neck in King Wm. Co., part of a patent of 2,340 acres by sd. Nelson 23 Oct 1703. Land adjoins Darrell’s swamp, land belonging to Thacker, land of sd. Saunders, land of John Whitehead.[10] Witnesses: J. Wood, Richd Price, John Allcock. Elizabeth, wife of sd. Henry Nelson relinq. Dower rights. Recorded King Wm. Co., 20 Jan 1705/6. Source: Records of King William Co., Book 1, 1702-1707, Virginia State Library, Archives Division, in Virginia Colonial Abstracts,Vol. VII, p. 283, Beverly Fleet.[11]

[10] A John Whitehead was listed together with a Wm. Sanders in 1673, transported to the south side of the Rappahannock River by Cadwallader Jones: C&P2:139.

[11] King William Co., formed 1702 from King & Queen; New Kent before 1691.

1714

16 Dec 1714 – Thomas Sanders, Anne Adams, Frances Price, et al. trans to St. Paul’s Parish of New Kent (Hanover 1719), adj. Taylor’s Creek, Pamunkey River, by George Alves. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 3, p. 162-3. (PB10:212).

1723

5 Sept 1723 – William Brown, 268 acres (N.L.) Henrico Co., N side of James River, S. side of the main Creek of Tuccahoe, parting said Cox & Robert Adams, to Gilly Grew Marrain’s line. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 3, p. 25. (PB11:244).

~~~~~/~~~~~

Between Crump’s Creek & Tottomottapoy Creek: (3-4 miles distance).

William Sanders, 1666.

Elizabeth Sanders, 1690.

John Chiles, 1690-1691.

Henry Chiles, 1696.

James New, 1680.

Varina Parish, Henrico, between Gilley’s Creek & Westham Creek (2-3 miles distance).

Jno. Sanders, Geo. Price & Edw. Crump, 1664.

Joan Sanders, Jane Jackson, James Jackson, 1689.[13]

[13] Joan Sanders & Jane Jackson may be daughters of William Sanders (d. 1660 at Merchant’s Hope) & wife Joan; James Jackson may be son of Patrick Jackson who witnessed Saners’ 1660 will.

James Sanders, Daniel Price, Jane Price, 1690.

Robert Adams, bef. 1723.

Four Mile Creek: William Sanders, Edward Sanders, 1688 (15 miles from Gilley’s Creek).

---

The following information was compiled by Justin Sanders:

1502

William Saunders, 1502-1571, born at Ewell, Surrey County, England; son of Henry Saundres (1456-1519) Joan Lepton. Known siblings: Nicholas, 1488-1549; Agnes, 1501-1530; Margaret, 1504; Cornelia.

Quote of Lord Burgley (William Cecil) regarding William Saunders: “He managed to retain high office through troublous times by being a willow, not an oak.” (p. 119). “William Saunders is perhaps the most impressive of all figures in our family history . . . if measured by the accumulation of wealth and attainment of political position.” (p. 120).

1519

Both parents died in 1519 when William was seventeen years of age. Management of his affairs fell to his uncle, Nicholas Saunders of Charlwood, a Jesuit priest. “. . . by about age twenty, he entered the Inner Temple, obtaining a degree in law, as family members before him had done and as those following William would also do.” (p. 120).

Entered adulthood a wealthy young man, inheriting the Manor of Battailes, properties at Ebbesham and Chessington, the Three Crowns Inn of Southwark and “an array of properties in souther Surrey subsumed under Pendall Manor.” (p. 120).1

1529

Married Joan Marston about 1529, the daughter of William Marston and Nicholas Mynne. William Saunders’ wardship of five Mynne stepchildren cemented long term relationships with the Mynne family. (p. 121) “William Marston, Joan’s father, held the Manor of Shalford, a submanor of the Manor of Ewell, and to this marriage Joan brought two properties then in her possession, the Manor of Horton in Ebbesham and the Manor of Brettgrave.

William once commented on ‘my lady’s grant of Somerset in Ashstead,’ suggesting he gained some interest in this property near Ewell by about 1530.” (p. 121). Known children of William Saunders & Joan Marston: Nicholas, 1532-1587. Erasmus, 1534-1603. Mary, 1536-1613. Urithe, 1538-1600. (p. 108). – 1530’s, practicing law; gained a seat in Parliament. (p. 122) –1536, added more property by acquiring a lease for land in Gosborough Hill Wood, part of the Manor of Chessington-at-Hoke;

Parliament begins closing doors of small Catholic monasteries, declaring them uneconomic. – 1538, appointed receiver of taxes for Surrey and Sussex.

