www.SandersWeb.net  

John Sanders And Bacon's Rebellion(1)

The Sanders family in America "started out among the ranks of the discontent" according to historian Barbara Clark Smith(2).
John Sanders3, who came from England and settled in Nansemond County got in serious trouble with the Virginia authorities during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. Court records record the following sentence given at his trial (original spelling retained):

"John Sanders being a notorious actor in the late rebellion, and by the governour's proclamation of pardon being exempted, butt upon his humble petition and submission to the governour, he was pleased to grant him the benefit of his proclamation of pardon; but for that the said Sanders hath been very active in the late rebellion, the court have thought fitt and doe order that he be fined two thousand pounds of tobacco and caske to the countrie, to go towards the satisfaction of the souldiers, to be paid next yeare." (3)

Sanders was later pardoned and the following was placed in the record:

Jno. Sanders pardoned, but fined 2000 lbs. tobacco. John Sanders being a notorious actor in the late rebellion, and by the governour's proclamation of pardon being exempted, butt upon his humble petition and submission to the governour, he was pleased to grant him the benefit of his proclamation of pardon; but for that the said Sanders hath been very active in the late rebellion, the court have thought fitt and doe order that he be fined two thousand pounds of tobacco and caske to the countrie, to go towards the satisfaction of the souldiers, to be paid next yeare.


First Hand Accounts of Virginia, 1575-1705, from the Virtual Jamestown Project(4)

Papers relating to Bacon's opposition, generally termed "Bacon's Rebellion" (1676).

Bacon 's acknowledgm't. I Nath. Bacon , jr. of Henrico county, in Virginia, do hereby most readily, freely and most humbly acknowledge that I am and have been guilty of diverse late unlawful , mutinous and rebellious practices, contrary to my duty to his most sacred majesty's governor and this country, by beating up of drums, raising of men in arms , marching with them into several parts of this his most sacred majesty's colony, not only without order and commission, but contrary to the express orders and commands of the Rt. Hon. Sir William Berkeley , Knt. his majesty's most worthy governor , and captain general of Virginia. And I do further acknowledge that the said honorable governor has been very favorable to me, by his several reiterated gracious offers of pardon, thereby to reclaim me from the persecution of those my unjust proceedings (whose noble and generous mercy and clemency I can never sufficiently acknowledge) and for the re-settlement of this whole country in peace and quietness . And I do hereby, upon my knees, most humbly beg of Almighty God and of his majesty's said governor , Bacon 's opposition.that upon this my most hearty and unfeigned acknowledgement of my said miscarriages and unwarrantable practices, he will please to grant me his gracious pardon and indemnity , humbly, desiring also the honorable council of state by whose goodness I am also much obliged , and the honorable burgesses of the present grand assembly to interceed and mediate with his honor to grant me such pardon. And I do hereby, promise, upon the word and faith of a christian and of a gentleman, that upon such pardon granted me, as I shall ever acknowledge so great a favor , so I will always bear true faith and allegiance to his most sacred majesty , and demean myself dutifully, faithfully and peaceably to the government and the laws of this country; and am most ready and willing to enter into bond of two thousand pound stirling, and for security thereof bind my whole estate, in Virginia, to the country for my good and quiet behaviour, for one whole year from this date, and do promise and oblige myself to continue my said duty and allegiance at all times afterwards. In testimony of this my free and hearty recognition, I have hereunto subscribed my name, this 9th day of June, 1676.

Nath. Bacon .

We of his majesty's council of state of Virginia, do hereby desire, according to Mr. Bacon 's request, the right honorable the governor to grant the said Mr. Bacon his pardon. Dated the 9th of June 1676.

Phill. Ludwell,  James Bray,  Wm. Cole,  Ra. Wormeley,  Hen. Chicheley,  Nathl. Bacon ,  Thos. Beale,  Tho. Ballard,  Jo. Bridger .

Bacon 's opposition. [The laws passed at the session of June 1676 under the influence of Bacon], will show the abuses which had crept into the government. They commence on page 341 of this volume, and are most salutary in their nature. Though they were afterwards all repealed by proclamation, yet at the succeeding sessions, most of them were re-enacted in the very same words, as will be seen by comparing the laws to which references are made in the margin. By a proclamation of the king of the 27th of October, 1676, Sir William Berkeley was authorised to grant a free and general pardon, Bacon alone being excepted (see ante page 428). It will be seen by the acts of February 1676-7, and the subsequent proceedings of the courts martial and civil courts, that his thirst for blood and confiscation induced him to disregard the authority of the king, if indeed he were sincere in his declarations, which may well be questioned, in as much as we find that after the arrival of his commissioners several other persons were condemned and executed, and that the commissioners themselves sat on the trial of seven of the prisoners who were condemned. For the report of these commissioners, see Burk's History of Virginia, vol. 2, pa. 247, et seq. and Bland MS. pa. 320.]

Proceed'gs of the court of civil jurisdiction. Att a court3 held at Green Spring the 1st of March 1676-7.

Present, Sir Wm. Berkeley, Knt. Gov'r. &c.

Coll. Nath. Bacon, Coll. Phill Ludwell, dep'ty sec'ry,  Coll. Thos. Ballard,  Coll. Jos. Bridger,  Ja. Bray Esq.,  Coll. Wm. Cole.


Notes:

(1) Reference: The Statues at Large; Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia, From the First Session of the Legislature, in 1619, William Waller Hening, University Press of Virginia for the Jamestown Foundation of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Charlottesville, VA. 1969.
(2) Barbara Clark Smith is Curator of Social History at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Her info used with permission.
(3) John Sanders is the first of our ancestors to arrive in America. See the following Links pertaining to John Sanders and his family:

John Sanders Ancestry and Descendants

Sanders Of Nansemond County, Va.

Land Grant

More Sanders family documentation

(4) Recorded in the office of the general court, in a book labelled Deeds and Wills From 1670 To 1677, pa. 618.