Tom McCabes Genealogy 2022

James SAUNDERSAge: 84 years17911875

Name
James SAUNDERS
Given names
James
Surname
SAUNDERS
Birth 1791
Note: James Saunders was born in 1791 as identified by his acknowledged father Andrew Saunders on Andrew's original lease on the estate. By 1827 James Saunders was living on half of his father's original lease. It is possible Andrew was dead by this time. Andrew's daughter Mary Collins was living on the other half.
Birth of a sisterMargaret SAUNDERS
about 1800 (Age 9 years)
Birth of a sisterMary SAUNDERS
January 1802 (Age 11 years)
Note: From the Roman Catholic Killaveny parish records, NLI film P4257:
Birth of a sisterCatherine SAUNDERS
about 1809 (Age 18 years)
Note: I have placed Catherine as a daughter of John Saunders, not Andrew Saunders. It is certainly possible she was Andrew's daughter and not a sister to Lucy, but they appear in several records together. It is likely Lucy and Catherine were sisters who married Dunn brothers. Census records and Coolatin records indicate Catherine could have been born as early as 1808.
Birth of a son
#1
Andrew SAUNDERS
1818 (Age 27 years)

Note: Age is based on fact that Andrew Saunders, age 2, was mentioned in John Saunder's Lease in 1820.
Birth of a daughter
#2
Jane SAUNDERS
about 1821 (Age 30 years)
Note: It is likely that Jane is the daughter of James Saunders of Knocknaboley, County Wicklow. The Tithe …
Birth of a daughter
#3
Margaret SAUNDERS
June 8, 1824 (Age 33 years)
Note: From ancestry.com Public Tree: Freeborn Family Tree
Birth of a son
#4
James SAUNDERS
1826 (Age 35 years)

Death of a motherMargaret STRAHAN
after 1825 (Age 34 years)
Note: Margaret STRAHAN Saunders was still alive in Aug 1825. She was the sponsor for her granddaughter Mar…
Death of a fatherAndrew SAUNDERS
1828 (Age 37 years)
Note: The image: A remnant of the Probate Index for Ireland shows Andrew Saunders had died by 1828 found o…


Birth of a son
#5
William SAUNDERS
August 24, 1834 (Age 43 years)
Note: According to 1901 Census of Huron Co.
Birth of a son
#6
John SAUNDERS
1839 (Age 48 years)
Property
Longterm lease on Coolatin Estate
1840 (Age 49 years)
Note: A map from the Coolatin Estate shows that James Saunders and family lived on 14 acres on the west side of the townland of Knocknaboley on lots 176-183. The Griffith's House Books Records for Knocknaboley (FHL 2356199) show that James Saunders' house and land had been assumed by John Griffin of Knocknaboley. In the year 2000, 150 years later, the locals of Knocknaboley still knew that the Griffin property was formerly farmed by a Saunders family.
Birth of a son
#7
Thomas SAUNDERS
1841 (Age 50 years)
Birth of a daughter
#8
Ann SAUNDERS
1841 (Age 50 years)
Marriage of a childThomas GRIFFINJane SAUNDERSView this family
April 11, 1844 (Age 53 years)
Census 1847 (Age 56 years)
Note: James Saunders and William Darcy were already in Cartwright Township by 1847, living side by side on Conc 2 Lot 3. Later the two split their ownership in two: Darcy took the west half and James Saunders took the East half of Conc 2 Lot 3 of Cartwright. (MCS 693, Reel 164, Ontario)

Census 1848 (Age 57 years)
Note: The Ag census of 1848 shows that James and Mary Saunders in Cartwright had living with them:
Marriage of a childJames GRAHAMMargaret SAUNDERSView this family
December 15, 1849 (Age 58 years)
Note: The parish records in the Anglican Archives, Toronto, state that Margaret Saunders of Cartwright Township married James Graham of Whitby. Other marriages in the parish records mention Thomas and Elizabeth Darcy of Cartwright. Presumably, this shows that Margaret was the daughter of James and Mary Saunders, since the Saunders and Darcy's were living side by side in Cartwright.
Census 1851 (Age 60 years)
Note: James Sanders Ireland ,Age 62, English Church
Property
Conc 2 Lot 3 Cartwright Township
1854 (Age 63 years)
Note: The Townland Papers of Cartwright, Durham Co, Ontario have many records that show that James Saunders and William Darcy's business affairs (farming) were interrelated for many years. Since both families came together from Knocknaboley at the same time, bought land together, and lived side by side for 40 years, it is likely that the two families were related.
Note: The first page from the (partial) records shown below shows James Saunders and William Darcy were in Port Hope Ontario by 1847. James Saunders sold his land to his son Thomas Saunders in 1864.