1539

1539, death of wife, Joan Marston Saunders; Parliament passed Acts of Dissolution, closing the doors of all Catholic monasteries in England; William Saunders of Ewell one of seventeen receivers appointed for Surrey and Sussex by the Court of Augmentations, a revenue branch of the Crown. William Saunders supervised local dissolutions and collected all assets on behalf of the Crown. (p. 123) –

1540

Last of Catholic monasteries falls. After dissolution process was complete, William Saunders acquired defunct monastery properties in Surrey & Kent (p. 125). “William must have entertained some misgivings about his receivership role as he seems to have rescued two gold crosses from monasteries that he eventually bestowed upon his sons as remembrances of old faith. Not the least of William’s struggles would have been to participate in the demise of Charles Carew, rector and last master of the Beddington Chapel, and William’s distant relative. The chapel and it’s appurtenances were forfeited to the Crown under William Saunders’ authority in 1539, Carew having been accused of some unproven felony for which he was evidently executed in 1540.” (p. 123). –

1541

William Saunders was appointed Commissioner of the Peace for Surrey & Sussex. –

1543,

appointed Treasurer of Calais. –

1544

married Joan Gittons, widow of Thomas Gittons, the “largest importer of wines in all of England in his day.” William presumably knew Thomas Gittons through his ownership of the Three Crown’s Inn of Southwark. Marriage to Joan Gittons produced four children: twins Francis & Frances, Catherine & Elizabeth. (p. 124). –

1545

William Saunders was appointed to the Chantry Commission. (p. 125). –

1547

William Saunders acquired a manor and iron mill in Sussex (p. 125). –

King Henry VIII died;

Edward VI, 9 year-old son of Henry & Jane Seymour, successor; uncle Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset named Lord Protector. (p. 126). –

1548 William Saunders appointed escheator of Surrey & Sussex. (p. 126). –

1553

King Edward VI died at age 15; Mary Tudor, daughter of 1st wife, Katherine of Aragon, ascends to the throne and overthrows her father’s Protestant policies, returning England to Catholicism. –

1554

Pope returned England to the Holy See and demanded heretics be burned at the stake, beginning Bloody Mary’s reign of terror. (p. 127). “Under Mary, William Saunders rose to the zenith of his career, being elevated into a central place in the English royal household. William was dubbed cofferer to Queen Mary, having responsibility to manage Queen Mary’s wealth.” (p. 127). –

1554

returned to Parliament. –

The planned marriage of Queen Mary to Philip of Spain touched off a series of rebellions in England, “the most noted of which was Wyatt’s Kentish Rebellion of 1554. . . . Teaming up with his cousin, Sir Thomas Saunders of Charlwood, William Saunders descended up Bletchingly in 1554 with superior force and in seventeen wagons carried off arms and other property amassed by Sir Thomas Cowarden [a Protestant Justice of the Peace], whose loyalty to the Queen was in doubt.” (p. 128). –

1555

Knighted by Queen Mary. –

1556

appointed High Sheriff of Surrey.

1558

Death of Queen Mary; succeeded by half-sister Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII & Anne Boleyn. –

1559

William Saunders and sons Nicholas & Francis received a royal pardon for “land alienation,” for acquiring land originally held by monasteries, sold without royal license. (p. 130). –

1563

William Saunders appointed Queen’s Surveyor “despite his close and eager support of the Catholic queen just five years before. . . . William’s substantial knowledge of escheated Surrey lands evidently outweighed his Catholic beliefs. . . . Elizabeth’s need for skill in property law and taxation as revenues fell precipitously following her coronation.” It was William’s final government post. (p. 130). –

1571

Death of William Saunders of Ewell. Notes: Prior to William’s death, the Catholic Counter-Revolution accelerated arrests of recusants; sons Erasmus & Nicholas were arrested shortly after his death. (p. 130). In addition to substantial wealth, William’s children also inherited “a high social and political orbit . . . (and) a set of allegiances from marriage and political exchange that William had built over his lifetime. . . .”

Justin Sanders’ Supplementary Notes to Surrey (England) and Virginia: the Mercantile Activities of the Descendents of the Saunders Family of Charlwood

There is evidence of a possible Edwards-Sanders alliance that had its roots in Wales and Bristol, England, and with the addition of William Crump, extended into the early years of Virginia settlement.

In my study of early land patents, I could not help but notice the aggravating regularity with which 17th century clerks interchanged the given name Edward with Edmond.  It stands to reason this same methodology was applied to persons possessing the surname Edwards, as well. Keeping that historical quirk in mind, it sheds new light on records I forwarded to you earlier.

On 9 November 1665, Charles Edmonds, William Crump and Robert Whitehaire received a patent of 2700 acres, described as being in New Kent County, on the south side “in freshes of Yorke River above Mohixen.” One of the persons they owned the headrights to wasThomas Saunders (1630-1679), son of Thomas Saunders Sr. (1607-1653) and grandson of Philip Saunders of Bristol.

The description of the property’s location is somewhat deceiving. The Pamunkey River was sometimes referred to as the south branch of York River; the stream identified here as the Mohixen, soon after became known as Crump’s Creek, now in present day Hanover County.

This property fell to Robert Whitehair in a division by the three partners in 1688. Whitehair evidently died without heirs soon after, as the property was escheated by the colony and 900 acres of the patent was acquired in 1690 by John Chiles. He was the grandson of Walter Chiles, who, from 1640 to 1660 in Charles City County was an adjoining neighbor and possible brother-in-law of William Sanders (formerly of Gloucester County, England).

By 1696 the former Edmonds, Crump and Whitehair patent changed hands from John Chiles to his son, Henry Chiles.[1] In 1748, my direct ancestor Thomas Sanders (1699-1772) of Goochland County obtained a deed to 465 acres on Fishpond Creek of Albemarle County (later Buckingham and ultimately Appomattox County) from William Chambers, adjoining Henry Chiles.

Further research shows that the land Thomas Sanders called home for the remainder of his life was formerly owned by Henry Chiles, from whom Chambers acquired it about two years before deeding it to Sanders.

