Person:James Saunders (18)

... Among the very earliest settlers in Fugit, who came to the township in 1820, 1821, 1822 and 1823, we mention the following: ... James Saunders, Robert Hall ...
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[Note: James Saunders marries Cynthia Hall, sister of Robert Hall]

... Miss Susan Saunders, who was born in this county, April 5, 1828, a daughter of James and Cynthia (Hall) Saunders, both natives of Nicholas county, Kentucky, where their marriage occurred. In 1821 they came to Indiana, and the father entered land where the town of Clarksburg now stands. He made good improvements on the place, and after twelve years sold the property and purchased a tract of land southwest of Greensburg, where he developed a good farm. In 1855, however, he removed to Iowa, where his death occurred, July 7, 1864. His wife passed away in Decatur county, at the home of her daughter Susan, April 28, 1873.

In politics he [James Saunders] was a stanch Whig, and his influence in political matters was very marked. He filled many positions of trust and honor, represented his county in the state legislature, served as county treasurer, and was also justice of the peace. He was a captain of militia during the days of general muster, and was long a recognized leader in public thought and action. He possessed more than ordinary intelligence, and was a gentleman of many social qualities, of genial manner and kindly disposition, and won the friendship and regard of all with whom he came in contact. He possessed excellent business ability, and not only successfully conducted his farm but also attended to much legal business for his neighbors, writing wills, etc., and had much confidential work. He was a member of the Christian church, although the others of his family were Presbyterians.

His children were nine in number.
- James Newton, who was highly educated, became a Presbyterian minister, his first charge being at Evansville, Indiana. Later he was pastor of a church in Louisville, Kentucky, and subsequently he served in the Bloomfield (Kentucky) church for more than thirty years, his noble Christian example having marked influence in the affairs of that community.
- Henry, who served in the civil war as a captain in an Iowa regiment, died in Iowa.
- William, who was a student in college at the time of the Mexican war, entered the army, and was killed at the storming of the city of Mexico.
- Robert is now an agriculturist of Iowa.
- Susan is the wife of our subject.
- Miles, who was educated in Kentucky, was pastor of the Presbyterian church in Springfield, that state, for thirty- five years, and is now serving as a missionary among the mountaineers of Kentucky. He is a man of brilliant mind, of a devoted Christian character and labors earnestly to uplift his fellowmen.
- Eliza is the wife of Paschal T. Lambert.
- Hughes died at the age of twenty-one years; and
- Mary was the wife of Calvin Kelsey, who also was a captain in an Iowa regiment in the civil war, and died of cholera in Cairo, Illinois. She afterward married Mr. Hendrix, a farmer. ...

CAPT. JAMES SAUNDERS, Deceased.
Of the many worthy pioneer families of Decatur County, there were none more highly esteemed nor oftener mentioned - none more deserving of a place in her historic annals - than the names of James and Cynthia Saunders, who were among the earlier, if not the earliest, of the Kentucky colonists who, from 1821 to 1830, built for themselves "cabins in the wilderness" of Fugit and the eastern part of Washington Townships.

"A cabin in the woods, Wherein were stored their household goods;
At first, round logs and clapboard roof, With puncheon floor, quite carpet-proof.
And paper windows, oiled and neat - An edifice then quite complete."

Such was their home, and it was also the home of the land-hunters from all portions of the older States, especially those from the region of "Old Kentucky." Here this class of visitors always received a hearty welcome, and the best cheer the country then offered. Mr. Saunders was ever ready to advise and to assist strangers in the selection and entries of their land. Of the remote ancestors of this family, but little is known, except that they were Scotch-Irish, who believed in "John Knox." The father of James Saunders (whose surname [sic] was also James) emigrated from the North of Ireland to this country some time in the latter part of the last century. Landing at New Orleans at the age of about eighteen years, he soon wended his way North, and soon found a home and a final resting-place in Nicholas County, Ky. His wife's name was Hughes, whose family came into Kentucky from some one of the States farther south. From the name, they are supposed to be of Welsh descent. When and where James Saunders, the elder, and Susan Hughes, were married, are facts concerning which the records and traditions of the family furnish no light. They were blessed with a family of two sons and four daughters, the eldest of which sons is the subject of this sketch.

Capt. James Saunders was born in Nicholas County, Ky. on the 16th day of March, 1796. His father being a farmer, the son was reared to the same pursuit. The father was an opponent of slavery, and would neither hold "manservants" of his own nor hire them from others, but taught his children to eat their bread in the sweat of their own faces, and not by the honest toil of others. During his childhood, he enjoyed but limited educational advantages, but so improved those that he obtained an excellent education for those days, and, in his mature years, was a man of more than ordinary cultivation and intelligence.

January 30, 1819, he was married to Miss Cynthia, daughter of John and Mary Hall, of Kentucky. (The Hall family were also of Scotch-Irish stock, and came to Kentucky from the Carolinas.) This lady was born and raised in the same neighborhood, and the two had grown to maturity as schoolmates and friends. Over three years succeeding their marriage, they resided near the old home. During this period, two sons were born. Soon after this, the "New Purchase" was put upon the market, and Capt. Saunders entered lands in the southeast quarter of Section 1, Town 11, Range 10, being the site of the west half of the present village of Clarksburg.* (*This patent is dated December 18, 1820.)