Census 1861 (Age 70 years)
Note: As further proof that James Saunders of Knocknaboley is the father of Jane Saunders, wife of Thomas …
Property
Coolatin Estate

Note: By 1839 James had taken over his father's lease as is shown by the Tenants Book for the Coolatin Estate of 1839. But by 1848 James Saunders had left Wicklow and the lease had been taken over by John Griffin, son of Richard Griffin.

Death December 21, 1875 (Age 84 years)
Note: It is reported that James Saunders was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in nearby Prince Albert Ontario.
Religion
Protestant

Note: James father Andrew was a protestant but his mother Margaret was a Catholic. James' name appeared o…
Family with parents - View this family
father
mother
himself
10 years
younger sister
10 years
younger sister
-7 years
younger sister
Family with Mary - View this family
himself
wife
son
6 years
daughter
-2 years
daughter
14 years
son
5 years
son
3 years
son
-14 years
son
16 years
daughter

Birth

James Saunders was born in 1791 as identified by his acknowledged father Andrew Saunders on Andrew's original lease on the estate. By 1827 James Saunders was living on half of his father's original lease. It is possible Andrew was dead by this time. Andrew's daughter Mary Collins was living on the other half.

Property

A map from the Coolatin Estate shows that James Saunders and family lived on 14 acres on the west side of the townland of Knocknaboley on lots 176-183. The Griffith's House Books Records for Knocknaboley (FHL 2356199) show that James Saunders' house and land had been assumed by John Griffin of Knocknaboley. In the year 2000, 150 years later, the locals of Knocknaboley still knew that the Griffin property was formerly farmed by a Saunders family.

Census

James Saunders and William Darcy were already in Cartwright Township by 1847, living side by side on Conc 2 Lot 3. Later the two split their ownership in two: Darcy took the west half and James Saunders took the East half of Conc 2 Lot 3 of Cartwright. (MCS 693, Reel 164, Ontario)

Census

The Ag census of 1848 shows that James and Mary Saunders in Cartwright had living with them:

2 males, 3 females under 15, 1 male under 21, 1 male under 30, and another male over 30 other than James. The females must have been Ann, Margaret and one other unknown daughter.

Film Familysearch: 8265937

Census

James Sanders Ireland ,Age 62, English Church Mary Sanders " 53 William Sanders " 16 John Sanders " 12 Thomas Sanders " 10

Living next to the Darcy families that came from Knocknaboley.

Property

The Townland Papers of Cartwright, Durham Co, Ontario have many records that show that James Saunders and William Darcy's business affairs (farming) were interrelated for many years. Since both families came together from Knocknaboley at the same time, bought land together, and lived side by side for 40 years, it is likely that the two families were related.

Property

The first page from the (partial) records shown below shows James Saunders and William Darcy were in Port Hope Ontario by 1847. James Saunders sold his land to his son Thomas Saunders in 1864.

Census

As further proof that James Saunders of Knocknaboley is the father of Jane Saunders, wife of Thomas Griffin, the 1861 census in Durham Co shows the Saunders, Griffin, and Darcy families who immigrated from Knocknaboley Wicklow. Jane's family is living next door to James and Mary Saunders, her parents who immigrated in 1847. Notice William Saunders has already left his parent's home.

The 1861 Tremaine Map for Durham Co shows James Saunders living on Conc 2 Lot 3. The 1865 Directory for Durham County says T Saunders lived on Conc 2 Lot 3. The index to Land Records for Cartwright shows that James was the original settler on his land. He deeded the land to Thomas in 1864.

William Darcy lived next door to the Saunders family.

Property

By 1839 James had taken over his father's lease as is shown by the Tenants Book for the Coolatin Estate of 1839. But by 1848 James Saunders had left Wicklow and the lease had been taken over by John Griffin, son of Richard Griffin.

Death

It is reported that James Saunders was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in nearby Prince Albert Ontario.

Religion

James father Andrew was a protestant but his mother Margaret was a Catholic. James' name appeared once in the Killaveny parish records, as a witness to his sister Margaret Saunder's marriage

James' marriage and baptism of his children do not appear in any surviving Church of Ireland records. Likely he belong to a parish whose records have been lost or destroyed. Many Knocknaboley residents were members of the Moyne parish, whose records have been destroyed.

James Saunder's name does appear in several places in the Kilcommon Church of Ireland records. For the most part, they refer in a nonreligious context.