In 1673, Charles Edmonds owned the headrights of William Sanders, transported to New Kent on the north side of the York River, the same general area where Thomas Sanders (Senior and Junior) resided on the northeast side of Mattapony River.

In 1674 Robert Bagby and William Herndon received a patent on the northeast side of Mattapony River, owning the headrights of William Sanders, Michael Edmonds and Cuthbert Tunstall.

The William Sanders mentioned here may be the son of William and Joan Sanders of Charles City County, noted as a minor in the 1660 will of William Sanders, Sr. Cuthbert Tunstall is undoubtedly a son or grandson of Edward Tunstall (whose given name, of course, is listed in some records as Edmond), who also owned land in Charles City County adjoining William Sanders and Walter Chiles, circa 1640-1660. And Michael Edmonds is likely related to Charles Edmonds.[2]

By adding a distant Sanders DNA match to a descendant of William Crump, this tight circle of interconnected coincidences suggests that the Charles Edmonds noted as a business partner of William Crump and Robert Whitehair, was actually Charles Edwards, a relative of Thomas Sanders’ (1607-1653) step-mother, Alice Edwards Barrett Saunders.

It is likely that my direct ancestor, Francis Barrett (1600-1658) descended from the Barretts of Pembrokeshire. Being double-descended from James Sanders of New Kent (circa 1675-1717), Francis Barrett was the great (x3) grandfather on the maternal side of Frances (Fanny) Saunders, my great (x3) grandmother.

At the time the 1624 census was taken, there were at least seven Barretts living in the Virginia Colony, one identified as a shipwright and another as a mariner. At various times Francis and several of the other Barretts, were brought to Virginia on the Bona Nova, a ship that made annual voyages to the colony between the years 1618 and 1624, with the apparent exception of 1623.

London was the home port of the Bona Nova, and because only Walter Barrett was listed on a London-generated manifest in 1619, is an indicator that Francis boarded the ship at Bristol or Tenby, probably in 1620.

Below continues Justin Sanders’ exploration of the Saunders family of Charlwood, Surrey, England and their descendants. See Conversations with Justin Sanders regarding English Connections of Sanders/Saunders Families of Virginia and subsequent entries under the “Saunders” category.

 

Most of the following information comes from Ralph Sanders work, Generations: A Thousand Year Family History. It will take some time to create correctly annotated files; in the interest of expediting this information, I’ll not include notes on the original sources referenced by the author, only the corresponding page numbers in Generations within the text. And for the sake of clarity and brevity, the author will hereafter be referred to as “RS.”

I first read this book in the summer of 2012, about eight months after my research into two DNA matches led to a breakthrough in my Sanders line. At the time I found Ralph Sanders’ work a marvel of research, and felt there was a 50-50 chance that I descended from Thomas Sanders (1607-1653) of Gloucester.

The information I’ve gathered since that time has made this second reading richly rewarding, especially in regard to providing clues to the origins of family alliances. In 2012, I was unaware of offshoot connections to the family names of Prior, Edwards, Chiles and Burton, to name just a few, and had no knowledge that I was directly descended from ancestors named Adams and Barrett.

And should it prove correct that I directly descend from Thomas Sanders (a second reading has caused me to upgrade that theory from possible to probable), it would come with the knowledge that I had at least one direct ancestor, possibly two (Francis Barrett and Unknown Adams) and several relatives who were already established in the colony more than two decades before Thomas Saunders first arrived in Virginia.

As Bill and I suspected we would find, most (if not all) of the Saunders persons in Virginia records dating from the early 17th century, whether they embarked from London or Bristol, were indeed related, their lineage traceable to the Charlwood group in Surrey; and that those biological ties, no matter how distant, were closely bound by family alliances and economic opportunity.

To the financial benefit of all, those with a background of mercantilists worked together with their numerous relatives with maritime interests.

Saunders family interests in overseas commerce began in the late decades of the 16th century, brought about by a climate social and political change in England. RS states: “All Saunders branches . . . exploited emerging opportunities in the nascent English capital regime of the early 1600’s,” but the Derbyshire branch “in particular engaged in international trade,” and Joseph Saunders, a merchant of London “contributed most significantly to Virginia’s early development.” [p. 192].

I sent Bill notes earlier, and which he posted on Vikings and Virginians, in regard to the above Joseph Saunders. About 1623, Joseph Saunders established a warehouse near the southern tip of the Accomack peninsula – hailed as “the very first private commercial establishment in America.”

Simultaneously, he opened warehouses in London and Rotterdam, “a triangle of strategic commercial value.” Plying between the three warehouses were two ships he himself owned, the Flower de Luce and the Bonny Bess. RS found no evidence that Joseph ever traveled to Virginia. Operations there were run by Edward Saunders, who in turn enlisted the aid of a relative named Roger Saunders. [pp. 193, 195].

RS writes: “The warehouse itself was part of a larger family scheme designed to profit from Virginia trade. Principal support for the Sanders warehouse was supplied by Joseph Saunders, a well-to-do merchant, shipowner, and member of the Vintners Company of London. Joseph was of the Saunders of Derbyshire, an offshoot of the Saunders of Charlwood. Joseph married Anne, a daughter of William Smith of Mitchum, Surrey. At one point, William Smith, probably Joseph’s brother-in-law, joined Roger and Edward Saunders in Virginia, and he obtained land in Accomack near Roger Saunders in 1629.” [p. 192].

