Revised 5/7/2017. Copyright @2017; The following Documentary Timeline has been compiled and created by Paul Rhetts. It may be copied for research purposes; but it may not be reproduced for inclusion in any printed or electronic distribution of any kind without the express written permission of the author. Any requests to use this information should be sent to Paul Rhetts, LPDPress@q.com.


Joel M SANDERS (1718-1782) m. Charity HOLLOWELL (1722-1782)
s/o John Sanders (1690-1767) m. Priscilla PRITLOWE (1691-1727)
d/o Thomas Hollowell (1696-1743) m. Sarah Scutchins (1702-1758)

1718 Joel SANDERS born at Cane Creek, New Hanover or Perquimans, North Carolina [Gwen Boyer Bjorkman, "John Sanders of Nansemond County, Virginia" The Quaker Yeomen 14 (Jan 1988) pp.10; 15 (Apr 1988), pp. 8-9; 15; "Whereas John SANDERS of Nanzemond County in Virginia and Prissilla PRITLOE Dafter of John PRITLOE of ye County of Albemarl in Pequimans River in North Carolina haveing declared their Intentions of takeing each other in mariage before severall Publick meetings of the people Called quakers in Caralina" were married on the 8th day of the 1st month called March 1715/6. [Compendium of American Genealogy, Vol VII by Virkus, page 377] [It may be possible that Joel was an only child.  One site (no references given) indicates he had two sisters. If so, this was still unusual for Quaker families, who had large families.  It is also possible that other children were born to his parents, John and Priscilla (Pritlowe) Sanders, yet to find. Joel and his wife (Charity Hollowell) themselves had a passel  of kids. The Hollowell family, to whom Joel became linked, was an established family in the Perquimans area, suggesting that Joel probably married well. Neither Quaker or property records of the area (Perqimans) give us any information on whether Joel, like his forebears, was a landowner/farmer.  By the 1740’s, it seems likely that most of the decent “weed” land had been occupied or exhausted; it is also possible that Joel may have worked with his father on the father’s lands. About 1750 or so, Quaker families began to move further south in North Carolina.  As they did so, new Quaker communities sprang up.  Records indicate that in 1754 a number of Sanders settled at Deep River, just west of Greensboro.]

1722 Charity HOLLOWELL born at Chowan, NC

1725 Father John Sanders had a Land Grant in Henrico Co for 400 ac. [Index to Land Grants Henrico County, Book No. 12, p. 404]

1730 Father John Sanders had a Land Grant in of 400 ac in Goochland Co (Virginia County Records, VI, Book 14)

1743 Joel Sanders and Charity Hollowell married in Perquimans, North Carolina [Married before 1744 to Charity HOLLOWELL [daughter of Thomas Hollowell and Sarah --- who made her will in Nov. 1753 in Norfolk Co., VA.] Born circa 1722  Died 23 Jan 1782 GA; 1762,4,3 Charity with husband rocf Nancemond MM, VA at Cane Creek MM, Orange Co., NC. 1775,1,7 Joel and family granted certificate at Cane Creek MM, Orange Co., NC. 1775,5,6 Joel and wife and children rocf Cane Creek MM at Wrightsborough MM, GA] [one source says marriage was in Nansemond Co] [The Wrightsboro meetinghouse minutes (date unclear)  list Joel and Charity and their kids.  And Joel and Charity did indeed have a “passel” of kids, thirteen if Quaker records are correct: Miriam (1744); Benjamin (1746); John (1748); Joel (1751); twins Dempsey and Lydia (1753); Hollorval [spelling?] (1755); Ferribe (a very un-Quaker name)(1759); Thomas (1759); Josiah (1761); Abraham (1763); Mordecai (1764); Sarah (1767). It is presumed that, in fact Joel and Charity actually made the journey to Wrightsboro, or simply had their membership transferred.  Some of the family obviously moved in: Joel Jr and Mordecai and their families.   Others, Benjamin and his family, apparently remained in North Carolina.  A grant of 15,000 acres to Quakers in 1769 does not include any Sanders, so their arrival came after the distribution of lands.]

28 Nov 1744 Daughter Miriam Sanders born in New Hanover Co, NC (New Hanover has been closely aligned with Bladen County since 1734) [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [1806,9,11 rocf Bush River MM, SC at Miami MM, OH Died 30 5m 1827 Caesars Creek MM, Clinton Co., OH Unmarried.]

