I am researching my Saunders family history and have come to a dead end with my upteenth great-grandfather, SIMEON SAUNDERS. I have found very little on him. Don't even have a birth or death date. I have found info on two sons and reference to other children, but no names. Below are a couple texts, one stating that say he moved to Wood County, WV from Caroline County, VA around 1796 and that he was "perhaps" originally from Connecticut. I have found two other researchers that have him in their databases because his children married into their direct ancestral line. One of the researchers shows he was from Haddom, Middlesex County, CT, but didn't record a source for that info. This is some of what I have found in WV, but don't know how to look for him in CT: From "Pioneers In Wood County, WV" Vol. 1 Biographical Sketches of Early Settlers in Wood Co. By John A. House, 1939 "SAUNDERS, SIMEON - to Wood County 1796 - perhaps from Connecticut and probably with Dr. Joseph Spencer*. (see below) He is likely the father of Abner Saunders, who died in 1838 (3 Will Book 337) leaving a widow, Mary, and of Captain Nimrod Saunders, who is said to have been from Prince William and Caroline Counties, VA." SAUNDERS, ABNER, lived around 1800 or later on the Kanawha River, near Newark. He was of Welsh descent. His father and older brothers were in the American army in the Revolution. He was born in Caroline County, in 1771 and died in Wood County, in 1838. He was married to Mary, daughter of Anthony Buckner, before his coming to Wood County. SAUNDERS, CAPTAIN NIMROD, was a brother to Abner. His wife was a Creel, and he came with the Creels to the Wicliffe patent on the upper side of the Little Kanawha River. He lived in 1800 on Little Stillwell. He was born in 1774, and is buried in the Cook graveyard in Parkersburg. His wife, Sarah Creel, was a native of Prince William County, Virginia, and was a widow for forty years, and lacked but six months of being 100 years of age when she died in 1883." From "The Memories and Writings of Harold David Somerville", Volume III Compiled by Pauline Somerville Smith and Lola Mae Smith [page 230 to 235] The Saunders Family Nimrod and Abner Saunders, brothers, came to the Kanawha Valley frontier at the dawn of the 19th century. They were of Welch stock on their mother's side. They had lived in Virginia for many years. On the parental side, they claimed descent from the celebrated Indian Chief, Powhatan, whose blood coursed that of the historic Princess Pocahontas. The uncles and elder brothers fought under General Washington in the Revolutionary War. Abner Saunders was born in Caroline County, Virginia, in 1771 and died on April 3, 1838. He married (Polly) Mary, daughter of Colonel Anthony Buckner. She was a sister of Clara Buckner, who married George Creel Jr., in 1798. She was born 1777 and died April 8, 1862. He was buried at Claysville and she at Newark. Abner Saunders resided on a farm opposite Newark, which was named, "Cool Spring." * Info I have received from descendants of Dr. Joseph Spencer, supposedly a friend of my ancestor, Simeon Saunders. "Dr. Joseph Spencer lived for a time in Compton, NH, and was town clerk there in 1772. He later returned to Connecticut and married "as early as 1767." He settled there about the same time in Lebanon in the practice of medicine. He was living there in 1780 but soon after moved to Lansingburgh, NY. A few years later he removed to Vienna, WVa, about six miles from Marietta, OH. He studied medicine, probably with his step-brother, Dr. Daniel Southmayd, or with Cr. Augustus Mather. According to tradition, he served in the Revolution as an aide to his father and as an assistant surgeon, but no record evidence of such service has been found. They removed ca. 1793 to Wood Co, VA. Vienna was founded in 1794 by Dr. Joseph Spencer, who brought his family to the area and settled a 5,000-acre land grant he received for services as a physician in the Revolutionary War. Spencer named his new community Vienna after Vienna, New Jersey, where he had once participated in a battle during the Revolution. The doctor's settlement did not prosper, and for many years it remained farmland." Birth: 22 Jul 1750 in Kinderhook, Columbia Co., NY Death: 11 May 1824 in Vienna, VA Baptism: 22 Jul 1750 East Haddam, CT (Millington) Occupation: Physician Father of Dr. Joseph Spencer: Joseph SPENCER, Major Gen., b. 3 Oct 1714 in East Haddam, CT Mother of Dr. Joseph Spencer: Martha BRAINERD, b. 1 Sep 1716 in East Haddam, CT **************************************************************************** **************** Chris Beck thebecks@ncn.net