Romulus Mitchell Saunders (1791 - 1867)

Born 3 Mar 1791 in Orange County, North Carolina

Ancestors

Husband of Rebecca Payne (Carter) Saunders — married 12 Dec 1812 in Caswell County, North Carolina

Husband of Anna Heyes (Johnson) Saunders — married 13 Jun 1823 in Caswell County, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 21 Apr 1867 at age 76 in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina

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Biography

He was a lawyer, legislator, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons, U.S. Representative from 1821 to 1827, North Carolina Attorney General, North Carolina Superior Court Judge, and the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee for Governor in 1840 (losing soundly to John Motley Morehead). President James K. Polk appointed him minister to Spain (1846–1849).

He married 1st Rebecca Payne Carter. They had five children.

He married 2nd Anna Heyes Johnson. They had six children.

Burial: City Cemetery, Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina, USA

Added 2017 by D. Marshall Satterwhite: Mary Yarbrough McAden Satterfield (1911-2003), an astute Caswell County historian reported the following on Romulus Mitchell Saunders in The Heritage of Caswell County, North Carolina, Jeannine D. Whitlow, Editor (1985) at 468 (Article #630, "Romulus Mitchell Saunders"):

Romulus Mitchell Saunders was born in Caswell County, March 3, 1791. He was a son of William Saunders and Elizabeth Mitchell Saunders. He was educated at Hyco and Caswell Academies and attended the University of North Carolina two years, 1809-8111. He studied law with Hugh Lawson White of Tennessee and was licensed to practice in that State in 1812. He returned to North Carolina and was elected to the House of Commons in 1815, to 1820, and was Speaker of the House in 1819 and 1820. In 1821, he was elected member of Congress and served until 1827. In 1828, he was elected Attorney-General of the State.

In 1833, he was appointed by the President one of the Board of Commissioners to decide and allot the amounts due citizens of the United States for injuries by France, as settled by the Treaty of 4th of July, 1831. This was a most important commission. The amount to be distributed, as secured by treaty, was twenty-five million francs; it was to be distributed among thousands of claimants. Such were the patient and laborious habits of Saunders, the acumen of his intellect and the clearness of his decisions, that he won for himself the respect and esteem of all in this arduous duty.

He served again as a member of the House of Representatives from 1841 to 1845. He was Judge of the Superior Court, 1835-1840 and 1852-1865. He was unsuccessful candidate for Governor on the Democratic ticket in 1840, defeated by John M. Morehead.

In 1846, he was appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States to Spain, where he remained until 1850, when he was recalled at his own request. He was the second person in North Carolina who ever received such a distinguished mark of high honor at the hands of the federal government.

In 1850, he was elected a member of the House of Commons from Wake County.

He married, first, Rebecca Paine [Payne] Carter of Person County, a granddaughter of Dr. James Paine [Payne]. She died at the age of twenty-seven and is buried at Paine's [Payne's] Tavern, in Person County. He married, second, Anna Hayes Johnson, daughter of Judge William Johnson of Wake County.

He lived in Milton until about 1831 when his political career made it necessary for him to move to Raleigh. There he purchased Elmwood on Boylan Avenue. Earlier owners had been Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin and Judge William Gaston.

During the time he lived in Milton, Senator William H. Crawford of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury, was a presidential candidate. Mr. Saunders exchanged his home, Longwood, with Dr. John T. Garland, owner of Fairview, in order to entertain Senator Crawford.1 On March 20, 1827, the Raleigh Register announced that John C. Calhoun visited Milton and attended a dinner given by the citizens to honor Saunders upon his return from Washington. An ad in the Milton Gazette and Roanoke Advertiser, Feb. 28, 1829, stated that "Romulus M. Saunders, Congressman, will speak. The Vice-President will be in town at that time."

He continued to make his home in Milton until his career caused him to move to Raleigh and purchased a home there. Elmwood was former home of North Carolina's first Chief Justice, John Taylor. Even though Raleigh remained his home for the rest of his life, his various governmental posts took him far away a good portion of the time. He died at Elmwood in 1867, and is buried in an imposing vault in Raleigh's old City Cemetery.

Romulus Mitchell Saunders had at least one son, Colonel William Johnson Saunders. When he went to Spain in 1846, this son accompanied him on his mission. Colonel William Johnson Saunders was an officer in the Confederate Army and bore an honorable part. He opened up much of the land in the northwestern section of the city of Raleigh and was much interested in the growth of the city. He was married to the former Miss Jacqueline Bacot and they were the parents of several children, among them were Bradley Johnson Saunders, Mrs. Wiles Bacot, and Mrs. Lee A. Denson. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ncccha/biographies/romulussaunders.html

Sources

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KCDL-L4D

• Wikipedia Page

• Biography at Caswell County Historical Association website (accessed 14 November 2014)

• "United States Census, 1850," index and images, FamilySearch, accessed 15 Nov 2014, R M Saunders, Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina, United States; citing family 537, NARA microfilm publication M432, NARA microfilm publication M432, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

• "United States Census, 1860," Index and images, Familysearch, accessed 15 Nov 2014, R M Saunders, Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina, United States; NARA microfilm publication M653, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

• Find-a-Grave Memorial ID#20304709, created by S. Hampton