1746 Joel Sanders and Charity Hollowell moved to Bladen Co (became Cumberland Co. in 1754), North Carolina 

10 Jun 1746 Son Benjamin Sanders born in New Hanover Co, NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [Will made 4 Mar 1822 Chatham Co., NC Married 19 5m 1768 Cane Creek MM., Orange Co., NC to Leah Smith of Cane Creek MM, Orange Co., NC Daughter of Thomas and Esther Smith] [Benjamin probably grew up in Perquimans, but earning a livliehood in tobacco likely held scant prospects for him (as well for his fairly large family). Available land was likely taken, and repeated plantings over the years left the ground infertile for at least three years.  So he was among the family migrants who moved further south to the interior of the North Carolina colony. The record indicates that he married Leah Smith in Cane Creek, 19 May 1768. Witnesses included Joel (presumably Dad) and John (presumably younger brother, born just after Benjamin). Family fortunes up to this time appear linked to the Weed.  There are signs that the move of the family to Deep River/Cane Creek prompted  new employment options.  Some records make reference to Benjamin and brother John as “chain carriers.” This was related to the profession of land surveying.  it appears that Benjamin did well in the way of land ownership. Records indicate that he had 150 acres on Tyson’s Corner, another 100 acres on Indian Creek, and some 225 acres on Flaggy Branch, all in Chatham County. It appears that Benjamin and Leah had a goodly crop of youngsters: Joel, Lydia, Miriam, Sarah, Mary, John, Rachel,  Thomas (our progenitor), and Benjamin (Jr.). It is about this same time that the Quaker faithfulness (of this branch of the Sanders line, at least), began to fade.  Records indicate that progressively these children were “Dis Mou” (meaning that the were dismissed from fellowship for marrying out of unity; they had married a person not of the Quaker faith): Rebekah (1776); Mary (1789), Sarah (1792), Rachel (1796). Miriam (1796). Joel (1802). Thomas (our family line) (1802).Lydia (1807), and Benjamin Jr (1807)..  It appears that in the space of about 20 years that Benjamin’s children had rejected/been rejected by their Quaker roots. It is possible that Benjamin, despite the dismissal of his and Leah’s children, remained committed to his Quaker faith.  He lived on to 1822 in Chatham County NC, passing away sometime in 1822, at an age of around 76, a good old age and probably a testament to his wholesome living.] [Benjamin Sanders (1746)
Benjamin was the second-born to Joel and Charity (after sister Miriam), born in Perquimans County NC in 1746.
Benjamin probably grew up in Perquimans, but earning a livliehood in tobacco likely held scant prospects for him (as well for his fairly large family).  Available land was likely taken, and repeated plantings over the years left the ground infertile for at least three years.  So he was among the family migrants who moved further south to the interior of the North Carolina colony.  The record indicates that he married Leah Smith in Cane Creek, 19 May 1768.
Witnesses included Joel (presumably Dad) and John (presumably younger brother, born just after Benjamin).
Family fortunes up to this time appear linked to the Weed.  There are signs that the move of the family to Deep River/Cane Creek prompted  new employment options.  Some records make reference to Benjamin and brother John as “chain carriers”.  This was related to the profession of land surveying.
The relocation of the Sanders family seems to have triggered some adjustments in how the family earned its livelihood.  Tobacco may have continued as a part the family business, but other farming activities more adapted to inland North Carolina may have also influenced how the family earned its keep.  For Benjamin (and John), land surveying was honorable employment (note that George Washington was a land surveyor in his early life, too).
The Benjamin Sanders recorded above is likely not our Benjamin (who no longer lived in Perquimans…..their were several Benjamins of the time, with lots of Johns and Joels and …..).  But the certificate illustrates the pressures brought to bear on folks of the times (including the Quakers) on taking a side, in this case for independence.
While some family members looked for peace by fleeing to Wrightboro Georgia, it appears that Benjamin and his little family stayed in North Carolina.

   CHATHAM COUNTY, NC – CENSUS – 1790 Census, Hillsborough District ==============================================================   
1790  census            North Carolina                Chatham County    Hillsborough District               1st #      free white males 16 year upwards and head of families 2nd #      free white males under 16 years 3rd #      free white   females and head of families 4th #      all other free persons 5th #      slaves
Sanders, Benjamin……………2-3-4-0-0
Note that Benjamin did not own any slaves.  [In the course of time, a few Quaker families did own slaves, although it does not appear more than several.]
Like his forebears, it appears that Benjamin did well in the way of land ownership.  Records indicate that he had 150 acres on Tyson’s Corner, another 100 acres on Indian Creek, and some 225 acres on Flaggy Branch, all in Chatham County.
It appears that Benjamin and Leah had a goodly crop of youngsters: Joel, Lydia, Miriam, Sarah, Mary, John, Rachel,  Thomas (our progenitor), and Benjamin (Jr.).
It is about this same time that the Quaker faithfulness (of this branch of the Sanders line, at least),began to fade.  Records indicate that progressively these children were “Dis Mou” (meaning that the were dismissed from fellowship for marrying out of unity; they had married a person not of the Quaker faith): Rebekah (1776); Mary (1789), Sarah (1792), Rachel (1796). Miriam (1796). Joel (1802). Thomas (our family line) (1802).Lydia (1807), and Benjamin Jr (1807)..  It appears that in the space of about 20 years that Benjamin’s children had rejected/been rejected by their Quaker roots.
It is possible that Benjamin, despite the dismissal of his and Leah’s children, remained committed to his Quaker faith.  He lived on to 1822 in Chatham County NC, passing away sometime in 1822, at an age of around 76, a good old age and probably a testament to his wholesome living.]

1 Feb 1747 Son John Sanders born in New Hanover Co, NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [7 4m 1787 gct Bush River MM, SC from Wrightsborough MM, GA. Reported married 6 1M 1776 out of unity at Wrightsborough MM, GA. to Massey (or Mary) Sims Daughter of Reuben Sims & Jemima Glenn ]

19 Jun 1751 Son Joel Sanders born in New Hanover Co, NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [1800 Census (doc)] [1810 Census (doc)] [NC Wills & Probates 2 Mar 1814, Case#0369 (doc)] [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, New Garden MM (doc)] [Marriage to Mary Ellmore on 29 Oct 1768 at Guilford, NC (doc)] [Buried Caesars Creek, Clinton Co., OH Married before 1778 to Sarah Morgan Died 26 10M 1828 Caesars Creek, Clinton Co., OH] [Joel Sanders, Jr., born 19 Jun 1751 in New Hanover Co, NC; died 18 Sep 1819 in Caesars Creek, Clinton Co. OH. He married Sarah Morgan c. 1777. She was born c. 1755 in GA, and died 26 Oct 1828 in Caesars Creek, Clinton Co. OH]

7 Oct 1751 The Quakers established the Cane Creek Monthly Meeting in Orange Co., North Carolina (in present day Alamance Co.). The first settlers arrived between 1745 and 1750, and by 1760, the area was moderately filled. The Oakley Baptist Church was built in 1751. Many Quaker families moved to Indiana and other free states as soon as they were opened to settlers. 

Abt 1752 Joel and Charity Sanders moved to Orange Co., NC, where they were among the first members of the Cane Creek Monthly Meeting. 

