Turner Hubbard Saunders (1782 - 1853)

Born 3 Jan 1782 in Lawrenceville, Brunswick, VA, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 9 Mar 1853 at age 71 in Aberdeen, Monroe County, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

Rev. Turner Saunders is the second son of Thomas and Ann (Turner) Saunders. He married 1) Frances Dunn, daughter of Ishmael and Mildred (Dudley) Dunn, on 22 Jul 1799 in Brunswick, Virginia. Their children are:

• Thomas
• Sophia
• Louisa Turner
• Narcissa Hubbard
• James Edmonds
• Francis Ann
• Franklin
• Martha Maria
• Eliza Jane
• William Hubbard

Turner married 2) Henrietta Mariah (Weeden) Millwater, (said to be the daughter of William Weeden and Sarah Sands), widow of Thomas Millwater by which she had Sarah and Mary Elizabeth Millwater. The children of Turner and Henrietta are:

• Turner, m. Lucy Vaughn
• Thomas
• Frank
• Hubbard

(At some point due to lack of transportations of crops, they had to move into town. My father rented out his plantation, and moved his family into the town of Franklin. He engaged in merchandise, and in a very short time his business was greatly expanded. By a course of liberal and just dealing, he almost monopolized the trade in furs and peltries of the Cherokee and Chickasaw Indians, who lived on the Tennessee river. The rest of his history may be deduced from the following extracts:

Dr. McFerrin, in his History of Methodism in Tennessee (p.415, Vol. 3), says: “The Rev. Turner Saunders, a native of Virginia, was a local preacher, and a most refined and cultured Christian gentleman, and an excellent preacher. He exerted a fine influence on the public mind, and did much in giving Methodism a prominent and permanent position in Franklin, his adopted town. Mr. Saunders afterward removed to the neighborhood of Courtland, North Alabama, where he lived an ornament to society. He finally settled in Aberdeen, miss., where he died at a good old age, honored and respected by all who knew him.”

Ref. Richard H. Rivers, D. D., in No. 1 of his series of articles on Methodist Education, says: “ At an early period in the history of Alabama the Rev. Turner Saunders removed from Tennessee and settled near Courtland. He became a planter on a large scale. He carried the system which made him so successful a teacher to the plantation. His intelligence was directed to the scientific culture of the soil. He was eminently prosperous, and became the owner of large wealth. His home was the abode of elegance, and an enlarged and generous hospitality.---He was elected the first president of the board of trustees of La Grange College.----As a man of purity of character, without spot and blameless; his praise was in all the churches. His manly countenance, his perfectly white hair, his erect and noble form, well proportioned and of medium size, gave him a commanding presence. For sound, solid, practical sense he had few equals, and no superiors. He was a clear, logical preacher.He had a full appreciation of the gospel ministry, and often exhibited deep emotion while preaching the Word.”

From his obituary written by Bishop Paine, we make an extract: “Rev. Turner Saunders, our deceased friend, was in the proper sense of the word, a gentleman--a Christian gentleman. Without claiming for him remarkably brilliant intellectual parts, he certainly possessed, in a rare degree, a clear, sound, and a well balanced intellect, a judgment singularly correct, a mind so practical and logical as to be seldom misled by speculations, or puzzled by sophisms, and what is of still higher moment, he had a heart alive to all the interests of humanity.

Few men were more extensively or favorably known in our community. His capabilities and business habits were a guarantee of success. Industry, method, neatness and punctuality were his characteristics. He has left an ample fortune for his family, but the great aim of his life was higher and nobler than the mere acquisition of wealth, and his consistent, pious and useful life is the richest legacy he has left behind him. For about forty years he was a local preacher, and was devoted to the doctrines, institutions and usages of the church. He was an old fashioned class-meeting Methodist, and when he became too old to preach effectually, he gladly became the leader of a female class, and continued so until his death, which occurred at 72 years of age.”----ESA; p.326-327)

(In the government of his family my father, with all of his cares, was uniformly successful. Every night after supper there was a family reunion, in which my father, with much tact, drew out from each child, no matter how young, what he had been doing and what he had seen, and some of the most amusing incidents would be recounted. Then the young ones were sent to bed, and those going to school were sent to the study to prepare their lessons for the next day. His experience had taught him that no teacher could do full justice to a pupil unless the parents at home sustained him in his efforts.

