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Rev. Jonathan Saunders came from Essex, England to Lynnhaven Parish in 1695 and married Mary Bennett Ewell, a daughter of Thomas Bennett and his wife, Anne (Snaile) Bennett, a daughter of Henry Snaile. Mary was the widow of Thomas Ewell and the mother of Sarah and Thomas Ewell. The Saunders had two children, John and Mary Saunders. Rev. Saunders died ca 1700 according to the Princess Anne Deed Book 1, page 123; account book 1702. Then, his widow married her third husband, Maximillian Bousch.
The stepfather, Maximillian Bousch, appointed young John Saunders as a captain of one of the Bousch merchant ships and gave him land in Princess Anne County. John Saunders was married to Mary Thorowgood, the daughter of Captain John Thorowgood and Margaret (Lawson) Thorowgood. Captain John Saunders, mariner, died in February of 1734, and willed his Virginia property and seven acres of land in Essex, England to his son, Jonathan Saunders, born about 1726. His daughter, Mary, was married to Captain Cornelius Calvert on 29 Jul 1719; Mary died before 1762. After John's death, his widow, Mary married her second husband, Jacob Elligood.
John Saunders and his wife Mary (Thorowgood) Saunders had a son, Jonathan Saunders who inherited the plantations of his father in Princess Anne County and later acquired 800 acres for another plantation as well as 400 acres of marshland. He was listed as a vestryman in Lynnhaven Parish in 1761. Jonathan died intestate on 21 January 1765 and was buried in the churchyard at Old Donation Episcopal Church which is located a short distance from Pembroke Manor. He left a large estate, the home, land, numerous slaves, animals, a widow and four children. Mary, the eldest child, married Jacob Ellegood. John, the son, was the heir. Also, Sandford and Margaret. Sandford Saunders and Margaret Saunders, by Lemuel Newton their next friend (guardian) vs. Jacob Ellegood, administrator of estate of Jonathan Saunders and Mary is wife, an infant and John Saunders an infant heir at law of said Jonathan Saunders. The dower of the late Elizabeth Saunders, widow of Jonathan, was set apart for the benefit of the heir at law. Jonathan received his portion when he came of age in the spring of 1775. At that time he was studying law at the College of Philadelphia when the Second Continental Congress as meeting. Jonathan, against the protests of his friends, became a staunt Loyalist. When Lord Dunsmore issued the call on November 7th for all capable Loyalists to join the king's troops, John Saunders was commissioned a captain in The Queen's Own Loyal Virginia Regiment in Virginia which was commanded by his brother-in-law, Colonel Jacob Ellegood. He was then transferred to The Queen's Rangers under Colonel John Simone and dispatched to New York. Meanwhile,Ellegood and his business partner, William Atchison, tried to escape, but were captured and taken to Williamsburg where they were tried and convicted as being enemies of Virginia. While Lord Dunmore tarried in Virginia, Captain John Saunders was wounded during a British victory over Washington's troops in the Battle of Brandywine Creek on 11 September 1777. In July of 1779 Jonathan Saunders was called before the jury when the local Committee of Safety was investigating Tories and was pronounced a British subject and his lands confiscated. This forfeiture of lands is recorded in Princess Anne County Deed Book 16, page 48, dated 14 Oct 1779.
