Henderson County Texas

Descendants of
JESSE SANDERS and MARY AMANDA PICKERING

Jesse Sanders was born in June 30, 1845 in Tishomingo County, Mississippi.
His father, Isaac Sanders, was born in 1818 in Randolph County, North Carolina,
the son of Benjamin and Mary Sanders. It is believed the family was of Irish or
Scottish ancestry, but the immigrant ancestor appears to have arrived well
before the American Revolution. According to a family tradition in the family of
Thomas Bailey Saunders of Texas, three Saunders brothers settled in the Randolph/
Montgomery county area of North Carolina in the 1760s. These three were Aaron,
Moses (a Baptist preacher), and another Isaac, who is believed to be the father of
Benjamin and therefore the great grandfather of Jesse. Descendants of the three
brothers moved to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas and eventually to many other Western states.

Isaac's parents moved to Jackson County, Alabama, in the 1830s. About 1838 Isaac
married Elizabeth, also a native of North Carolina. Her maiden name is not known.
In the mid 1840s he and Elizabeth were living in Tishomingo County, Mississippi,
and by the 1850s they were in Montgomery County, Arkansas. During the Civil War,
the Sanders family had divided loyalties; Isaac and his son Jesse first joined the
Confederate forces, but switched sides as the Union forces entered the state.
By 1869 Isaac and his family had returned to Tishomingo County, Mississippi,
and it was from Booneville, Mississippi, about 1870, that his son Jesse set forth
for Texas, settling in Murchison in Henderson County, presumably because the
location was near his cousin Levi Lindsey Sanders, a blacksmith who lived in
Ben Wheeler in Van Zandt County.

Shortly after arriving in Henderson County, Jesse met Mary Amanda Pickering,
and they were married October 31, 1871 in Erath County, Texas, where they
lived for about four years. Mary Amanda “Mandy” Pickering was born
March 13, 1854 in Henderson County, Texas, and died July 22, 1898 at
Murchison, Texas. She is buried in the Red Hill Cemetery between
Murchison and Brownsboro. She was the daughter of Andrew Jackson
Pickering (March 4, 1829, Covington County, Mississippi-after 1890, Texas)
and Elizabeth Ann Davis (1814, South Carolina-about 1865, Chambers County, Texas).

Elizabeth’s sister, Susan, married David Anding, and they also had numerous descendants who lived in Henderson County.

Jesse and Mary Amanda lived in Stephenville in Erath County from 1872 until 1876 but then moved back to Murchison in Henderson County. There they farmed an 87 acre tract that remained in the family for several generations. Jesse died from malaria on December 12, 1903 and was buried in the Red Hill Cemetery by the side of his wife in the Sanders/Pickering area on the west side of the cemetery.
The children of Mary Amanda Pickering and Jesse Sanders are as follows:

1. John Taylor Sanders, born July 30, 1872 in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas;
died May 11, 1938 in Murchison; buried in Red Hill Cemetery. He married Lula Skipper.

2. Sarah Elizabeth Sanders, born July 17, 1876 in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas;
died February 15, 1974, in Athens; buried in Red Hill Cemetery. She married Frank Carroll.

3. Randau Sanders, born May 06, 1880 in Murchison, Henderson County;
died October 06, 1880; buried in Red Hill Cemetery

4. Aaron Walter Sanders, born January 07, 1882 in Murchison; died November 25, 1966 in Athens; buried in New Athens City Cemetery. He married Mary Jeanetta Gothard.

5. Jesse Jackson Sanders, born March 04, 1885 in Murchison; died September 17, 1964 in Overton, Rusk County, Texas; buried in Red Hill Cemetery. He married Lola Mae Burton.

6. Fannie Amanda Sanders, born August 09, 1889 in Murchison; died February 23, 1931 in Murchison; buried in Red Hill Cemetery. She married Joseph Andrew Webb.

7. Bertha Sanders, born July 09, 1891 in Murchison; died October 26, 1896; buried in
Red Hill Cemetery

Some of the descendants of Jesse Sanders and Amanda Pickering still live in
Henderson County. A son, Walter Sanders, owned a grocery store just off the
square in Athens throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Their grandson, Gurley Sanders,
was for many years a reporter for the Athens Daily Review newspaper.

Gary Sanders
gary_bsanders@hotmail.com

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Henderson County, Texas - Pioneer Families

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