Abigail (Martin) Saunders (1791 - 1850)

Born 30 Jul 1791 in Bradford, Orange, Vermont, United States

Wife of Jacob B Saunders — married about 1815 (to 16 Aug 1850) in New York, United States [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 16 Aug 1850 at age 59 in Lawrence, St. Lawrence, New York, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Bonnie Saunders [send private message]

Biography

Abigail Martin was born on 30 Jul 1791 at Bradford, Orange, Vermont, United States. ^[1] This is official confirmation of what was handwritten in the family New Testament: ^[2] Abigail's last name was indeed Martin, she was born in 1791 and she was from Bradford, Orange, Vermont, United States. A death certificate was not located for her but according to the family New Testament, she died on 16 Aug 1850 (which has been taken to be certain), probably in Lawrence, St. Lawrence, New York, United States. She is buried with her husband in Hill Crest Cemetery in Lawrenceville. ^[3] Samuel Martin is listed in Abigail's birth certificate as her father. ^[1] but her mother's name is not given. Abigail married Jacob B Saunders (1792-abt 1869). The date has been estimated @ 1815 in New York, United States, based on the birth of their first daughter, Harriet, around 1816, in that state. The marriage ended with Abigail's death on 16 Aug 1850. ^{[2] [3]} Jacob married a second time sometime after Abigail's death ^[4] and before the 1860 census on 11 Jul 1860. ^[5]

Jacob and Abigail had at least five children. According to Familysearch.org genealogies, their first child was Harriet Saunders (abt 1815-abt 1898), born in New York. ^[6] Another four children appear in the 1850 census, also born in New York: ^[7]

1. Harriet Saunders (Partlow, abt 1816-abt 1898)
2. Hannah Saunders (Abbott, abt 1817-abt 1883)
3. Smith Saunders (abt 1824-1891)
4. William B Saunders (1826-1909)
5. Roswell Saunders (abt 1829-abt 1889)

Abigail appears by name only in the 1850 census:

Jul 1850 Abigail Martin appeared in the 1850 census on 31 July 1850 at Lawrence, St. Lawrence, New York, United States, "Abagail Sanders", 58 yrs, born in Vermont, with her husband "Jacob B Sanders", 57 yrs, born in New Hampshire, Farmer, Real Estate Value $1400, and four children, all born in New York, one daughter, "Hannah Sanders", 33 yrs, and four sons, "Smith Sanders", 26 yrs, Farmer, Real Estate Value $ 250, "William B Sanders", 24 yrs, Farmhand, and "Roswell Sanders", 21 yrs, Joiner. NB the next family listed in the census is Jacob's brother, Josiah F Sanders (Saunders), along with his wife Dulsema and son Hinsmon. ^[7]

Research Notes

Which Jacob? The name of the father in William Butler Saunders' death certificate is Jacob Saunders and in the 1850-1860 censuses, his parents' birthplaces are listed as New Hampshire (father) and Vermont (mother). As fate would have it, two Jacob Saunders born in New Hampshire in the correct timeframe have been located, one, born in 1789 in Barrington, Strafford, New Hampshire, whose parents were both born in New Hampshire and who seems to have stayed close to home all his life, and another, born in 1792-1793 (estimated using censuses), who was in New York in the 1830-1860 censuses. William Butler Saunders' (1826-1909) died in Michigan, but he was born in New York, so it seems correct to assume that the Jacob Saunders who lived and died in New Hampshire (1789-1852) is not his father, but the Jacob B Saunders who lived in New York for at least 40 years is. Birth and death certificates were found for the Jacob who stayed in New Hampshire, but only a death certificate was found for the New York Jacob, supposedly William's father.

Complicating matters, both Jacobs seem to have married Abigails. In the New York 1850 census, Jacob B Sanders (common misspelling of the last name) appears with Abagail [sic] Sanders and in the New Hampshire 1850 census Jacob Sanders (with the same misspelling....) is listed with Abigail Sanders. Even though Abigail was a common enough name in the 19th century, what are the odds? One would be inclined to think we are talking about the same person in two different states, if it weren't for the fact that the two 1850 censuses show the two different estimated birth years mentioned above, 1789 for the New Hampshire census, and 1792-93 for the New York one.