Joseph Saunders was born about 1598, the youngest son of Thomas of Lullington, born in 1548. The Derbyshire branch originated with Joseph’s grandfather, Thomas Saunders Sr., born about 1500, the son of William Saunders, born about 1475 in Charlwood; William was the son of Richard Saunders (1442-1480) and Agnes Courtenay, “daughter of a distinguished old Norman family whose pedigree is a lexicon of English royal history.” [pp. 76, 87, 193, 195-6]. Richard was the son of William Saunders of Charlwood (1415-1481) and Joan Carew.

This William Saunders was the common ancestor shared by the Derbyshire branch of Saunders and those who went to Wales in the late 16th century, then Gloucestershire and Bristol in the early 17th century and Virginia by mid-century.

Edward Saunders was born about 1595 in Charlwood, Surrey, the probable grandson of Thomas White Saunders. He first traveled to Virginia in 1619, residing there intermittently over the next two decades.

RS believes Edward was closely related to Richard Saunders, also a member of the Vintners Company, who died in 1636 on “ye Neck of Land in the Maine” [James River]. Richard Saunders appears to be the American progenitor of the Sanders line later found in Nansemond County.

RS was unable to determine the origins of Roger Saunders, who is alternately listed in early Virginia records as a merchant and mariner, but believes he, too, was closely related to Edward. It stands to reason that the warehouse enterprise was initiated by Saunders kin who all sailed from the Port of London – and for that reason it is my own belief that Roger, too, hailed from the Charlwood group. [p. 191].

“Trade in earliest Virginia floundered in part because the colony lacked ports. . . . Ships arriving from England landed at individual plantations along Virginia’s rivers, carrying goods consigned to individuals. What was missing was a center for collecting and distributing goods, a marketplace for exchange. Joseph Saunders particular genius was to recognize this need and act upon it. . . . Joseph built a warehouse at the southern tip of the Accomack peninsula, a strategic site where the Chesapeake Bay enters the Atlantic Ocean.”

By 1630, the warehouse operation was, for the most part, a smoothly run and profitable enterprise. But before the decade was out, Joseph Saunders would lose all three of his Virginia partners: Roger Saunders died about 1632; William Smith, Joseph Saunders’ brother-in-law, died in 1636; Edward Saunders and three coworkers died aboard the Flower de Luce on a return trip to England in 1639.

Thus, through the first seventeen years of his Virginia operations, it appears Joseph Saunders contracted primarily, if not exclusively, with London-based family members of Charlwood. About 1640, Bristol and Gloucester relatives entered the picture in the form of Thomas Sanders.

“In London, Joseph Saunders of the Vintners Company had begun casting about for new contacts in Virginia, seeking to continue trade that was well begun with his Accomack warehouse. But with Edward Saunders’ death in 1639, Joseph needed new colonial representation for his trading business, and for this purpose he contracted with a certain Peter Knight of Virginia.

Peter Knight arrived in Virginia about 1638, residing in Accomack, and shortly thereafter amassed a sizeable plantation on the James River. In 1643, Knight underwrote the costs for transportation for William Nicholas, Thomas Sanders’ good friend, to come to Virginia and undertake trade there. Knight’s engagement of William Nicholas on behalf of Joseph Saunders suggests that Joseph actively sought partners from the Bristol maritime community.

It seems likely that Thomas Saunders traveled to Virginia a year before William Nicholas under a similar arrangement. If so, he spent a year or two in Virginia before returning to England.” [p. 204].

Ralph Sanders believes Thomas traveled to Virginia about 1641, or earlier.  In 1642, William Barnard received a patent near the Charles (York) River, that included the headrights of a Thomas Sanderby, a name that never again appears in Virginia records.

In all likelihood, this person was actually Thomas Sanders of Bristol. “William Barnard acquired land adjacent William Tookey, a family with whom Thomas’ son (Thomas Jr.) had close dealings in later years. Even more significantly, the Barnard family in 1647 rented land on the Charles River from an early settler there, William Prior.

Thomas Sanders later would witness the execution of William Prior’s estate and himself take up lands near Prior’s original plantation. Prior’s daughter married a Thomas Edwards, perhaps a relative of Thomas Sanders’ stepmother, and this Edwards held the Prior plantation that the Barnard’s eventually rented. Taken altogether, these facts argue that Barnard’s headright claim for Thomas Sanderby was in fact Thomas Sanders.” [endnote no. 58, p. 213].

My own research strengthens the author’s circumstantial evidence, shown above, at least in regard to the surname Prior. Over the next century the name Prior appears in close proximity with my theoretical line of the 17th century, and my proven line in the early 18th century, spanning the counties of New Kent, Henrico, Goochland and Albemarle, until about 1750.

Although a firm trail of Virginia records for Thomas Sanders does not begin until about 1646, it appears Ralph Sanders is correct in surmising the Bristol native entered into Joseph Saunders’ operations as early as 1640, or 1641.

Those records show Thomas made at least three trips to Virginia, where he presumably died sometime before 1653. The scant records pertaining to Thomas Sanders have been posted on V&V, and will not be repeated here. Instead, I’ll focus on retracing his lineage to the common Charlwood ancestor he shared with Joseph Saunders.

Thomas Sanders was born 1607 in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales. He was the second of three known children attributed to Philip Saunders: older brother John was born about 1604; sister Thomasin was born sometime after 1607 (p. 103).