9 Mar 1753 Daughter Lydia Sanders and son Dempsey Scutchens born in Orange Co, NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [Disowned 2 10m 1790 marriage out of unity. ? Married-1 Chris Wilson Married-2 about 1790 to John Scott [Lydia Scot (form Sanders) dis mou 2 10m 1790 at Wrightsborough MM]

1754 Perquimans Co Poll Tax List shows father John Sanders [North Carolina State Archives, Colonial Court Records, Taxes & Accounts, 1679-1754, CCR 190, Tax Lists, Perquimans County, 1702-1754 Contributed by Harold Colson]

21 Mar 1755 son Hollowell Sanders born Orange Co, NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [Condemned by Wrightsborough MM for taking up arms in a warlike manner. Papers were prepared to disown him, but he died before they were read at a First Day Meeting. Died by 3 3m 1781 Wrightsborough MM. Married out of unity about Feb 1777 in Georgia]

15 Sep 1756 Daughter Ferribee Sanders born Orange Co, NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [Married about 1 3m 1783 Wrightsborough MM, Columbia Co., GA 16 to Benjamin Cooper Born 13 10 m 176- (page torn) Wrightsborough MM, GA 1786-12-2 from Wrightsborough MM, GA to Bush River MM, Newbury Co., SC. 1787-1-17 rocf Wrightsborough MM at Bush River MM, Newbury Co., SC. On cert. dated 1786,12,2 Benjamin preceded his father Isaac in moving to Bush River MM. by four months. 1805-10-26 from Wrightsborough MM, GA to Lost Creek MM, Jefferson Co., TN. 1807-7-25 from Lost Creek MM to Westbranch MM, Miami Co., OH. 1808,8,28 rocf Lost Creek MM, TN at West Branch MM, OH]

18 Apr 1759 Son Thomas Sanders born Orange Co, NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [[probably the Thomas dis 2 7m 1787 at Wrightsborough MM, GA] Married 2 Apr 1796 to Mary Robinson Granddaughter of Israel Robinson.]

13 Mar 1761 Son Josiah Sanders born Orange Co, NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [Married to Sarah Smith]

3 Apr 1762 Entry in Cane Creek Monthly Meeting: Charity Sanders (with husband) received on certificate from Nansemond Monthly Meeting.  The following were dismissed for marrying out of unity by the Cane Creek Monthly Meeting: Rebecca Farmer Sanders, Mary Sanders Phillips, Rachel Sanders Phillips, Sarah Sanders Caps, Miriam Sanders Hancock, Joel Sanders, Thomas Sanders, Ann Barnes, Lydia Sanders Wilson, and Benjamin Sanders. The following were dismissed from the Wrightborough Monthly Meeting: Elizabeth Sanders and John Sanders, Jr. 

13 Aug 1763 Son Abraham Sanders born in Orange Co., NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [Married out of unity before 1792 19 28 Mar 1791 Columbia Co., GA to Mary MORRIS Born 1761 Monmouth Co., NJ Died 1846 Warren Co, GA Daughter of Job Morris & Mary Ansley]

10 Sep 1764 Son Mordecai Sanders born in Orange Co., NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [Married circa 5 8m 1786 Wrightsborough, Columbia Co., GA to Margaret Thomas Died 28 July 1802 Wrightsborough, Columbia Co., GA Married-2 Ann ----- or married-2 1804 OH to Ceru Battin]

14 Jan 1767 Daughter Sarah Sanders born in Cane Creek MM Orange Co., NC [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)] [married 3 12m 1785 Wrightsborough MM, GA to John Galbreath (Gilbreath) of Bush River MM 1786,6,3 John & Sarah gct Bush River MM, NC from Wrightsborough MM, GA. [certificate not recorded at Bush River MM, NC]

1767 NC Census for Cumberland Co lists Joel Sanders

Aft 1767 Wrightsboro MM list of family/children’s birth dates 

1771 Chatham County was created from part of Orange County; which was eventually divided into present day Caswell, Person, Alamance, and Orange Cos. plus parts of Rockingham, Builford, Randolph, Lee, Wakeand Durham Cos. Chatham was named for the first Earl of Chatham, Williams, a defender of American rights in the British Parliament. Many Quaker children were recorded as being born in Orange Co. and without the families moving, younger children were born in Chatham Co. 

1773 Joel and Charity moved to Wrightsboro, McDuffie, Georgia, where 24,000 acres of land had been set aside for settlement by Quakers, mostly from North Carolina and South Carolina. 

7 Jan 1775 Joel and family were granted a certificate to transfer from the Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, NC, to the Wrightborough Monthly Meeting, Georgia.  The Quakers suffered greatly during the Revolutionary War. As their faith forbade them to fight in a war, the Americans thought them to be British sympathizers and the British thought them to be American sympathizers. Many left the movement. [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Admittance, Wrightsborough MM, p.8 (doc)]

