 1620 - 1695 (75 years)
-
| Name |
Tobias Saunders |
| Born |
1620 |
|
|
| Christened |
6 Feb 1630 |
Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
 [2] |
|
|
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
Aug 1695 |
Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
|
|
Address:
First Baptist Church
|
| Name |
Tobias Sanders |
| Died |
Aug 1695 |
Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States
[1] |
|
|
| Notes |
- See article by Louise Prosser BATES in NEHGR Vol. 63, p 198 regarding t
he wife
of Tobias SAUNDERS. Mrs. Bates in this article shows by a series of pr
obate
ecords that Mary, wife of Tobias Saunders, was a niece of Rev. John Cl
arke,
and that James Peckham of Little Compton, R.I. was uncle to her childre
. She,
therefore, must have been a sister of James Peckham, and her mother mus
t have
been a sister of the Rev. John Clarke.
CONNECTICUT NUTMEGGER: Vol. 29, No. 4, pp 583-588. Paul A. Saunders, "
The
English Origins of Tobias Saunders of Westerly, RI".
!The following information concerning Tobias SAUNDERS is from "The Firs
t
Hundred Years -- Pawcatuck Seventh Day Baptist Church"; Utter Co.; West
erly,
R.I.; 1940; pp 284-85.
"Tobias Saunders first appears in the records of Taunton, Mass., in 164
3 and
is thought to have died in 1695, as his will was proved on the second o
f
September in that year. Although he was a member of the first Seventh D
ay
Baptist Church in America at Newport, his ancestor, Rev. Lawrence Saund
ers,
was not known to have been a Sabbath-keeper. He was one of the Christi
an
martyrs burned to death outside the city of Coventry, England, on Sabba
th Day,
February 9, 1555.
!Tobias Saunders was a soldier of the King in old England and at one ti
me was
one of the King's Life Guard. He was made a freeman in Newport in 1655 a
d on
September 9, 1661, received a quarter of a share in the division of the l
and
at Misquamicut, as Westerly was then called. Almost immediately he was i
the
midst of trouble as he, his father-in-law [NOTE: see notes for his wif
e, Mary
PECKHAM, not CLARKE], Joseph Clarke, and Robert Burdick laid claim to
Southertown (Southertown included the later limits of the town of Stoni
gton
[CT] and much of Westerly) which both Connecticut and Massachusetts cla
imed as
theirs. All three were arrested November 1, 1661, by William Palmer,
constable, but Joseph Clarke was freed later.
!Saunders and Burdick were both placed on trial before Governor Endicot
t and
associates November 14, 1661, in Boston. Their defense was that they h
ad
bought the land from the Indians by the authority of the Court of Rhode I
sland.
Bonds were set at one hundred pounds each and in the absence of surety
, they
were committed to prison for trial in May 1662. At that time they were f
ined
forty pounds each and Rhode Island was notified to send in the fines, b
ut they
were kept in jail two years.
!Later Connecticut was given a new charter giving Southertown to her an
d
Massachusetts retired from the contest. Still later a compromise was r
eached
in England whereby Connecticut relinquished her claim to the disputed
territory in Westerly to Rhode Island. Tobias Saunders, Robert Burdick
,
Joseph Clarke, and John Crandall were a few of the strong men of their d
ay who
stood steadfast, endured persecution and imprisonment not only because o
f the
land disputes but also on account of the religious freedom guaranteed t
o the
esidents of Rhode Island, but not vouchsafed to the Connecticut settle
s
where the Puritan church was to all intents the State religion.
!Tobias Saunders was a deputy to the General Assembly of Rhode Island f
om
Westerly many terms and was active in the Westerly congregation of the N
ewport
church ..."
!Lyle S. SAUNDERS: Saunders genealogy; typescript @ Westerly Public Lib
ary.
Charles DENISON: "Westerly Settlers -- No. 7"; typescript @ Westerly P
ublic
Library.
NOTE: Three of his daughters died of small pox as adults.
|
| Person ID |
I6342 |
Megan's Big Tree |
| Last Modified |
31 Dec 1969 |
| Father |
Tobias Saunders, c. 30 May 1596, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
, d. Y
(Age ~ 46 years) |
| Mother |
Isabel Wilde, b. Abt 1598, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
, d. Aft 20 Feb 1643 (Age ~ 45 years) |
| Married |
27 May 1616 |
Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
|
|
|
| Family ID |
F13398 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 1 |
Mary Clarke, b. Abt 1645, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States
, d. 1695 (Age ~ 50 years) |
| Children |
| | 1. John Saunders, b. Abt 1670, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
, d. 1746, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
(Age ~ 76 years) |
| | 2. Edward Saunders, b. Abt 1672, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
, d. 1732, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
(Age ~ 60 years) |
| | 3. Stephen Saunders, b. Abt 1675, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
, d. Nov 1746, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
(Age ~ 71 years) |
| | 4. Benjamin Saunders, b. Abt 1682, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
, d. 1733, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
(Age ~ 51 years) |
| | 5. Susannah Saunders, b. Abt 1689, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
, d. 1733, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
(Age ~ 44 years) |
|
| Last Modified |
30 Aug 2021 |
| Family ID |
F2394 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family 2 |
Mary Peckham, b. Abt 1640, Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States
, d. Aft 1695, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
(Age ~ 56 years) |
| Married |
1660 |
Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States
|
|
|
| Married |
Abt 1661 |
Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
[2] |
|
| Children |
| | 1. Elizabeth Saunders, b. 1662, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
, d. 3 Mar 1731, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
(Age 69 years) |
| | 2. Mercy Saunders, b. Abt 1677, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
, d. Between 1724 and 1736, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
(Age ~ 47 years) |
| | 3. Sarah Saunders, b. Abt 1684, Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
, d. Y
|
|
| Last Modified |
30 Aug 2021 |
| Family ID |
F2455 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
-
| Event Map |
|
 | Christened - 6 Feb 1630 - Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England
|
 |
 | Married - 1660 - Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States
|
|
 | Married -
- Abt 1661 - Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
|
|
| Death -
,Address:
First Baptist Church
- Aug 1695 - Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States
|
|
| Died - Aug 1695 - Newport, Newport, Rhode Island, United States
|
|
|
-
| Sources |
- [S266] Henry Clarke--Catherine Pendleton: Ancestry & Descendants
.
- [S112] Crandall Web Pages
.
|
|