Through his mother’s family and that of his paternal grandmother, Jenet Barrett Saunders, Thomas was endowed with strong ties to the maritime community of southwest England and Wales. About 1603, Philip Saunders married Jane Adams, she of a “Pembrokeshire, Wales family with a strong naval history.”

Her father, Henry Adams, owned a 12-ton ship named Anne, and her uncle Nicholas Adams was for a time the Vice-Admiral of Pembrokeshire. In 1607, a relative named Robert Adams, whose relationship to Jane has not been determined, commanded the fourth English voyage to the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia. (p. 167).

It is worth noting that Robert Adams bore the same name of my direct ancestor – whose parents I have not yet been able to identify – born about seventy years later in Virginia.

Jane Adams Saunders died about 1611. Thomas’ father Philip remarried to Alice Edwards Barrett, the daughter John Edwards – a coastal merchant of Tenby, Wales – and widow of Sanders Barrett, a first cousin twice removed from Philip. (p. 168).

In 1621, at the age of fourteen, Thomas Sanders entered into an apprenticeship with John Mynne, a cousin dating back to the family’s days at Ewell in Surrey County. The document outlining the terms of the apprenticeship identifies Thomas’ father, Philip Saunders, as a mariner. (p. 169). About four years later, Philip Saunders died.

Left without sponsorship, Thomas Saunders’ apprenticeship was terminated, two to three years short of completion. Very soon after, Thomas’ widowed stepmother, Alice Edwards Barrett Saunders, took her third husband, Hugh Wogan, the couple removing from Gloucester to the town of Wiston, Wales.

She remained faithful to her stepson, arranging for him to complete his apprenticeship under a new master, William Roche – suggesting that John Mynne may also have died in the interim. For this act of fidelity, Thomas’ grandmother, Jenet Barrett Saunders, bequeathed to Thomas’ stepmother in her 1628 will. (pp. 169-170).

In early adulthood it appears Thomas divided his time between Bristol and the Gloucester town of Wotton-under-Edge, where his siblings John and Thomasin had also taken up residence.

Children of Thomas Saunders (1607-1652) & Elizabeth Webb:

Thomas Jr., 1630-1679.

Mary, m. J. Hutchinson.

Sarah, m. J. Clarkson.

Nathaniel, 1634-1695, m. M. Stratton.

Samuel, 1636-1686.

All of the above were born at Bristol or Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester Co., England.

 

Philip Saunders, the father of Thomas, was born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire County, Wales about 1579, and died in Gloucester, England about 1625. He was the son of Erasmus Saunders and Jenet Barrett.

It is with Philip’s generation that this branch of the former Charlwood group entered into the livelihood of merchants and mariners. Philip’s mother, Jenet Barrett, was the sole heir of William Barrett, a wealthy merchant and shipowner. She was somehow related to the unknown Barrett male who was the spouse of an unidentified female cousin of her husband, Erasmus, parents of a son named Sanders Barrett, born a year or two prior to her marriage.

She had an uncle, James Barrett, also involved in maritime interests. James Barrett may be the father of John Barrett, a close relative of Sanders Barrett, the first husband of Alice Edwards, the second wife of Philip Saunders. (pp. 167-169).

 Known Children of Philip Saunders (1578-1625) & Jane Adams: (p. 152).

John, 1604- ? m. J. Haines.

Thomas, 1607-1652, m. E. Webb.

Thomasin, 1607- m. T. Owen.

All of the above were born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Children of Erasmus Saunders (1540-1603) & Jenet Barrett: (p. 152).

Nicholas, 1571-1636.

William, 1573-1635.

Erasmus, 1574-1612.

John, 1576-1612.

Philip, 1578-1625.

Devereaux, 1580-?

Elizabeth, 1582

Henry, 1583-1636.

Ann, 1585-1613.

Jane, 1558-1613.

All of the above born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Note: An inordinate number of early Sanders/Saunders in Virginia pertain to men with the given names William and John. They likely descend from the family group of Erasmus Saunders and his brother, William.

Known Children of William Saunders of Ewell, Surrey Co. (1502-1571) & Joan Marston: (p. 108).

Nicholas, 1532-1587

Erasmus, 1534-1603

Mary, 1536-1613

Urithe, 1538-1600.

Known Children of Henry Saundre of Ewell, Surrey Co. (1456-1519)  & Joan Lepton: (p. 108).

Nicholas, 1488-1549

Agnes, 1501-1530

William, 1502-1571

Margaret, 1504-?

Cornelia, ?

Children of William Saundres of Charlwood, Surrey Co. (1415-1481) & Joan Carew: (p. 76).

William, 1438-1478

John, d.1501

Stephen, 1441-1513

Richard, 1442-1480

Nicholas, 1446-1499

Thomas, d. after 1473

Joan, d. after 1518

Henry, 1456-1519.

Note: William Saundres of Charlwood is the common ancestor shared by Joseph Saunders of Derbyshire (1598) and Thomas Saunders of Gloucester (1607-1652).

WHB: Justin Sanders selected these land transactions as relevant to a Saunders family history:

1646

20 Jun 1646 – Joseph Croshawe, Charles River Co.,^[1] 700 acres “Beg. at the Mill Sw., near lands of Richard Major & John Davis,” for the importation of 14 persons . . . Thomas Sanders.  Source: Cavaliers and Pioneers,  Vol. 1, pp. 166-167. (PB2:88)[2]

[1] Charles River Co. renamed New Kent Co. in 1644. Date of actual voyage may have preceded name change. Thomas Sanders, d. 1653, merchant of Vintners Company of London.