From the Vestry Book of Kilcommon Parish (1824) in the Rep Church Library in Dublin:

24 Jun 1833, at the end of meeting of wardens a petition was presented. Many of the signatures were from Knocknaboley residents including James Saunders.

Easter week 1837, minutes of a meeting stated "resolved ... James Saunders of Knocknaboley be appointed overseer of ... deserted infants."

Note

This description of James Saunder's land was taken from page 8 of a report prepared for the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Nov 1, 2011.

SCARLETT JANUSAS ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HERITAGE CONSULTING AND EDUCATION 269 Cameron Lake Road Tobermory, Ontario N0H 2R0

William Darcy and his wife, the former Ann Dockerill, came to Cartwright from Knocknaboley, County Wicklow, Ireland in the mid-1840s with their four children, namely Thomas, Mary, Jane and Elizabeth. Accompanying them was the James Saunders family who had been their friends and neighbors in Ireland. The two families settled first in Whitby Township and, in 1847, found their way to Cartwright. On October 1, 1847, William Darcy and James Saunders purchased the whole 200 acres (~81 ha) of lot 3 in the second concession of Cartwright from Thomas Sheridan, an absentee owner of the land who also lived in Whitby Township. Sheridan appears to have never received a patent for the land, nor did he occupy it. Saunders took over the east half of the lot while Darcy located his family on the west half, being a part of the current study area. On November 29, 1854, William Darcy paid James Saunders £100 and signed a deed for the west 100 acres (~40 ha). Neither deed was ever registered on title but can be found in the land index records at the Archives of Ontario. To secure their title, both men applied for crown patents for their respective acreages with William Darcy receiving a patent for the west 100 acres (~40 ha) of lot 3 on March 7, 1855.

Lot 3, Concession 2

Initially, lot 3 was Clergy Reserve land, having been designated so on April 16, 1795. Clergy Reserves were tracts of land in Upper Canada reserved for the support of the Protestant clergy by the Constitution of 1791. Chaired by the Anglican Bishop of Quebec, The Clergy Corporation managed the reserves. The Constitution directed that 1/7 of all Crown lands be reserved for this purpose and that all revenue from the lands go to the Protestant Church of England. The Clergy Reserves were a serious obstacle to economic development and, in 1840, the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada passed a law to sell them. However, the British government overturned this law and the reserves were not removed from church ownership until 1854. At that time, the revenues from the lands were transferred to the government.

East Half of Lot 3

There were several transactions involving the study lot before it was turned over to the Crown in 1854. Land Index records at the Archives of Ontario indicate that Thomas Sheridan of Whitby Township purchased the lot from the Clergy in 1846 but never occupied it. Instead, he sold it on September 18, 1847 to James Saunders and William Darcy, also of Whitby Township (Transfer #6575).

James Saunders and his wife Mary came to Cartwright from Knocknaboley, County Wicklow, Ireland in the mid-1840s with their seven children, namely Margaret, Jane, William, John, Thomas, James and Ann. Accompanying them was the William Darcy family who had been their friends and neighbors in Ireland. The two families settled first in Whitby Township and, in 1847, found their way to Cartwright. After purchasing lot 3 from Sheridan, Saunders took over the east half of the lot while Darcy located his family on the west half. Both immediately began developing the lands, the 1851 census showing log cabins on each half of the lot. On November 29, 1854, the two men signed reciprocal agreements whereby William Darcy assigned the east 100 acres (~40 ha) to Saunders and Saunders the west 100 acres (~40 ha) to Darcy. (Assignment 6576 and 6577)

Neither assignment was ever registered on title but can be found in the land index records at the Archives of Ontario. To secure their title, both men applied for crown patents for their respective acreages with James Saunders receiving a patent for the east 100 acres (~40 ha) of lot 3 on May 16, 1855. A farmer all of his life, James Saunders farmed the study lands for about 20 years. By the time of the 1861 census, he had cleared 50 (~20 ha) of his 100 acres (~40 ha) where he produced wheat, potatoes and turnips and had planted a small orchard. His farm was valued at $1200.00 and had a one-story log house on the premises. Twice he secured mortgages against the property, first in 1858 and again in 1864. He then sold the land on July 19, 1864 to his son Thomas although the deed was not registered until December 22, 1865 (Deed #5801).

