Jesse (19 May 1825-~1853) — m. Maryann “Polly” Perrymore on 27 Jan 1845 << UNSURE OF PARENTAGE
John P. (~1829-187x) — m. Charlotte ???? about 1849
Lucinda A. (~1832-28 Mar 1914) — m. James F. Lawrence on 25 Mar 1849; m. William L. Hatfield on 25 Jun 1865
Major H. (3 Apr 1834-187x) — m. Ann P. ???? in 185x; m. Martha “Tennessee” McFarlin about 1864
Mary Elizabeth (30 Sep 1836-22 Oct 1899) — m. Ned Johnson on 9 Aug 1857; m. John Norris on 31 Dec 1865
William Marion (4 Apr 1840-21 Sep 1880) — m. Sarah Angeline Allen about 1875
Charlotta (~1840-????)
John was from Tennessee. Some accounts place his family in Lincoln County, in the south central area of Tennessee adjacent to Alabama, due north of Huntsville. Assuming the Jesse Sanders born 1799 in Lincoln County was John’s brother, as seems likely, their parents were probably Samuel and Elinor Sanders from North Carolina. The 1830 census of Lincoln County listed at least five Sanders families, including a Samuel Sanders household headed by a couple in their 50s.
Keziah was born probably in South Carolina, although some of her children said North Carolina. Her parents were reportedly Richard Mauldin and Nancy Sanders. Her family history is tenuous, and I’m not certain of her parentage either.
John and Keziah married on 1 Aug 1823, probably in Tennessee. According to family lore, they and at least one of John’s brothers lived in Alabama in the 1820s and early 1830s. The 1830 census for Tennessee showed lots of households headed by a John Sanders, but none appear to be our guy. There were lots of them in Alabama too. They might have lived in Texas as well; one of son Major’s daughters claimed her father was born there.
The family moved to Arkansas before 1840. The 1840 census for Griggs Township in Van Buren County, Arkansas (north of Conway), showed what was probably them: John A. Sanders (age 30-39) and wife (age 40-49), with three boys age 15-19, one boy age 10-14, one boy and one girl age 5-9, and one girl under 5. Assuming the presence of two unidentified older boys, the other children would be Jesse, John Jr., Lucinda, Major, and Mary Elizabeth. John Sr.’s presumed brothers Major and Jesse were living 40-50 miles south of them in Searcy County.
The 1850 census showed what was definitely them in Strawberry Township, Lawrence County, Arkansas: John A. (45) and Kisiah (53) Sanders, with children John (21), Major H. (16), Mary (14), William (11), and Charlotta (10). One source speculates young John and Charlotta were a nephew and niece, children of John’s late brother Major rather than children of John and Keziah, but cites thin evidence. Strawberry Township is directly south of Lebanon, in between Smithville and Poughkeepsie in what is now Sharp County.
John died in 1858. In the 1860 census, Keziah was sharing a house in Lebanon Township with her sons William (19) and Major (25), and Major’s wife Ann (25).
In 1870, Keziah (73) was living with her married daughter Lucinda in Lebanon Township. She died in 1873. I don’t know where she and John are buried.
John reportedly had two older brothers, Jesse “Jip” Sanders (15 May 1799-24 Jun 1889) and Major Sanders (~1800-~1840). At least one of them is supposed to have gone south into Alabama with him, and they both moved to Arkansas around the same time he did. There were a lot of Sanders families, and it’s possible these men were actually cousins to John.
Jesse married Sarah Osteen (3 Jul 1804-20 Sep 1844) from North Carolina about 1820 in Tennessee. Their children:
Elinor (19 May 1821-????)
Elijah J. “Lige” (31 May 1823-2 Feb 1888) — m. Margaret Jane Moore about 1847
Matilda (1824)
Elizabeth Ann (4 Feb 1826-28 Feb 1909) — m. Oliver Barnes on 6 Mar 1844
Nancy (11 Dec 1828-????)
Amanda (1830)
Samuel Newton “Newt” (16 Jun 1833-18 Apr 1916) — m. Arimincey Nichols on 19 Jan 1853; divorced; m. Martha Ann Newton on 19 Jan 1883
Anna (22 Oct 1838-????)