[2] Virginia Patent Book reference number.

1653

27 April 1653 – Capt. Robert Abrahall, Gloucester County[3], 400 acres SE side of Mattaponi River, 9 miles up the same, for transporting 9 persons . . . “Cor. Sanders.” (Cornelius?) Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, p. 242. (PB3:20)

[3] Gloucester Co. formed 1651. Sanders’ property is referenced in Gloucester and New Kent (1654); property appears to have been on dividing line.

 1654

27 May 1654 – Tobey West, grantee; Land grant, Gloucester County. Description: 500 acres on the north east side of Mattaponi River and ___ north side of Thomas Sanders’ land. Source: Land Office Patents No. 3, 1652-1655, p. 10, Reel 2 (Library of Virginia). Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, p. 232. (PB3:10).

1655

6 June 1655 – John Hodson, grantee; Land grant,  New Kent County[4]. Description: 300 acres on the north east of Mattaponi River. Beg. &c. on the southernmost corner of Thomas Saunders’ land with a So. So. Et. line unto Arakeyaco creek.[5] Source: Land Office Patents No. 3, 1652-1655, p. 355, Reel 2 (Library of Virginia). Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, p. 310; (PB3:355).

[4] New Kent Co., formed 1654.

[5] Present day Burnt Mill Creek.

1658

9 June 1658 – Nathaniel Bacon,[6] grantee; Land grant, New Kent County. Description: 300 acres on the North East side of Mattaponi River Beg. &c. on the Southernmost corner of Thomas Sanders’ land, with a S. S. East line unto Arrakioco swamp. Source: Land Office Patents No. 4, 1655-1664, p. 335, Reel  4 (Library of Virginia). [Same land as Hodson’s 1655 patent?] Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, 381.(PB4:237)

[6] Uncle of rebel of the same name. Nathaniel Bacon, the rebel leader, lived somewhere in the vicinity and recruited most of his initial army in New Kent. John Sanders was known as a “notorious actor” in Bacon’s Rebellion.

5 Sep 1658 – James Sanders transported to, New Kent County by John Pigge, 700 acres on N side of Mattaponi River on branches of Winkepin Swamp, Ralph Leftwich’s line. Source: Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, p. 370 (PB4:187).

1659

8 June 1659 – Major Joseph Croshaw, grantee; Land grant, New Kent County. Description: 500 acres on the north east side of Mattapony River, and on the north side of Thomas Sanders’s land. Source: Land Office Patents No. 4, 1655-1664, p. 226, Reel  4 (Library of Virginia).; Cavaliers & Pioneers, Vol. 1, p. 361. (PB4:155)

Justin Sanders essay on his earliest Virginia ancestors continues:

Bill,

I’d like to follow up on the note files sent earlier regarding William Sanders and John Saunders of Charles City County, with some thoughts and interpretations of what those records might mean to our research, and offer a couple of additional items clipped from other files. The two items that follow are from John Camden Hotten’s 19th century work, The Original Lists of Persons of Quality: 1600-1700, pages 117 and 119, respectively.

Ye Port of London: Ultimo Julij 1635

Theis under-written names are to be transported to Virginea imbarqued in ye Merchant’s Hope Hugh Weston Mr: p examinacon by the Minister of Gravesend touching their conformitie to the Church discipline of England & have taken the oaths of Alleg: Supremi:

. . . Jo: Saunders, 22. . . . [John Saunders].

Ye Port of London: vijo Augusti 1635

Theis under-written names are to be transported to Virginea imbarqued in the Globe of London Jeremy Blackman Mr: have been examined by the Minister of Gravesend of the Conformities & have taken the oaths of Alleg: & Surpemacie.

. . . Ric’r Adams, 22 . . . Wm Burton, 20 . . . Wm Saund’rs, 19.

I’ll comment on the latter record first. We’ve briefly discussed the topic of family alliances [See Ancestral Families and the English-Colonial Trade (1612-1632)], and this passenger manifest is noteworthy in that regard, containing three family names in my direct line that converged in Goochland/Albemarle County in the early 18^th century.

My direct ancestor Thomas Sanders married Anne Adams about 1725. She was the daughter of Robert Adams, who was probably born in New Kent around 1680.

Thomas’ youngest brother Stephen married Priscilla Burton in Goochland about 1742. She is reportedly the daughter of Robert Burton, Jr. and Priscilla Farrar. I have not researched the Adams or Burton lines enough to know whether or not the men mentioned in this record are direct ancestors of Anne Adams and Priscilla Burton, or if are from offshoot branches of the same DNA group, but seeing the three names on the same manifest a century earlier illustrates the depth and strength of ancient alliances.

The first record is of interest because it, in conjunction with the records concerning William Sanders of Charles City County, may validate our shared belief that a strong tie appears to have existed between Sanders/Saunders persons connected to London’s financial and mercantile interests, and those of southwest England’s maritime community.

Although the 1635 Port of London record does not state where in Virginia John Saunders was destined, knowing he was transported to America aboard the Merchant’s Hope leaves little doubt about where he disembarked: at a growing settlement on the south bank of the James River near the mouth of Powell’s Creek in present-day Prince George County. Thirteen years earlier this location was known as Powellbrooke Plantation, owned by Captain Nathaniel Powell.