In the spring of 1821, this youthful but resolute young couple and their children moved into this "boundless waste of desert and of wood." Previous to this, however, but after his entry, he and a faithful colored man whom his father-in-law had given him came and cleared off a spot large enough for a cabin of two rooms, into which the family moved upon their arrival. At this time, they had no neighbors except such settlers as were scattered over the country at distances from three to five miles apart. The only roads were the "traces" or blazed paths through the woods. Here, amid the dangers and privations of the frontier, they began the work of making a lasting home for themselves and their posterity. In the spring of 1829 (March 5), wishing to be nearer to the bounty seat, Capt. Saunders sold this improvement, and, on the 4th of the next month, bought the land now owned by John Templeton, two miles southwest of Greensburg, They soon moved on to this land, and cleared and improved it, adding other tracts from time to time until the fall of 1855, when they sold this property and went to Monroe County, Iowa, to reside near two of their sons who had permanently located there. There they resided until the death of Capt Saunders, which occurred July 7, 1864.

Mrs. Saunders was a woman well fitted to be the wife of such a man — a woman of clear head and a kind and affectionate heart, who sympathized with her husband in whatever of joy or affliction it was his lot to encounter. She sought to lead her large family in the paths of virtue and in the ways of pleasantness and peace. She survived her husband nearly nine years, making her home alternately with her children in Iowa, and her daughter, Mrs. Robert A. Hamilton, of this county, at whose residence she died April 28, 1873. She was a member of the Christian Church during her residence in this county, but, upon removing to Iowa, she united with the Presbyterian Church (the church of her youth), in which fellowship she remained until her death. Her remains were interred and still rest in the cemetery of the Presbyterian Church at Kingston.

The children of James Saunders and Cynthia Hall were:
- James Newton, born in Kentucky, April 29, 1818: graduated from Hanover College and studied for the Presbyterian ministry at the New Albany Theological Seminary, and now resides at Bloomfield, Ky. He has been twice married — first, to Frances Veach; and, after her death, second, to Mary Wilson, both of Kentucky.
- John H., born in Kentucky, October 22, 1819; married, first, Rebecca Higgins, of Missouri; second, Amanda Martin, of Iowa.
- Henry, born in Decatur County, September 22, 1822; married Eliza Jane, daughter of Jacob and Ann Stewart, August 7, 1844; now lives at Albia, Iowa.
- William Potts, born July 3, 1824; entered Hanover College in 1844; enlisted in the United States Army in 1847, in the command of the late Capt. Symonson, of Charleston, Ind. He was killed during the siege of the City of Mexico, September 21, 1847. Those who served with him bear testimony to his gallant conduct under arms. His former Captain once remarked to the writer that "No truer or braver man ever lived or died."
- Robert Emmett, born February 23, 1826; married Rebecca McKinney March 28, 1850; now resides near Albia, Iowa, -
- Susan, born April 17, 1822; married to Robert M. Hamilton, February 7, 1849. See special biography of R. A. Hamilton.
- Moses Johnson, born March 25, 1830; died September 17, 1831.
- Miles, born January 9, 1832; graduated at Bloomfield, Kentucky, and was prepared for the Presbyterian ministry at Danville, Ky.; married Mary Booker, of Kentucky, and is now Pastor of the church at Springfield, same State.
- Eliza H, born September 26, 1833; married to P. T. Lambert, September 3, 1857; resides near Greensburg.
- Jesse H, born April 19, 1836; died October 3, 1859.
- Mary H., born July 20, 1838; married to Calvin Kelsey September, 1858. He died of cholera at Cairo, I11. She married, second, N. E. Hendrix, and now resides near Albia, Iowa.

Some years previous to his death, Capt. Saunders was a sufferer from disease of the eyes, which caused partial blindness - so great that he could scarcely recognize his most intimate friends - and from which he never recovered. His death occurred from erysipelas of the throat and lungs. His remains were laid in the burial-ground at Albia, Iowa, as a final resting-place. He was in person a fine specimen of the best type of American manhood, physically, mentally and morally. In stature, he was about six feet in height, and symmetrically formed. He was easy in his manners, well informed on all the important questions of his day, and won the favorable regard of those with whom he came in contact. In the palmy days of the old militia system, when "all hands" turned out for the regular "muster" and training, he was elected Captain of a local company, and was ever afterward known as Capt. Saunders. He was a thrifty and enterprising farmer; took great interest in all schemes which promised well for the public good, and was one of the first temperance advocates, and a positive anti-slavery man. In politics, he was a Whig until the year 1856, when he united with the supporters of the Republican party. He was an active worker in politics, and attended nearly all of the conventions of his party - county, district and State - often serving as Chairman thereof, or on the various committees, and yet he never sought an office. He was elected to the House of Representatives in the State Legislature in 1841, and Treasurer of Decatur County in 1844; and in 1850, he was nominated for the State Senate, but was defeated. He was raised in the Presbyterian faith, but became converted to the doctrines of the Christian Church and united with that body about 1833, in Greensburg. His fellowship in that denomination was maintained until his death.

His father-in-law had given him a slave, which he was not at liberty to set free without giving security for his maintenance, so he brought him to Indiana, and, by so doing, made him free. While serving as Treasurer, he was obliged to travel back and forth through the woods to Indianapolis to make his settlements with the State Treasurer. During these trips, he frequently carried large sums of money, which were always safely deposited before his care of the same was relinquished. His name will go down to the future inhabitants of Decatur County as one of the most prominent of its pioneers.

... James Saunders, who was the son of James Saunders who was a native of Scotland, but lived in country Antrim. Ireland, until he became an emigrant to America with its much vaunted independence and opportunity. The first James located first in Charleston, South Carolina, and subsequently came to Kentucky, taking up his residence in Nicholas county, where James the second, father of the subject, was born. The latter married Cynthia Hall, and they subsequently removed from Kentucky to Decatur county, Indiana, where their younger children were born. ...