William C. (22 Oct 1839-2 Oct 1904) — m. Winnie Martin on 4 Jul 1854
Manerva Jane (17 May 1841-27 Dec 1933) — m. Jared Reeves on 17 Dec 1859
The 1830 census showed a Jesse P. Sanders and wife, in their 20s, in Greene County, Alabama with two boys and a girl all under 10. I doubt that was this family. Based on census records for the children, they were in Tennessee until the end of the 1830s. About 1839 they moved to Wiley Cove, Searcy County, Arkansas, where the 1840 census found them: a man in his forties and wife in her thirties, with a boy and girl age 15-19, three girls 10-14, a boy and girl 5-9, and a boy under 5. Brother Major was living nearby. Searcy County is just north of Van Buren County, where probable brother John was living in 1840. Sarah died in 1844. About 1846, Jesse married Hannah Elizabeth Bratton (14 Feb 1808-187x), also from North Carolina. They had one child:
Louisa D. (19 Mar 1847-17 Nov 1910) — m. Jesse J. Ragland about 1880; m. James Bratton
Hannah died in the 1870s. Jesse died in 1889, and is buried with both wives in Sulphur Springs Cemetery, Wileys Cove, Searcy County, Arkansas. The grave markers are home-made and difficult to read.
Major was variously said to have been born in Kentucky or Tennessee. He married a woman named Frances, aka Fannie (~1802-????), whose maiden name might have been Mauldin. Or not. Their children:
Samuel Blake (11 Mar 1822-28 Feb 1901) — m. Melinda J. Pierce on 13 Jul 1849
Harris M. (~1823-????) — m. Elizabeth Perkins Lloyd on 1 Aug 1847
James DeKalb (~1825-186x) — m. Martha Tucker on 15 Mar 1846
William J. “Bill” (Feb 1828-1909) — m. Matilda Tucker on 1 Feb 1852; m. Lydia Margaret Cozort on 10 Feb 1875; m. Cordelia F. “Fannie” Murphy on 21 Jun 1880
Joseph D. (1830-1863) — m. Heretta/Hester A. Pierce on 16 Jan 1853
Andrew Benjamin (18 Oct 1832-1879) — m. Amanda Jane “Mandy” Daley on 18 Oct 1857
Eliza Jane (~1834-????) — m. Calvin Johnson on 4 Aug 1853; m. Paul G. Clement on 5 Apr 1858; m. William R. Norris on 4 Jul 1866
Allen N. (1837-1838)
Major, Jr. (~1841-????)
The 1830 census for Tennessee showed a Major Sanders and wife, both in their 30s, living in Bedford County, in the center of the state south-southeast of Nashville. They had four boys under 10. That would be Samuel, Harris, James, and William. An older woman (60s) was with them.
They moved to Arkansas in the late 1830s. The 1840 census listed the household of a “Magor Sanders” in Searcy County, Arkansas: a couple in their thirties with two boys age 15-19, two boys 10-14, two boys 5-9, and a boy and girl under 5. Brother Jesse Sanders was on the same page. Major died in 1840 or 1841. His son Major, Jr. was apparently born around the time of or after his father’s death. Major’s family moved to Lawrence County, where his older sons appear in marriage and some census records from 1846 on, but I can’t find Frances there.
Jesse, according to familysearch.org contributors, was actually the son of Jesse and Phoebe Sanders. My only reason for placing him in this family is his proximity to the others, which could be explained by his being a cousin. He married Maryann “Polly” Perrymore (1819-22 Oct 1858) in 1845 in Lawrence County, Tennessee. They had at least two children:
Sarah E. (~1846-????)
George W. (~1848-????)
The 1850 census listed Jessee T. Sanders (25) living in Pope County, Arkansas, with wife Polly Ann (27) and children Sarah E. (4) and George W. (2). All of them were born in Tennessee, so they had moved to Arkansas recently. Jesse left no further record that I can find; familysearch.org claims he and Polly died in 1853 and 1858 respectively. In 1860, Jesse’s two children were living with the family of John and Ann Davis in Pope County. I can’t trace them past 1860.
John married a woman from Arkansas named Charlotte (~1831-????) about 1849. This was probably Charlotte Arbuckle, who married a John Sanders on 10 May 1849, but the wedding was in Bolivar, Jefferson County, Arkansas down south of Little Rock, so I can’t be certain. (Charlotte’s mother was probably the Delilah Arbuckle born 1801 in Kentucky who showed up in the 1850 census for Pulaski County.) Their children:
William (1852-????)
Milo H. (1857-????)