The Captain, his wife and ten servants were slain in the great Indian Massacre of March 22^nd, 1622 and the property lay dormant for a space of years. A trio of wealthy London merchants – William Barker, Richard Quiney and John Sadler – acquired the property, each year stocking it with people and supplies borne by a ship owned by Barker, the Merchant’s Hope.

In 1638 the trio obtained a patent to the land and dubbed the plantation after Barker’s ship. In 1639 Barker added an adjoining patent, owning the headrights of William Sanders, amongst others.

Many of the people residing at the Merchant’s Hope plantation were indentured servants, but many others were not. Few descriptions of the settlement have survived, but it appears Barker, Quiney and Sadler were proprietors of a community resembling a feudal society in microcosm.

The John Saunders noted on the 1635 ship manifest, and the John Sanders documented in 1658 as an employee of Merchant’s Hope proprietors, may be one and the same (that record is included in the record file of William Sanders of Charles City County).

The document is a note demanding  payment fo r a tract leased by Mr. Rice Howe, and states: “. . . shall desire you to pay the bearer hereof John Sanders the five pounds sterl Due to Mr. Sadler and comp’ (company) being a fine for the Land you hold att Merch’ts Hope.” The document was signed by William Thomas, evidently an agent of the proprietors.

The John Saunders noted by Hotten would have been about forty-five years of age in 1658, so the theory that these two records pertain to the same man is at least plausible. And, although the knowledge that John and William Sanders appear to have lived in proximity of one another in Charles City County, and were brought there by the same ship owner, is not in itself proof of a relationship, William Thomas, signer of the above document, was a common denominator between them.

The record trail shows both men had an association with Thomas, a fact that may strengthen the possibility of a relationship.

I am almost certain William Sanders arrived in Virginia aboard Merchant’s Hope in late 1637 or early 1638. William Barker’s patent, in which William’s headrights were included, was dated 11 May 1639, and because the process of obtaining a patent generally took about a year, early 1638 seems the most likely estimate.

And while it is true that some patentees collected headrights over several years before seeking a patent, Barker had redeemed another set of headrights the previous year; thus it is certain William Sanders did not arrive before late 1637.

On 10 Oct 1640,William Sanders he obtained a patent of his own for a tract of land on the south side of the Appomattox River. Accomplishing this much less than two and a half years after his arrival is noteworthy, and a definitive statement that his financial circumstances were much better than most new arrivals.

I have not been able to locate this patent in Cavaliers & Pioneers, nor at the Library of Virginia, but it is referenced in a patent received by Walter Chiles on 5 Nov 1649. The Chiles patent pertains to the same land William acquired by patent, and includes a recitation of the property’s ownership history, already lengthy by the time Chiles obtained it by deed in 1642.

[WHB: Note that in the next century, the daughter of a Micajah Chiles, marries into one of my Quaker ancestral lines. See: Bedford County VA Quakers: Selected Notes from the South River Monthly Meetings.]

William Sanders assigned his patent to Walter Brooke at an unspecified date; Brooke soon after deeded the property  to William Thomas, the proprietary agent who authored the payment demand delivered by John Sanders delivered to Rice Howe.

Walter Chiles then purchased the land from Thomas on 20 Oct 1642, and received a patent for it seven years later. Although it is not noted when Sanders assigned his patent to Brooke, that the property received its fourth owner in the space of two years and ten days implies Sanders disposed of the land immediately after it was received.

From the Chiles patent several clues regarding William Sanders’ life and livelihood can be gleaned:that he received the patent only two to three years after his arrival is a clear indicator he never served a period of indenture; that he used the patent as a commodity rather than making the required improvements suggests William Sanders was not a planter.

The Chiles record also states Sanders’ original patent was for two hundred acres. Headrights were set at fifty acres per each person transported to the colony. William, evidently, had paid the passage of four persons.

And because the process of obtaining a patent required a year or more, it is safe to say this event took place no later than 1639. William’s 1660 will, presented at court in Charles City County in September of that year, identifies a family group consisting of wife Joane, three unmarried daughters named Jane, Susan and Joane, and a son, William Jr. The will notes that William Jr. was then a minor, meaning he was born after 1639 – after the family relocated to Virginia.

Therefore it is likely that William obtained the 200 acre patent of the Appomattox River for paying the passage of his wife and three daughters. Thus, the Chiles patent suggests William Sanders was a man possessed of his own resources, perhaps engaged as a mercantilist, or was well connected to shipping interests – or both.

Of three men named in the Sanders to Chiles land transaction, the descendants of two, Walter Chiles and Walter Brooke, are found in early 18^th century records of my direct line, and the third, William Thomas, establishes another direct link (William Barker being the first) between John Saunders and William Sanders.

In a previous email I noted the connections of Walter Chiles’ great-grandson, Henry Chiles, to my direct ancestor Thomas Sanders in Albemarle County circa 1750. I’ll not repeat that information, but speculation about Walter Chiles origins bears repeating in the context of the current topic.

What I have documented about Chiles is that he was a member of the gentrified class, a merchant and burgess whose principal residence was in James City County; he and with wife Elizabeth had two sons, Walter Jr. and William. I have located two unsourced family trees that states Walter’s wife Elizabeth was a Sanders, and that they hailed from Gloucestershire, England.