6 May 1775 Certificate presented at Cane Creek MM, Chatham Co, NC 

8 Aug 1778 Deep River MM, Guilford, NC indicates that Joel was an original member of MM. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF QUAKER GENEALOGY, VOL I, DEEP RIVER MONTHLY MEETING, PAGE 773 Guilford County, North Carolina The minutes of Western Quarterly Meeting 1778, 8, 8, authorizing the establishment of Deep River Monthly Meeting, is as follows: “The Friends appointed last meeting to inspect the capacity of friends at Deep River respecting their request of holding a monthly meeting amongst themselves report as follows: - We the committee appointed at last meeting to take under sollid consideration the request of friends of Deep River respecting their holding monthly meetings agree to report: - we had an opportunity with them, as also a number of our women friends who united with us, and after a time of waiting and sollidly confering thereon, Give it as our best sence & judgement that the granting of their request will be consistant with best wisdom. All which we submit to the meeting; with which judgement this meeting unites and establishes accordingly and orders the said meeting to be on the first second day of the week in each month. And directs the Clerk to transmit a copy of the above minute to the aforesaid meeting. The first setting of the new meeting was held 1778, 9, 7. John Talbot and Mary Talbot were appointed first clerks and John Rudduck, Jr., recorder of births, deaths and marriages. The preparative meeting at Deep River Monthly Meeting had been under the jurisdiction of New Garden Monthly Meeting previous to the setting up of Deep River Monthly Meeting. The original membership of the new monthly meeting included: Hezekiah Sanders, Joel Sanders, John Sanders, John Sanders, Jr., Martha Sanders, Susanna Sanders… Deep River Meeting is located in the western part of Guilford County, about 12 miles from Greensboro. A midweek meeting was set up in 1753, and a preparative meeting established in 1758. Located in the same section and having its beginning only two years later, the history of Deep River is similar to that of New Garden. Both meeting enjoyed large growth through immigration from the North during the latter half of the eighteenth century, and both suffered great losses by migration to the Northwest during the first half of the nineteenth century. Writing ohe strongest monthly meetings. Its record of migration begins with 1811 and extends to 1860. As usual, they are all to Indiana except ten, which are divided between Tennessee, Ohio and Illinois. Between 1811 and 1845 the movement was quite uniform. The favorite objective point was the White Water Meeting, Ind. Deep River, like New Garden, has had sufficient vitality to withstand th? Preparative meetings under Deep River Monthly Meeting included Deep River, Springfield, Muddy Creek, Deep Creek, Belews Creek, Gum Swamp and Hitchcock.  The following abstract of the records of the meeting has been compiled from one volume of birth, death and marriage records, five volumes of men’s minutes (1778-1890), and two volumes of women’s minutes (1778-1892). 

2 Jan 1782 Savannah: The Wrightborough Meeting sent a letter to the London Meeting which told of the War, the plundering, the killing of cattle, stealing of wheat. The King's government at Savannah granted them an allowance of beef and rice. Among the signers were Joel Sanders, Sr. 

23 Jan 1782 Charity died in Wrightsborough Township, McDuffie Co, GA. [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)]

2 Feb 1782 Joel died in Wrightsborough Township, McDuffie Co, GA. [Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy Vol. I, Wrightsborough MM, p.1045 (doc)] [Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 Wrightsborough MM, p.S (doc)]

SANDERS SEARCH-- In the search for parents of Joel Sander (1718-1782) many researchers have many theories 
1. After much research, Norman Sanders of Lima, Ohio, believes the parents to Joel were James Sanders (son to Richard Sanders and Deborah Thurston) and Ann Holmes. It is a strong possibility. 
2. Many researchers believe the parents of Joel to be John Sanders and Priscilla Pritlow, however, that theory has been refuted by Quaker researcher, Gwen Boyer Bjorkman, Bellevue, WA. 
3. Another theory suggests that Joel's parents were John Sanders (son to William Sanders and Mary Hall) and Mary/Martha. 
4. There is the possibility that the John Sanders (son to Woodward Saunders) was father to Joel Sanders. 
5. Steve Kellar of Carmel, IN, a descendant for Joel Sanders, Jr., suggests that William Sanders and Mary Hall were parents to Joel Sanders, Sr. 
6. Still other researchers say that Joel Sanders was from Nantmeal Monthly Meeting (Quaker) in Pennsylvania. Nantmeal was a Welsh settlement in northwest Chester County and named Radnorshire, a village in Wales. A search of the Sanders/Saunders family in Nantmeal netted mention of a James Sanders and a Peter Sanders, who were mentioned in the 1719 will of Elenor Fowke. The only possibility of the Sanders of Chester County Sanders could be the John Sanders, son to William Sanders of London. If that John Sanders removed to the Quaker colony in Nansemond, VA, he could be the father to Joel. It is known that Joel Sanders was a staunch Quaker as were many of the Sanders families of Nansemond County, VA and Perquimans, NC. 
In 1708, a Richard Sanders removed from Nantmeal, Chester County, PA to Nansemond County, VA. 
In presenting their case, some suggest very early marriages, however, Quakers usually did not marry until their mid-twenties, or later, thus a teenage marriage was not usual for Quaker union. However, the Quakers did not reach the colonies until the 1650s, with John Sanders, in Nansemond County, VA being the first known Sanders who was a Quaker. 
Katherine Reynolds, a respected researcher, believed the origins of Joel Sanders were in Caroline County, VA. Caroline was formed in 1727from part of King and Queen County, which was formed 1691 from New Kent County, which was formed in 1654 from James City County, one of the original shires. Thus the origins of Joel Sanders could be New Kent of James City Counties, which again points to the family of Woodward Sanders. 

From Sanders Siftings, p.1 April 1997: "A Sanders Family—Northants (England) To Texas In 500 years; part III" by Howard Karl Sanders....Joel was a staunch Quaker, which is amply documented beginning in recorded Monthly Meetings in Nansemond County, Virginia. He is easily followed through North Carolina and finally into Georgia. His moves are prominent in Hinshaw's Quaker Records in Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, Chatham County, N.C., and ultimately, Wrightsborough Township, Ga. An account from Cane Creek Monthly Meeting is as follows: "Charity (with H) ROCF Nansemond NM." The date of that MM was April 4, 1762. Translated, that means Charity and Joel were received on a certificate from Nansemond Monthly Meeting. In the same reference, threre appears "Jan 7, 1775, Joel and fam GC" (granted certificate). This establishes that Joel was in Cane Creek prior to Wrightsborough for thirteen years with his son Benjamin as then a part of his family. The first indication of Joel and his wife, Charity, arriving in Wrightsborough is on page 45 of Quaker Records in Georgia. Joel produced a certificate of good standing, as referenced above, from Cane Creek Monthly Meeting for himself, his wife and children "of their orderly lives and membership" date "7th of Ye 1stmo 1775" which was read and received. The meeting to which the certificate was presented was held on May 6, 1775, and recorded in the same reference. This further establishes that Joel and Charity went from Nansemond County, Va., (April 4, 1762) to Cane Creek, Chatham County, North Carolina, and on to Wrightsborough Township, Georgia (Jan 1, 1775). Subsequently, Charity died in Wrightsborough Township on Jan 23, 1782, and Joel died on Feb 2, 1782. Father: John Sanders >b: ABT. 1690 in Nansemond County Mother: Priscilla Pritlow 