Irena Frances (1859-????) — prob. m. Benjamin Arnold on 6 Feb 1881
Mary Alice (1868-????)
One of the children, Milo, was born in Texas, suggesting a sojourn there. In 1860 and 1870, though, they were living in Lebanon Township. Along with their children, they raised an unexplained child named Frances Murphy (b. 1855), likely a war orphan.
John died in the 1870s. In the 1880 census for Strawberry Township, Charlotte (49) was a widow, working as a farm laborer. Her daughters Frances (supposedly 19) and Alice (12) were still with her. No definite trace of any of them thereafter.
Lucinda was born in Alabama. She married James F. Lawrence (~1826-185x) on 25 Mar 1849. They moved to Texas, where they had three children:
Mary K. (~1849-????) — m. Henry J./G. Tucker on 11 Jan 1866
William C. “Bill” (~1854-????) — m. Martha T. “Patsy” ??? in 187x
Lucinda Alice (~1858-????)
The 1850 census showed what was probably them with baby Mary in Bowie County, Texas. By 1860, James had died, and Lucinda was back in Lebanon Township with her three children, living in between brother Major Sanders and sister Mary Sanders Johnson. In 1865, just after the war, she married William L. Hatfield (~1805-187x) from South Carolina. He and Lucinda had two children:
Lenora (Jan 1868-1940)— m. Thomas Wall Phillips on 8 Nov 1885
Dorice (~1873-????)
In 1870, the family were living in Lebanon Township, Sharp County with children William Jr. (16), Alice (13), and Lenora (3), all listed as Hatfields, and also Lucinda’s widowed mother Keziah (73). They were living near Lucinda’s younger sister Mary and her family.
William died in the 1870s. In 1880, Lucinda, widowed, was living with her daughters Lenora and Druce (sic) in Strawberry Township, Sharp County.
I can’t find most of this family after 1880. There’s a report that Lucinda died in 1914 in Green Forest, Carroll County, Arkansas, but I can’t verify that.
Major was born in Tennessee, although his daughter Tint later said Texas. He was named for his uncle. He married Ann P. ??? (b. ~1835) from Illinois in the 1850s. There’s no record of any children.
Major fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War, in the unit that became Company D of the 38th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. He was a lieutenant.
Apparently Ann died in the early 1860s – or maybe, being from Illinois, she was a Unionist – because, about 1864, Major married Martha “Tennessee” McFarlin Norris (16 Jul 1832-10 Feb 1922), the widow of another Confederate soldier from his unit, Clark ancestor Nicholas Norris, Jr. Their children:
“Tint” (4 Oct 1865-2 Feb 1963) – m. Perry H. “Bud” Norris on 14 Jan 1883
Tipton “Tip” (~1870-????)
Clementine (Jul 1872-16 May 1957) – m. Carrol M. Medlock on 17 Aug 1890
The 1870 census showed the family in Lebanon Township with five children – three of Martha’s from her previous marriage, and her first two with Major. Major died sometime in the 1870s. The (June) 1880 census listed Martha as a widow. See the Norris-McFarlin family page for the rest of her story.
Clementine’s gravestone claims was born on 9 Jan 1868, but she wasn’t in the 1870 census, and her age in every census thereafter indicated she was born in the early 1870s.
Mary has her own entry in the family tree.
William might have been a Confederate soldier – there was at least one named William M. Sanders from Arkansas. Common name, though. He married Sarah Angeline Allen (3 Feb 1855-3 Mar 1927) about 1875 and had one child:
Owen Frances (1880-1942) — m. James Thomas Ratliff on 3 Oct 1902
In 1880, William, listed as a carpenter, was staying with the family of Ed and Amanda E. Johnson in Lebanon Township, and was suffering from dropsy (nowadays called edema). I don’t know where his wife was. It’s possible his daughter hadn’t been born yet. He died later that year. His wife remarried to James A. Justus on 2 Oct 1881, and had several more children. She died in 1927. His daughter died in 1942 and is buried in Lawrence Memorial Cemetery, Walnut Ridge.
