| FAMILY NOTES |
The Saunders (or Sanders) family came from "Torbay, England", settled on the Isles of
Shoals and took up the familiar, albeit dangerous, lives of commercial fishermen. Then, as now,
commercial fishing was one of the most dangerous occupations in America. The list of those who were
lost at sea is great in this family.
While "Torbay, England" is not found in the modern atlases of that country, the "Torbay" referred to is possibly now the town of Torquay, England - which is a harbor town south of Exeter. It is between Hope's Nose and Paignton, just sounth of Babblecombe Bay[6]. The Great Gale of 20 October 1770 was one of the most destructive and violent ever on the New England coast. It was a vicious Nor'Easter which started late Friday, 19 October 1770 and continued in full force on Saturday, 20 October 1770. Contemporary readers would recognize it as having the strength and ferocity of "The Perfect Storm&34; of late October 1990. "...In the bay at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, two schooners from Rye were out fishing, and were seen about sunset Friday night, but were never again heard from. On one of the vessels were six men, John Sanders and his son John, John Yeaton, William Thomas and two others and two boys; and on the other were Samuel Sanders, Joshua Foss, Samuel Sanders, Jr., and two boys. Six of the men left wives and a number of children. How many wives were made widows and children orphans by this storm is not known, but the number must have been large..."[4] The Saunders family clearly suffered tremendous loss in this one gale. |
| CHILDREN |
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i. | John2 SAUNDERS |
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ii. | Samuel SAUNDERS |
Born in Torbay, England[2] and was lost along with his brother in the Great Gale of October
1770[2]. Samuel emigrated from Torbay, England before 1746 (date of marriage) and
settled at the Isles of Shoals[2]. In 1746 Samuel married Hannah FOSS/FOST[2].
They had one child: The Joshua Foss who was a hand on Samuel Sanders, Sr.'s fishing schooner when it was lost in the Great Gale of 20 October 1770 was probably her brother. This meant that Hannah lost her husband, son and brother in this one storm. |
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iii. | George SAUNDERS | Born on 18 April 1732 in Torbay, England and died in Rye, Rockingham co., NH in 1786; he was 53[2]. George emigrated from Torbay, England before 1756 or 1757 (date of marriage). He settled at the Isles of Shoals and was a member of Captain Parsons' company, serving in the Revolutionary War[2]. In 1756-1757, when George was 23, he married Sarah KIVE, in Rye, Rockingham co., NH[2]. |
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iv. | Robert SAUNDERS | Robert died on 7 March 1807 in Rye, Rockingham co., NH. Robert emigrated from Torbay, England and also settled at the Isles of Shoals[3]. Robert married Elizabeth BERRY. |
| GENERATION | Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great (G8) Grandfather |
| FAMILY NUMBER | 1150 |
| SOURCES |
1. New England Historic and Genealogical Register. Vols. 1+,
(Boston: New England Historic and Genealogical Register, 1845+),
[NEHGR or Reg.], 3:152; 8:161-162; 36:144; 41:382. 2. Parsons, Langdon B., History of the Town of Rye, NH From Its Discovery and Settlement to December 31, 1903, (1905; repr. Bowie, MD: Heritage Press 1992), [RyeHist], 523. 3. Ibid. 4. Perley, Sidney, Historic Storms of New England: Its Gales, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Showers with Thunder and Lightning, Great Snow Storms, Rains, Freshets, Floods, Droughts, Cold Winters, Hot Summers, Avalanches, [etc.]..with Incidents and Anecdotes, Amusing and Pathetic., (Salem, Mass.: The Salem Press Publishing and Printing Company; rpt. 2001 Beverley, MA: Commonwealth Editions, Memoirs Unlimited, Inc.), [Perley], 70-71. 5. Ibid. 6. Mini Atlas of Britain, (Edinbugh, Scotland: Bartholomew), [BritAtl], 4c. 7. [RyeHist], 524. 8. Meloon, Ian, New Castle, NH Records, (Portsmouth, NH: Portsmouth Library). 9. [RyeHist], 571. 10. Ibid. 523, 571 11. Odiorne, James Creighton, Genealogy of the Odiorne family in America., (Rev. in 1966), [Odiorne (1966)], 51.
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