The Peace and Social Concerns of Wrightsborough Friends: Part III, The Taint of Slavery by George H. Cox, Jr.: This is the third and final essay in a three-part series concerning the Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting in Georgia. Wrightsborough was a larger Quaker township on the Georgia frontier west of Augusta. It maintained its identity as a Friends community from its chartering by the British Colonial Government at Savannah in 1767 until a general withdrawal to the Northwest Territory of the United States which culminated in 1807. In this brief period of 40 years, the Society of Friends wrote a small but important chapter in the social and political history of Georgia. In relating to distinctive religious communities including the Quakers, colonial Georgians learned lessons in diversity of opinion on social issues, lessons which would unfortunately be forgotten after these communities left the state or were assimilated. Gone was the appreciation for diversity. In its place was a more homogeneous value system which justified the extremes of plantation wealth and rural poverty which existed side by side in the South where cotton was king.
Three general issues subsume many of the specific peace and social concerns of the Wrightsborough Friends: proper relations with the native Americans who lived on the frontier, response to the out break and conduct of war during the American Revolution, and economic and religious responses to the widespread introduction of slavery. This essay addresses the last of these issues, the taint of slavery which fell upon the frontier following the American victory in the Revolutionary War.
The founders of the Georgia colony had qualms about the institution of slavery. From the settlement of the colon in 1733 onward, the Georgia trustees voiced their concerns in political circles in England and in the everyday settlement policies which they enacted through one of their number, James Edward Oglethorpe, who served as the administrator of the colony. Oglethorpe was himself an outspoken critic of the practice of slavery being tolerated in the American colonies. "Slavery is against the gospel, as well as the fundamental law of England. We refused, as Trustees to make a law permitting such a horrid crime."1 The trustees lobbied the Parliament to uphold their ban on the importation of slaves into Georgia, and they encouraged groups opposed to slavery to settle in the colony.2 For example, the Salzburgers who established Ebenezer west of Savannah and the Highland Scots who built up Darien south of Savannah on the Atlantic coast were both communities of anti-slavery colonists. The practical success of these free labor settlements would provide evidence for the trustees to use in justifying their appeals to keep slavery out of the Georgia colony.
The trustees were forced to give up their complete prohibition of slavery in Georgia in 1751, due largely to pressure from coastal rice plantation owners and an economic development faction of the business community in Savannah. In 1754, the relinquished control of the colony altogether. Royal governors appointed by the Crown would administer Georgia thereafter, and their position on the slavery question was far less philosophical. In the Royal governors' view, the main objection to slavery was the security threat which it represented during the period of continued Spanish destabilization of the colony. Once that concern was militarily resolved in 1763, they raised few objections to the sharp influx of slaves and new slave-owners who immigrated from South Carolina. By 1773, almost half of Georgia's population was blackslaves.3
In contrast with the coastal areas, there was little slavery in the frontier areas of Georgia. Instead, small family farmers raised food crops and tobacco. In fact, in the early 1760s, there were more free black farmers outside of Augusta than there were slaves in that ruralarea.4 Of course, there were always new families moving onto the frontier, and these immigrants concerned Quakers and others who feared the establishment of slavery in the backcountry. In the five years 1759 through 1763, 55 households moved into the upcountry parts of St. Paul's Parish. Only nine of these households, or 16 percent, owned slaves. But in the next five years, 1764 through 1768, 63 families located in that area, and 21 of them, or 33 percent, were slaveholding. There was, moreover, reason to be vigilant. Yet even where slavery was present, the numbers of captive blacks was small. Of the total 30 slave-holding households which came into rural St. Paul's Parish during the overall 10 year period 1759 through 1768, only four owned 10 slaves or more. Most slaveholding families on the frontier had only a couple of workers to help with the family farm. In the commercial arena, some of the Augusta traders and even their Creek and Cherokee trading partners owned slaves who worked in warehouses and tanneries, but the extent of the practice was very modest in frontier Georgia in the 1760s.
Once the Quaker Reserve was established in 1767, the Friends enjoyed an officially recognized right of approval for persons settling within their enormous township's boundaries. This should have restricted slavery in the immediate area to those settlers whose land grants predated the Quakers. Yet there is some evidence to suggest that practical accommodations were made in the case of otherwise attractive settlers who wanted to come into the area. Persons with documented ties to the Society of Friends like Isaac Lowe and William Candler came into the Wrightsborough Township with slaves. Lowe's wife was an active Friend, and Candler and his wife held membership certificates from a Virginia meeting. Both families produced the required certification of Quaker association as part of the approval process, but neither seems to have lived under the discipline of the local monthly meeting. One might term these individuals Friends in a technical sense, but they need to be distinguished from persons active in the local monthly meeting. Perhaps they might be described as "peripheral Friends" as contrasted with "orthodox Friends." The more orthodox Friends certainly must have disapproved of this encroachment of slave-holding into the community, but they could exert little social control over peripheral Friends whose memberships were not firmly vested in the local meeting.
We can only speculate about why influential Friends within the Wrightsborough Meeting seemed to have tolerated small scale slave-holding. There may have been economic benefits which accrued from allowing peripheral Friends leeway in this use of slave labor. It is also the case that Friends throughout the South only gradually came to the realization that all accommodation to a slavery supported economy was evil. Even when this realization was clear, the civil governments of the new American states raised barriers to abolition. Some attention to each of these considerations is warranted in our effort to understand the struggle with slavery which ultimately contributed to the Quaker from Georgia.
One possible economic explanation for the tolerance of slavery lies in the area of public works. The settlers in St. Paul's Parish, as elsewhere in the colony, were responsible for the maintenance and repair of public roads, fords, and bridges. Once the colonial government had paid for the construction of a roadway – possibly under arrangements with a South Carolina contractor would could use slave labor -- the local inhabitants had to maintain the road in good order.5 This duty was a considerable burden to small farmers who would have to leave their crops and families to work on the roads. If a few area neighbors could assemble a gang of slave workers at the site, the work could be expedited. Other public works offered a similar prospect of time lost to civic endeavors. We know, for example, that the royal government agreed to the construction of a fort at Wrightsborough for the protection of the populace from Indian attack.6 We know that the contractor for this project used slave labor because one of the black workers was killed by Indians during the construction. Moreover, the Wrightsborough Friends seemed to distinguish between personally owning slaves and benefiting from the labor of the African workers. This distinction may have been one of convenience rather than a fine point of ethical analysis.
The orthodox Friends who were actively involved with the Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting tried to be more strict with "their own." The story of Amos Stuart illustrates the discipline employed by the meeting in such cases.7 In 1781, Amos Stuart, a member of the meeting, was accused of trying to buy a young black slave girl. A committee of the monthly meeting was directed to investigate the charge, and they indeed found him to be in possession of the young woman. The monthly meeting ordered that Amos set the young woman free at age 18 and that he prepare a paper promising to do that and returnit to the meeting. After some procrastination on Stuart's part, the representatives reported to the monthly meeting that they believed him unwilling to conform to the will of his Friends. A testimony was then prepared against him, and he was provided a written copy which he might contest by appearing before the monthly meeting. He did not respond, and the meeting disowned him from being any longer a member of Friends.
incident was not the first time that the Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting had trouble with Amos Stuart. In 1780, he had confessed to bearing arms and had asked to be forgiven by his Friends. His behavior was part of a more general wave or worldliness that was affecting the community by 1780-81, and many friends were disciplined for offenses ranging from marriage out of unity and use of profane language to quarreling and fighting with one's neighbors. Much to the frustration of the more orthodox Friends, misbehaving members would avoid committees sent out to meet with them and would even refuse to appear to answer formal complains prepared against them. The monthly meeting was losing control over the population of Wrightsborough, especially its own young people.
The loss of control and communities' general dissipation had long been feared by Friends. John Woolman had warned of the particular erosion of values accompanied by the institution of slavery. He observed that "...if the white people retain a resolution to prefer their outward prospects of gain to all other considerations, and do not act conscientiously toward them [the slaves] as fellow creatures, I believe that [the] burden will grow heavier and heavier, until times change in a way disagreeable to us."8 By placing economic gain before principles of human advancement, slave holders drifted away from careful attention to the Truth. Slavery was destructive of a wholesome free-labor lifestyle and would ultimately lead to the dissolution of the work ethic and the attendant social order. A dim future lay ahead for America if slavery continued; many Quakers shared a vision of social destruction expressing God's wrath. These themes were kindled by John Woolman and spread by the travels of other ministering Friends throughout the continent.