My mother, whenever family government is spoken of, should always be mentioned conjointly with my father. She was a woman of great beauty---whoever knew a very young man to marry a plain woman? She had been reared just after the Revolutionary War, when people were poor, and had learned habits of industry and economy, which well fitted her to be the head of a large family. One rule she had for her boys that I shall never forget: every fellow had to be in his seat at each meal, no matter how engrossing his projects might be. This was her roll call, by which she maintained the discipline of her young soldiers. But it is in the management of her daughters that she was pre-eminent. She refused to pay any mantua-maker’s, or milliners’ bills, for them, and they became expert in both lines. There were certain days for work, and my mother would heat the coterie in the sewing-room, and it was the most cheerful one in the family. Occasionally she would weave into the warp of their idle conversation a silver thread of wisdom which they would remember for life.------ESA; p.327)

(In the autumn of 1824 a most virulent fever pervaded the valley of the Tennessee, and a great many people died. Thousands upon thousands of acres of timber had been deadened, and left standing to taint the air with malaria. In less than on month I lost my mother, my eldest brother, then a young man, named Thomas, and a brother about fifteen years of age, Franklin.-------ESA; p.328)

(The house he built near Town Creek, Ala. is about 3 miles north east of the town. It was built around 1840 and as of 13 May 1986 was still standing. I have a few photos of it. It was in need of some repairs then, but the present owner was stated to have said that unless one of his descendants wanted to live in it he would not restore it. I think it had been divided up and his farm workers were living there. No one would come to the door.----------My notes, Carol Lux Langley)

(Newspaper: 16 Sep. 1835-Committee of Vigilence for Lawrence Co., Ala. included Turner Saunders.-------

Alabama Records; V12; Madison Co.)

(Newspaper Notice: 4 Feb. 1843-Land for sale; desire to move to my Ms. plantation-land where I now live 6 mi. from Courtland, 1960 acres. Turner Saunders-------Alabama Records: V15: Madison Co.)

(The house he built in Aberdeen, Ms. is on Matubba Street. It is called “Lauri Mundi”. It was begun by him in 1847.When he died in 1853, it was not quite finished and he left instructions for the rest of it. The present front is not the original. I have a photo taken 7 June 1986.The owners are related through the Paine family {at least in 1986}--CLL).

(Rev. Turner Saunders was reared in Brunswick county, Virginia. His father’s plantation was the site of the present town of Lawrenceville. Within two and one-half miles was the old home of his relatives, the Gholson family {afterward of Petersburg, Va.}.In 1808 he removed to Franklin, Tenn., and with him his brother-in-law, Maj. David Dunn. In 1821 he again removed, to Lawrence County, Alabama. His worldly success was great. He was the first President of board of trustees of La Grange College.In 1834 removed to Aberdeen, Miss.---ESA; p.350)

(Rev. Turner Saunders m2; 1826, Mrs. Millwater, nee Henrietta M. Weeden, b. 1793, reared in Baltimore; d. 24th June, 1869.Her brother, Dr. William Weeden, and sister, Mrs. John Oliver, of Columbus, Miss., were also of Baltimore. Her eldest daughter, Sarah Millwater, m. Dr. Felix Manning, son of James, of Huntsville, Ala. The second, Mary Eliza Millwater, m. Bishop Robert Paine, the devoted friend of Rev. Mr. Saunders. These all removed to Aberdeen with the elder couple in 1844.Mrs. Paine, honored and beloved, alone remains, of the happy group, and lives in the old residence built by the Rev. Turner Saunders.-------ESA 362)

Notes: He was well educated in the English branches and in the sciences, as they were then taught, and became an accurate surveyor. ----ESA; p.325) Before he was 25 years of age he taught a high school with much success, at the Court House of that county. ---ESA; p.326 (In the year 1808 he removed from Virginia and settled upon a tract of land six miles southwest of Franklin in Williamson county, Tennessee.---------ESA; p.326 (Committee of Vigilance; Lawrence Co., Ala.: Included Turner Saunders and James E. Saunders--------Marriage, Death and Legal Notices from Early Ala. Newspapers 1819-1893)

Slaves

See: Slaves of Turner Hubbard Saunders Sr, Mississippi

Sources

• 1850 Census: "1850 United States Federal Census"
  The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Western Division, Monroe, Mississippi; Roll: 378; Page: 100a; Line Number: 6
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 8054 #3495797 (accessed 16 February 2023)
  Turner Saunders (70), Planter, in Western Division, Monroe, Mississippi, USA. Born in Virginia.

Turner Saunders M 70 Planter Virginia

Henrietta M Saunders F 50 Virginia

William H Saunders M 31 Lumber Merchant Tennessee

Turner Saunders M 24 Alabama

Thomas Saunders M 21 Student Alabama

Frank L Saunders M 19 Alabama

Hubbard Saunders M 15 Alabama

• Early Settlers of Alabama, pg 7
• Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940
• Virginia Marriages 1700-1799, several volumes, by Cecil D. McDonald, Jr.
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=114573122&ref=acom

See also: Ancestry Profile

• * 1830 Census: "1830 United States Federal Census"
  Year: 1830; Census Place: Lawrence, Alabama; Series: M19; Roll: 1; Page: 301; Family History Library Film: 0002328
  Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry ca Record 8058 #7417 (accessed 29 November 2023)
  Turner Saunders in Lawrence, Alabama.

Acknowledgments

• This person was created through the import of LaBach Family TreeApril28_2011.ged on 05 May 2011.