| Notes |
- Tobias Saunders first appears in the records of Taunton, Mass., in 1643. He is thought to have died in 1695, as his will was proved on September 2nd of that year. Although he was a member of the first Seventh Day Baptist Church in America at Newport, his ancestor, Rev. Lawrence Saunders, was not known to have been a Sabbath-keeper, as he was one of the Christian martyrs burned to death outside the city of Coventry, England, on Sabbath Day, February 9 1555.
Tobias Saunders was a soldier of the King in old England and at one time was one of the King's Life Guard. He was made a freeman in Newport in 1655, and on Sep 9 1661 received a quarter of a share in the division of the land at Misquamicut, as Westerly was then called. Almost immediately he was in the midst of trouble as he, his father-in-law, Joseph Clarke, and Robert Burdick laid claim to Southertown (Southertown included the later limits of the town of Stonington, CT, and much of Westerly, RI), which both Connecticut and Massachusetts claimed as theirs. All three were arrested Nov 1 1661 by Constable William Palmer, but Joseph Clarke was later freed. Saunders and Burdick were both placed on trial before Governor Endicott and associates on Nov 14 1661 in Boston. Their defense was that they had bought the land from the Indians by the authority of the Court of Rhode Island. Bonds were set at 100 pounds each, and in the absence of surety, they were committed to prison for trial in May 1662. At that time they were fined 40 pounds each and Rhode Island was notified to send in the fines, but they were kept in jail for two years.
Connecticut was later given a new charter giving Southertown to her, and Massachusetts retired from the contest. Still later, a compromise was reached 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 day who stood steadfast, endured persecution and imprisonment not only because of the land disputes, but also for the religious freedom guaranteed to the residents of Rhode Island but not vouchsafed to the Connecticut settlers where the Puritan church was to all intents the State religion.
Tobias Saunders was a deputy to the General Assembly of Rhode Island from Westerly many terms and was active in the Westerly congregation of the Newport church. Three of Tobias Saunders' daughters died of smallpox as adults.
[NOTE: Source of the foregoing information is Earl P. Crandall, Hudson, NY (1937-2002) (Crandall Family Association, http://www.cfa.net/cfa-book/), citing "The First Hundred Years: Pawcatuck Seventh Day Baptist Church," Utter Co, Westerly, RI, 1940, pp 284-285. Additional related sources cited by Earl P. Crandall:
"The English Origins of Tobias Saunders of Westerly, RI," by Paul A. Saunders, in "Connecticut Nutmegger," Vol 29, No 4, pp 583-588.
"Saunders Genealogy," by Lyle S. Saunders, on file at Westerly Public Library.
"Westerly Settlers - No. 7," by Charles Denison, on file at Westerly Public Library.]
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FEB- 2-1629/30 - 1695
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