Zachariah Dicks -- who visited Georgia and South Carolina in 1803 --was particularly noted for his vivid portrayals of the imminent bloodshed of slave rebellions.
the year 1803 this minister made a visit to Wrightsborough monthly meeting in Georgia, an integral part of Bush River quarterly meeting. He there told the Friends of a terrible internecine war not far in the future, during which many men like those in the Apocalypse would flee to the mountains and call on those mountains to hide them. With reference to the time of the fulfillment, he said the child was then born that would see it; thus intimating the time, not as immediate, but not very far off.9 There had been slave revolts in Haiti, and many slave owners were massacred in the uprisings. News of these events in the Caribbean served to document the case of abolitionists like Dicks who foresaw a violent expression of God's wrath against the evils of slaveholding. It is important to note that fear and dread of the black slave was probably one aspect of some Friends' avoidance of slavery. Many wanted their lands to be free of blacks, while others may sincerely have wanted free slaves to live among them. Some evidence of the latter position is found in the efforts of former Wrightsborough Quakers to come back to the area after their emigration for the purpose bringing west freed blacks who were in danger in Georgia.10
Traveling ministers of the Society of Friends visited Wrightsborough on a number of occasions. In fact, records of visits to the Georgia meeting by at least 20 ministers are extant. Several of these traveling ministers came to witness about the evils of slave-owning and other concerns such as alcohol consumption and social dissipation. Joshua Evans' observations of Wrightsborough in 1797 capture the feeling of these visits.
I believe the Lord hath a little remnant in these parts, who testify against slavery, and are favoured to keep themselves clear. Yet it seems to me, that on account of the oppression of those held in bondage, a cloud of darkness hangs over the land.... Many negro masters attended [the meetings for worship], and some of them shed tears. But the prospect is gloomy concerning the growth of pure religion in the land of slavery. The monthly meeting being as a farewell season, I desired them to gather up the fragments, and let nothing be lost; for I did believe a time was coming that would try their foundations, when the winds and storms would beat vehemently.11 Slavery polluted the people and the land where it was tolerated. The linkage between slavery as an economic institution and broader social deterioration is voiced in Henry Hull's journal entries from his 1800 visit to Wrightsborough.
I set out for Georgia, crossed the Savannah river, and after riding about fifty miles, got to the house of our friend William Farmer. This being the time when the poor slaves are allowed liberty for frolicking, the woods resounded with their songs, and with other noises made by them and their oppressors, who appeared to want that consideration, which would have induced them to set a better example.I f the day called Christmas is considered by professing Christians as a holy day, surely it ought not to be devoted to drunkenness and riot, whereby the kingdom of [the] antichrist is promoted.12 The official organs of the denomination in the South slowly took up the cause of abolition. North Carolina Yearly Meeting -- to which Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting belonged -- admonished member meetings to provide religious education for captive blacks. In 1768, the yearly meeting advised against and trading in slaves, and they passed a 1770 resolution reaffirming the position that "...all Friends be careful to bear a faithful Testimony against the Iniquitous Practice of Importing Negroes."13 Yet Quaker organizations stopped short of advocating th etotal abolition of slavery. Some Friends did promote doing away with the practice by freeing privately held slaves, but neither North Carolina nor Georgia law would allowed such an initiative.14 Even individual manumission was restricted; the law prescribed extreme conditions such as the approval of the legislature and removal from the domain of the freed person or the posting of a large bond for the free person's good behavior.15 Other Quakers advocated the transfer of ownership of slaves to each monthly meeting or a trustee, but that option was viewed by others as a further institutionalization of slave-holding. Overall, a pattern emerged, especially after the Revolutionary War, that each step to facilitate emancipation was frustrated by a governmental step to counteract the freeing of slaves. Friends were effectively constrained from making general emancipation practical, and they even had problems ridding their own denomination of the taint of slavery.
At the same time, public sentiment concerning the Quakers and their anti-slavery efforts hardened. There were numerous incidents brought to the attention of the yearly meeting in which Friends were accused of subverting the slave with talk of emancipation. "The minds of the slaves are not only corrupted and alienated from the Service of their masters in consequence of said conduct, but runaways are protected, harboured and encouraged by them."16 The southern meetings were under stress from within and without.
The messages of traveling ministers after 1799 turned more and more into appeals to withdraw to new lands in the west. Some Friends thought of the migrations to the west as "foolish panic,"17 while others perceived it as the Quakers "not being disobedient to the vision opened before them."18 Borden Stanton wrote a letter to Friends in Wrightsborough in 1802 about his own decision to leave the South.
I was concerned many times to weight the matter as in the balance of the sanctuary; til, at length, I considered that there was no prospect of our number being increased by convincement, on account of the oppression that abounded in the land. I also thought I saw in the light, that the minds of the people generally were too much outward, so that were was no room in the inn of the heart for much religious impression; being filled with other guests.... Under a view of these things, I was made sensible, beyond doubting, that it was in the ordering of wisdom for us to remove.19Free territories were opening up in the Midwest. In fact, Ohio would enter the Union in 1803 as the first state in which slavery was altogether illegal. The time had come to leave Georgia.
Georgia had run the whole gambit from the English discouragement of slavery to the American commitment to it as an economic mainstay, all in the short span of 40 years. Cotton was quickly replacing tobacco as farmers' cash crop, and the invention of the cotton gin made large scale plantations economical. The Quakers, so welcome as free labor settlers in 1767, were a nuisance in 1807. The anti-slavery posture of Quaker ministers and local orthodox Friends were precarious. Formerly too friendly with the Indians and recently associated with Tory politics, the thrice ostracized Quakers had three limited options: they could migrate, accommodate, or be silent.20
Georgia culture was heading in one direction, and the Quaker reforms were heading in another, opposite direction. The economy was learning to take advantage of slave labor at the very time that the Society of Friends was ridding itself of the institution. The values of the small farmer were giving way to those of the large plantation owner. An acquisitive ethos was displacing the older, moralistic culture. Friends of that day were aware that the changing political, economic and social culture of Georgia was eclipsing interest in a disciplined religious life. In fact, the new majority culture was winning out in the battle for the minds and hearts Quaker young people. Ohio offered an opportunity to start again under conditions more favorable to the sustaining and growth of Friends.
1 Quoted in James Bowden, The History of the Society of Friends in American (London: W. and F.G. Cash, 1854): 203. 2 Betty Wood, Slavery in Colonial Georgia (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1984): 3,65. 3 Ibid., 89. 4 This observation and subsequent data are from "Petitions for Land, St. Paul's Parish" (abstracted from the Colonial Records of Georgia), Dorothy M. Jones, Ed., Wrightsborough/Wrightsboro, McDuffie County, Georgia (Thomson, Georgia: Wrightsborough Quaker Community Foundation, Inc. 1982): 5-16 (Typewritten). 5 The general act upon which this practice was based was the 1755 Public Roads Act passed by the Georgia Royal Assembly and approved by then Royal Governor John Reynolds. Wrightsborough benefited from two awards under the act, one road running to Augusta, and another linking Wrightsborough to Savannah. Both were authorized by Royal Governor James Wright. 6 The ambivalence with which Friends received military or police protection from the goverment is discussed in Part I of this series, "Living with the Indians" (The Southern Friend, 10:1, Spring 1988:11-12). 7 The story is found in the Minutes of the Wrightsborough Monthly Meeting, 1781 (Greensboro, North Carolina: Guilford College Friends Historical Collection): 53-54 (Microfilm). 8  The Journal of John Woolman (Secaucus, New Jersey: The Citadel Press, 1961): 53-54. 9 John Belton O'Neall, The Annals of Newberry (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Coompany, Inc., 1974):330. 10 In 1845, Richard Timberlake was appointed by West Elkton Meeting (Ohio) to go to McDuffie County (then Columbia County), Georgia and remove some freed blacks to Ohio.  William and Delilah Stubbs agreed to accompany him. In early 1846, he wrote back from Wrightsboro about a mob spirit among the slave-holding element there. The rescue party left earlier than expected to avoid a confrontation and traveled night and day to get back to the Midwest. 11 "Joshua Evans' Journal," in John and Isaac Comly. eds., (Friends Miscellany, v. 10 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J. Richards Company, 1839):156. 12  Memoir of the Life and Religious Labours of Henry Hull (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Friends Bookstore, 1873): 123. 13 J. William Frost, ed., The Quaker Origins of Antislavery (Norwood, Pennsylvania: Norwood Editions, 1980): 253. 14 Horatio Marbury and William A. Crawford, A Digest of the Laws of the State of Georgia (Savannah, Georgia: Woolhopter and Stebbins, 1802): 808. Frost, Quaker Origins:254. 15 Stephen B. Weeks, Southern Quakers and Slavery:  A Study in Institutional History (New York: Bergman Publishers, 1968 [first published by the Johns Hopkins Press in 1896]): 219. 16 North Carolina Standing Committee, Religious Society of Friends, "Minutes" (Greensboro, North Carolina, Guilford College of Friends Historical Collection) (Microfilm). 17 John Belton O'Neall, The Annals of Newberry, 330. 18 Harlow Lindley, "The Quakers of the Old Northwest," Proceedings of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association (1912):64. 19 Quoted in John and Isaac Comly, eds., Friends Miscellany, v. 12 (1839): 218. 20 J. William Frost, "The Origins of the Quaker Crusades Against Slavery: A Review of Recent Literature," Quaker History, 67:1 (Spring, 1978): 54.