http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/sanders/10911/ -- Early Sanders family
http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/sanders/1047/ -- thread about John
https://www.ancestry.com/boards/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=3124&p=surnames.sanders -- ditto
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:3QYF-2C4 -- Sanders family tree
https://www.geni.com/people/John-Sanders/4689108951050089757 -- John; little data
https://www.geni.com/people/Lucinda-Lawrence/4657559241390035055 -- Lucinda, data on children
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHBX-KTT -- 1840 census, probable
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N99P-L8H -- 1849 wedding of Lucinda
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NMR1-5QW -- 1849 wedding of prob. John Jr.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M678-F48 -- 1850 census
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXLV-MTJ -- 1850 census, prob. Lucinda
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M875-ZHK -- 1860 census, Keziah
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M875-ZHL -- 1860 census, Lucinda
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M875-ZCG -- 1860 census, John Jr.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N995-53J -- 1865 wedding of Lucinda
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N995-YMP -- 1866 wedding of Lucinda’s daughter Mary
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNCF-S5B -- 1870 census, Keziah and daughter Lucinda
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNCX-5NW -- 1870 census, John Jr.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNCF-SRB -- 1870 census, Major
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNC3-HNL -- 1870 census, Lucinda’s daughter Mary
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW5-XSG -- 1880 census, William (I think)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW5-4D2 -- 1880 census, Lucinda
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW8-XRP -- 1880 census, Lucinda’s son William, I think
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW5-46M -- 1880 census John’s widow
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW5-7GR -- 1880 census, Major’s children
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:3QYF-2CH -- family tree for William
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N93Y-RLF -- 1881 wedding of William’s widow
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3XZ-9C9 -- 1900 census, William’s widow and daughter
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NMJ6-W5Y -- 1902 wedding of William’s daughter Owen
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3XC-NV2 -- 1920 census, Major’s daughter Clementine and her mother
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/76020851 -- 1927 grave of William’s widow Sarah
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMGX-L1T -- 1930 census, Major’s daughter Clementine
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86510492 -- 1942 grave of William’s daughter Owen
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25050994/clementine-medlock -- 1957 grave of Major’s daughter Clementine; links to Tint
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N99P-VXZ -- 1846 wedding of Major’s son James
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N99P-K6X -- 1847 wedding of Major’s son Harris
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQRC-FH9 -- 1849 wedding of Major’s son Samuel
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M67Z-5VC -- 1850 census, Major’s son Harris
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N99P-RQV -- 1852 wedding of Major’s son William
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N99P-TLS -- 1853 wedding of Major’s son Joseph
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N995-42W -- 1857 wedding of Major’s son Benjamin
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M875-ZH8 -- 1860 census, Major’s son James
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M875-Z41 -- 1860 census, Major’s son William
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M875-Z4K -- 1860 census, Major’s son Joseph
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M875-ZJT -- 1860 census, Major’s son Benjamin
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNCF-5QS -- 1870 census, Major’s son Samuel
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNCH-DLN -- 1870 census, Major’s son William
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNCX-JMW -- 1870 census, Major’s son Benjamin (wife’s age wrong)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N99R-5QH -- 1875 wedding of Major’s son William
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW5-WSF -- 1880 census, William and soon-to-be bride
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N93Y-RBM -- 1880 wedding of Major’s son William
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3XZ-52B -- 1900 census, Major’s son Samuel
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M3XZ-9CC -- 1900 census, Major’s son William
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/86388524 -- 1901 grave of Major’s son Samuel
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88164608 -- 1909 grave of Major’s son William
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKVH-K97 -- 1910 census, Major’s son William -- HUH?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHG2-FN3 -- 1830 census, father Samuel
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH5S-V63 -- 1830 census, brother Major
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHBX-L95 -- 1840 census, brothers Jesse and Major (“Magor”)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8BS-GQB -- 1845 wedding of poss. son Jesse
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M67W-LR6 -- 1850 census, brother Jesse
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M67D-1TD -- 1850 census, son Jesse
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87Y-8YM -- 1860 census, brother Jesse
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M87R-STF -- 1860 census, son Jesse’s children
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNWG-YCN -- 1880 census, brother Jesse
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N93Y-RPF -- 1881 wedding of prob. John Jr.’s daughter Irene Frances
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27010701 -- 1889 grave of brother Jesse, links to others
https://www.ancestry.com/boards/surnames.sanders/8017.1/mb.ashx -- thread about Jesse
https://www.ancestry.com/boards/localities.northam.usa.states.tennessee.counties.obion/2077.2.1/mb.ashx -- thread about Samuel, no son John
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103053371/john-sanders -- 1882 grave of a different John Sanders
https://www.ancestry.com/boards/surnames.masters/353.1/mb.ashx -- Includes mention of that John Sanders