Saunders, Peter, 1823-1904
Biographical Note
Peter Saunders (1823-1904) was a lawyer and farmer from Franklin County, Virginia. Saunders came from a very well-known family. His grandfather was Peter Saunders, Sr., coined as the "Pioneer of Franklin County," and his father was Judge Fleming Saunders (1778-1858), who enslaved over 150 people. Peter Saunders married Elizabeth Dabney in 1855. Together they had four children. Their oldest son, Edward Watts Saunders (1860-1921), was a member of Congress, judge of the Circuit Court, and a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals. Peter Saunders had a sister named Ann M. Saunders (1825-1911) who married in 1846 to Thomas L. Preston, professor at the University of Virginia and grandson of Col. William Preston.
External Sources:
United States Federal Census, 1860.
"Fleming Saunders" entry, findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/118549296/fleming-saunders, accessed on September 27, 2024.
National Register of Historic Places, Bleak Hill, Callaway, Franklin County, Virginia, National Register #10244018, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/033-0002_Bleak_Hill_2002_Final_Nomination.pdf, accessed on September 27, 2024.
"Ann M. Saunders" in the Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940, ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/2346591:60214/, accessed on September 27, 2024.
"Anna Mariah Saunders Preston" entry, findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83199701/anna_mariah_preston, accessed Oct. 23, 2024.
"Edward W Saunders" in the Virginia, U.S., Death Records, 1912-2014, ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/255817:9278, accessed Oct. 23, 2024.
"SAUNDERS, Edward Watts, 1860 – 1921", Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S000077, accessed Oct. 23, 2024.
"Edward Watts Saunders" entry, findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/33419197/edward-watts-saunders, accessed on September 27, 2024.