From Sanders Siftings, p.1 April 1997: "A Sanders Family--Northants (England) To Texas In 500 years; part III" by Howard Karl Sanders Joel was a staunch Quaker, which is amply documented beginning in recorded Monthly Meetings in Nansemond County, Virginia. He is easily followed through North Carolina and finally into Georgia. His moves are prominent in Hinshaw's Quaker Records in Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, Chatham County, N.C., and ultimately, Wrightsborough Township, Ga. An account from Cane Creek Monthly Meeting is as follows: "Charity (with H) ROCF Nansemond NM." The date of that MM was April 4, 1762. Translated, that means Charity and Joel were received on a certificate from Nansemond Monthly Meeting. In the same reference, there appears "Jan 7, 1775, Joel and fam GC" (granted certificate). This establishes that Joel was in Cane Creek prior to Wrightsborough for thirteen years with his son Benjamin as then a part of his family. The first indication of Joel and his wife, Charity, arriving in Wrightsborough is on page 45 of Quaker Records in Georgia. Joel produced a certificate of good standing, as referenced above, from Cane Creek Monthly Meeting for himself, his wife and children "of their orderly lives and membership" date "7th of Ye 1st mo 1775" which was read and received. The meeting to which the certificate was presented was held on May 6, 1775, and recorded in the same reference. This further establishes that Joel and Charity went from Nansemond County, Va., (April 4, 1762) to Cane Creek, Chatham County, North Carolina, and on to Wrightsborough Township, Georgia (Jan 1, 1775). Subsequently, Charity died in Wrightsborough Township on Jan 23, 1782,and Joel died on Feb 2, 1782


