Person:Robert Sanderson (6)

"Robert Sanderson and wife Lydia were among the first settlers of Hampton, New Hampshire. He came from Norfolk. England, in the year 1637, and in 1638 went to Hampton. Soon after the birth of their daughter Mary, he moved to Watertown, Massachusetts, of which he was a proprietor in 1642. He had a brother, Edward Sanderson, who also settled in Watertown and married Mary Eggleston. The name is often spelled Sanders and Saunders in the early records. Robert Sanderson married (second) in Watertown, 1642, Mary Cross, widow of John Cross. He remained in Watertown until about 1653, when he removed to Boston and was deacon of the church there. He sold his house and ten acres of land in Hampton, July 20, 1650, to Richard Swaine. He was then of Watertown and October 17, 1653, he bought land of William Godfrey. He was a goldsmith and silversmith by trade. John Hull, a selectman and many years town treasurer of Boston, the first mint-master of New England, and the coiner of the pine-tree shillings, in his diary under date of 1652-53, relates how he was chosen to make coins, and adds: 'I chose my friend Robert Sanderson to be my partner, to which the court consented.' On September 1, 1652, he adds: 'My boy, John Sanderson, complained of his head aching, and took his bed; a strong fever set in and after 17 days sore sickness, he departed this life.' Under date of November 8, 1658, he says: 'the Lord exercised with sickness my partner Robert Sanderson, and his son Joseph, but yet was pleased to recover them both. Joseph kept the house about a month, and my partner 18 days.' Robert Sanderson married (third) Elizabeth -----, whom he mentions in his will, which was proved October 20, 1693. She died October 15, 1695, aged seventy-eight years, leaving a will. He bequeathed to his wife Elizabeth; son, Robert Sanderson; and daughter, Anne West; grandchildren, Robert Darby, Mary Caswell, Joseph Jones; children of Robert and Anna and of James Penniman; great-granddaughter, Abia Beard; son-in-law, Richard West; brother, Edward Sanderson; Joseph, son of William Sanderson; refers to house and land at Watertown, had by former wife; mentions kinsman, William Shattuck, of Watertown. When the second daughter of Robert Sanderson was married, he gave her as her marriage portion as much silver as would balance her weight. He died October 7, 1693."^[3]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Cutter, William Richard. New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of the Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. (New York, New York, United States: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913-14)
   III:1596-1597.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} 1 Robert Sanderson, in Noyes, Sybil; Charles Thornton Libby; and Walter Goodwin Davis. Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire. (Portland, Maine: Southworth Press, 1928-1939)
   607.

   Robert Sanderson, Hampton, gold and silver smith (later a partner of John Hull, the mintmaster), had an 80 a. gr. in 1639. … Wife Lydia. He mov. to Watertown in 1642 where he m. 2d Mary, wid. of John Cross, whose dau. Mary, b. there 10 May 1641, m. in Boston 10 May 1659 James Penniman. In 1650, of Watertown, he sold his Hampton ho.-lot to Francis Swain. Dea. R. S. died in Boston 7 Oct. 1693. Dau. Mary, by 1st w., bp. in Hampt. 29 Oct. 1639. Ch. by 2d w. See Pope's 'Pioneers of Mass.,' p. 399; N. E. Reg. 52: 23, his will there naming br. Edward.

3. ↑ Bond, Henry, M.D. Family Memorials. Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Including Waltham and Weston (1855): To Which Is Appended the Early History of the Town. With Illustrations, Maps and Notes. (Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, 1855)
   I:416.
4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 Alden, John E. Was Anna West a Daughter of Robert Saunderson?. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Jan 1898)
   52:23.