I have yet to find records to substantiate these claims, but if Elizabeth truly was a Sanders and native of Gloucestershire, the names of their sons take on added significance. If English naming patterns were adhered to in Chiles household, Walter Jr. would have been named after his paternal grandfather, and William after his maternal grandfather, William Sanders.

In 1638, the year William Sanders arrived in the Virginia Colony, Walter Chiles Sr. received two patents on the south bank of the “Appamattucke River.” The first, dated 1 March 1638, identified Chiles as a merchant and adjoined the patent of Edward Tunstall. (Virginia Patent Book 1, p. 625).

The second patent, dated 2 May 1638 was for transporting himself, wife Elizabeth and sons Walter and William, and adjoined Edward Tunstall’s and his own recent patent. (Virginia Patent Book 1, p. 551).

When the newly arrived William Sanders obtained his patent in 1640, I do not think it a coincidence that it adjoined the patent of Walter Chiles. I think it far more likely that, in 1639, when Sanders would have begun the patent process, Chiles located and identified the property he wished to patent – as patentees were required to do – because William Sanders was his brother-in-law and uncle to his children. This leads me to believe that the 1634 marriage record between William Saunders and Joane Longe of Bitton, Gloucester County, England may in fact pertain to the William and Joane Sanders of Charles City County, Virginia circa 1638-1660.

A cursory look at the descendants of Walter Brooke allows for the possibility that the Reverend Zachariah Brooks of Hanover and Goochland County records of the early 18^thcentury is a direct descendant.

A 1727 entry in the Douglas Register states Rev. Brooks was contracted for a period of one year to conduct worship services in St. James Parish of Goochland, and to read prayers one Sunday each month at the home of John Saunders.

This John Saunders is the father of John Hyde Saunders, and I strongly believe is the brother of my direct ancestor, James Sanders of St. Peter’s Parish records, 1699-1717. I am actively trying to prove or debunk this theory about James and John being brothers, and although I have yet to find anything that definitely proves the theory, I have also not seen anything that tends to disprove it.

Whether or not William Sanders of Charles City County ties directly to my line or yours – and I do think it possible he is a direct ancestor of your Julius Saunders – isn’t of real importance in this discussion.  But I do think this record trail validates our belief that strong and actives ties did exist between the two groups.

The 1635 passenger manifest regarding John Saunders show he sailed to Virginia aboard the Merchant’s Hope out of the Port of London. Records pertain to William Sanders do not indicate where he boarded the same ship two to three years later, but Bristol would have been a natural and logical layover point for Virginia bound ships out of London.

It seems likely that William Sanders, possibly a merchant or entrepreneur of some sort, embarked from Bristol, and the matter may have been arranged by John Saunders, a distant relative with ties to mercantile and shipping interests in London.

Bill,

Just read your timeline posts on V&V. Nicely laid out. Wasn’t sure how you would approach it.

I followed the links to your earlier writings and came across an entry that is of particular interest to me: “It is possible that this is the Thomas Saunders, whom JOHN PAYN, the King’s [i. e., King Henry IV] chief butler, appointed as his deputy in the port of Bristol, and to whom a writ of aid was issued on 5 Feb., 1400 (Patent Rolls).”

It is amazing to me the regularity with which the surname Paine/Payne has appeared not only in my Sanders research, but also in my Brown research, another branch of my maternal tree that ventured from Henrico (1720), Chesterfield, Bedford VA, Bedford TN & KY. Over a period spanning two centuries and four states (VA, NC, TN, KY) one couldn’t throw a rock out the window without hitting someone named Paine.

And yet, I have never detected a connection to this family in my direct line, only two marriages in an offshoot branch of my Brown line in Bedford VA. Seeing the names Thomas Saunders and John Payn together on a record dated 1400 was a real eye popper, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

The evidence trail of an apparent alliance between the Saunders and Paine families now spans four centuries. To a modern man, the clannish nature and durability of ancient alliances is truly amazing.

Justin.

Hi Justin –

I think the word “clannishness” is thought-provoking. If indeed we discover, as I am convinced we will, that our English and Norman ancestors worked together to advance their family fortunes, it does seem to fit the situation.

Here’s my current hypothesis: French Norman families after the invasion by William the Conqueror moved in and took over all the royal and local jobs that had incomes attached. As each family established their revenue-producing estates, younger sons left to establish new family enterprises and daughters left to establish alliances with other Norman families.

We likely will find that some of the collateral names that DNA research has discovered (e.g., Kerley, Crump) will turn out to be younger sons establishing surnames based on geography, names of ancient estates from Saxon times, etc. (Or conversely, Saunders could be a younger son name itself).

Since Viking and Norman families had a long history of seafaring, once the family fortunes were established, seafaring and mercantile pursuits (such as trade with wine-producing regions of France’s Southern coast and later trade with America) were logical extensions of family activities.

It is my hypothesis also that there was considerable discord within the families, when prominent members took different sides in the religious disputes that engulfed England from the reign of Henry VIII onward. Some profited from Henry’s confiscation of monastery and Catholic church assets. Others took the dangerous path of opposing the Crown (be it Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth, James I, Charles I or Cromwell)

Thus, when we get to Virginia, some of our ancestors are there principally for the profit motive as merchant-adventurers, others are there to escape the religious or civil situation in England.

Cordially, Bill