From the beginning of his short ownership of the land, Thomas Saunders seemed to be in financial trouble. Upon purchase, he assumed an outstanding mortgage from his father and took out another one in his own name, both of which he defaulted upon. On January 17, 1867, a Court Order vested the land to John Cayley, a mortgagee who sued both Thomas and James Saunders for money he was owed (Order #6502). On May 28th, Cayley deeded the land once again to James Saunders who had already signed it over to his son-in-law, James Graham (Deed #6758 and #6758). James Saunders died in Cartwright on December 21, 1875 and was buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in nearby Prince Albert. James Graham was born in Whitby Township on August 24, 1824 to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Graham who had emigrated from Scotland some years earlier. In Whitby on December 15, 1849, he married Margaret Saunders, the eldest child of James and Mary. Margaret was born June 8, 1824 in Knocknaboley, County Wicklow, Ireland and immigrated with her family in the mid-1840s. Three sons and two daughters were born to James and Margaret, all of whom were raised in Cartwright. Census reports for 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 show James Graham farming the study lands, later in conjunction with his son Job. On February 25, 1874, he deeded the farm to his middle son Robert who sold it back to his father on March 30, 1875 (Deed #729 and #866). Robert, his wife Ellen and their young family later moved to Lisgar, Manitoba where their descendants remain today. Between 1878 and 1901, James Graham secured three separate mortgages against the farm, possibly indicating some improvements to the land. However, by 1904 he appeared to be in some financial distress when he defaulted on a mortgage to a Mr. Samuel Trees who then took over the property under power of sale (Notice #3901). On January 25, 1905, Samuel Trees deeded the property to Job Graham who was the eldest son of James (Deed #3902). James and his wife Margaret remained living on the study lands until their respective deaths on February 27, 1914 and October 26, 1918.

The youngest son of James Graham and Margaret Saunders, Job Graham was born in Cartwright on November 5, 1863. On September 20, 1898, he married Marietta Williamena Byam at Cambray in neighboring Victoria County. The couple had two children, both born on the farm. Howard Courtney Graham was born January 22, 1902 and Frances Margaret Christie Graham was born January 17, 1907. Job Graham was a lifelong farmer and a prominent Orangeman, acting many years as chaplain for the Purple Hill Loyal Order Lodge #399. After four decades on the farm, he signed it over to his son on June 19, 1944 who also farmed for many years (Deed #7885). Job Graham died April 29, 1946. All of the Grahams and Saunders are buried at the aforementioned Pine Grove Cemetery.

Note

Cartwright, Durham County, Ontario Census, 1861

James Sanders Cartwright m farmer Ireland 71 married Mary Sanders Cartwright f Ireland 62 married John Sanders Cartwright m labour 23 Ann Sanders Cartwright f 20 Thomas Sanders Cartwright m labour and separately James Sanders Cartwright m labour Ireland 35 Mary Sanders Cartwright f Ireland 36 wife

BirthTenants on Andrew Saunders Lease in 1827Tenants on Andrew Saunders Lease in 1827
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Property1840 Map of Knocknaboley Showing Saunders and Griffin Farms1840 Map of Knocknaboley Showing Saunders and Griffin Farms
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CensusLand Record Index for Acquistion and Split, Ontario Land RecordsLand Record Index for Acquistion and Split, Ontario Land Records
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CensusHistory of Ownership of Conc 2 Lot 3, CartwrightHistory of Ownership of Conc 2 Lot 3, Cartwright
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CensusFirst page of Census Entry for William Darcy & James Saunders, CartwrightFirst page of Census Entry for William Darcy & James Saunders, Cartwright
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PropertyThree Pages from James Saunders Townland Papers
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PropertyDeed of Land from James to Thomas SaundersDeed of Land from James to Thomas Saunders
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CensusThomas Griffin and James Saunders lived next doorThomas Griffin and James Saunders lived next door
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PropertyAndrew Saunders Lease in 1839Andrew Saunders Lease in 1839
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PropertyCensus of Knocknaboley Residents, Coolatin Estate, 1848
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DeathJames Saunders Death Record in Durham Co OntarioJames Saunders Death Record in Durham Co Ontario
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Media objectList of All Lessors/Residents on Knocknaboley in 1827
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Media objectJames Saunders, Graham Families Lived Next Door in 1871James Saunders, Graham Families Lived Next Door in 1871
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Media object(Partial) Archaelogical Report on Old James Saunders Land
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Note: The following report was prepared by SCARLETT JANUSAS ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HERITAGE CONSULTING AND EDUCATION, 269 Cameron Lake Road Tobermory, Ontario N0H 2R0 as partial fulfillment of a study done for Skypower Limited. The full report gives history of lots, maps, etc for land where James Saunders and William Darcy settled.