There are no children's names to compare in the early censuses (1830-1840). In 1850, there are children only at the New York address (the names include William Butler's). In 1860, the only census is in New York (without Abigail or the children). Of course, by that time, the New Hampshire Jacob had died (1852), which explains the absence of further censuses in New Hampshire. In any event, either Jacob could be William's father, but the New York 1850 census not only shows William, it also shows Roswell, a brother, who later, in 1870, appears in his household in Michigan, i.e., the New York Jacob has been deemed William B Saunders' father. Unfortunately, the information available does not establish who his mother was.

Some time after the above analysis, Jacob's will was located, confirming the names of his widow and children. By the time he died, he had remarried, i.e., his first wife Abigail's name was not confirmed at this time. ^[4]

Jacob's Family In Dec 2015, Green Saunders' (1767-abt 1845) fourth great granddaughter came across an edition of a New Testament from 1813 in books left by family. The edition is in terrible condition, has been damaged by water at some point, and is quite fragile. Many, but not all, of its handwritten entries are quite illegible between flooding and age but, as luck would have it, someone took the trouble to write what appears to be a few of the semi-legible entries on a piece of foolscap and tuck them into the book. Such is the case for Green Saunders. According to the papers within, he was born on 11 Feb 1767, and his wife Sarah Chamberlain (1765-aft Aug 1820), was born on 19 Jun 1765. Their children are also listed on the paper as follows:

1. Jacob B, born October 18, 1792
2. William, born December 29, 1793
3. Mahalah, born May 13, 1795
4. Jonathan, born November 6, 1796
5. Josiah F, born December 16, 1798
6. Thurma, born October 4, 1800
7. Blanchard born August 26, 1802
8. James, born October 11, 1804

This has been considered reliable evidence that Green and Sarah were indeed parents of these eight children, and as such, the names and dates the old edition provides have been used in WikiTree.

The edition is signed on the back cover by three people, Green S, Jacob B, and Abbigail [sic] Martin off [sic] Briarford or Bradford (?). A Briarford in the US was not located but there is a Bradford, Orange, Vermont, United States, that was known as such by 1788, so Abbigail has been considered as the mystery Abagail in the 1850 New York Census (included until now as Abigail Unknown) who married Jacob B, and who, according to the census, was born around 1793 in Vermont.

The back cover-page has a handwritten title: Deaths of J B Saunders Family, with the following people listed beneath:

• Green Sanders Died 3 August 1821: This could be in reference to a Green Chamberlain Sanders, who appears on the front leaf, born in Dickinson, whose birth date is May 12 but the year is illegible. It comes in the same handwriting after an entry for Hannah Sanders, born in Dickinson, November 24 (?), 1816 who is probably Jacob B's daughter Hannah. Possibly, this Green is his son, born after Hannah (?), and less likely, his father, who was born in Feb, not May, and who apparently died in 1845.

• Blanchard G Saunders Died 11th August 1823. The entry has been used for Jacob B Saunders' brother.

• Abigail Martin Died Aug 16th 1850 Aged 59 years and one month. The entry has been used for Jacob B Saunders' wife; the age given means she would have been born in 1791, which is close to the birth year of the Abigail Martin mentioned above.

A scan of the New Testament has been included in Wikitree Free Pages: 1813 New Testament Jacob B Saunders (1792-1860) & Family.

Note that the surname "Saunders" often appears as "Sanders" and in the information located for many members of the family, both surnames are found. Present-day family members go by the name Saunders and this is the LNAB that has been used in WikiTree for the family.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} _ BIRTH CERTIFICATE: Abigail Martin on 30 Jul 1791
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} _ New Testament 1813: Jacob B Saunders Family
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Find A Grave: Memorial #153342053 Abigail Martin on 16 Aug 1850
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} _ Probate Records: Jacob B Saunders on 22 De 1869
5. ↑ _ 1860 Census at the Town of Lawrence, St. Lawrence, New York, United States
6. ↑ _ Familysearch.org: Harriet Saunders Family Tree (user-submitted)
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} _ 1850 Census at Lawrence, St. Lawrence, New York, United States

Find a Grave Entries in this Biography

1. Abigail Martin: Find A Grave: Memorial #153342053