Joel Sanders (1718)
It may be possible that Joel was an only child.  One site (no references given) indicates he had two sisters. If so, this was still unusual for Quaker families, who had large families.  It is also possible that other children were born to his parents, John and Priscilla (Pritlowe) Sanders, yet to find.
As we will see below, Joel and his wife (Charity Hollowell) themselves had a passel  of kids. The Hollowell family, to whom Joel became linked, was an established family in the Perquimans area, suggesting that Joel probably married well.
Neither Quaker or property records of the area (Perqimans) give us any information on whether Joel, like his forebears, was a landowner/farmer..  By the 1740’s, it seems likely that most of the decent “weed” land had been occupied or exhausted;  it is also possible that Joel may have worked with his father on the father’s lands.
About 1750 or so, Quaker families began to move further south in North Carolina.  As they did so, new Quaker communities sprang up.  Records indicate that in 1754 a number of Sanders settled at Deep River, just west of Greensboro (see the info on the early Deep River Sanders under Benjamin’s (1746) page).
It appears that Joel and Charity also relocated to the same area nearby, Cane Creek, which became another meeting location.  Cane Creek minutes cite: “Charity (with H) ROCF (received on certificate from) Namsemond MM (dated 4 April 1762).
In the near vicinity, then, several Quaker monthly meetings sprang up about the same time.  It appears that some family members participated in the Deep River meeting; others, including Joel and Charity, joined with Cane Creek.  Note the Sanders listed along the river in the 1808 map (look close).  This suggests that the Sanders were probably somewhat prominent families in that location.
The arrival of the Sanders in the area came at a difficult time nationally.  In the 1770’s, events moved towards the Revolutionary War, and citizens chose sides; either for independence or for mother England.  The Quakers, who were pacifist, were caught in the middle and suffered hostility from both sides.
Faced with pressure and persecution from both sides, Joel moved south to Wrightsboro, Georgia, near the present-day Augusta. In the mid-late 1700’s, Georgia was still pretty rough territory, most still occupied by not very friendly Indians.
The Wrightsboro meetinghouse minutes (date unclear)  list Joel and Charity and their kids.  And Joel and Charity did indeed have a “passel” of kids, thirteen if Quaker records are correct: Miriam (1744); Benjamin (1746); John (1748); Joel (1751); twins Dempsey and Lydia (1753); Hollorval [spelling?] (1755); Ferribe (a very un-Quaker name)(1759); Thomas (1759); Josiah (1761); Abraham (1763); Mordecai (1764); Sarah (1767).
It is presumed that, in fact Joel and Charity actually made the journey to Wrightsboro, or simply had their membership transferred.  Some of the family obviously moved in: Joel Jr and Mordecai and their families.   Others, Benjamin and his family, apparently remained in North Carolina.  A grant of 15,000 acres to Quakers in 1769 does not include any Sanders, so their arrival came after the distribution of lands.
Joel and Charity both passed away in 1782, before the end of the Revolutionary War.