Saunders is an ancient surname, nearly a thousand years old.  By 1120 A.D. it was well established in Ireland, Scotland,  England  and on the  Continent. Before this date a person had only one name, "given" him by his parents at christening: (James, William, Robert, Richard, etc).  Virtually none of these Saunders' were related by blood.  What they had in common were claims to forebears  who served with the armies of Alexander the Great.  The name is an abbreviation for "Alexander's Son" (Xanderson), later shortened to (Sanderson) then to Sanders or Saunders.  The name means "Helper Of Mankind". In Wednesbury, England, the name is pronounced: "SOHN-dez".
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The Coat of Arms above is one of two known to be granted to an English Saunders family.  The colorful design was woven into a cloth coat that was worn over the metal suit of armor (arms).  The design was also painted onto shields.  These coats and designs were necessary to tell friend from foe in battle. The color of the Saunders shield is sable (black)  with an ermine chevron separating three argent (silver) bull's heads.  Above the shield and helmet is the family crest:  a golden bull with a red rose on it's shoulder.  
The  motto: "Invidere Sperno"...(to look upon ones enemies with scorn and contempt) is a battle cry, intended to intimidate the enemy before engaging them.
Woden's Fort - Our Saunders clan originated near Wednesbury, in the English Midlands, near Birmingham.  The "bury" part of the name means "a defended settlement or fort".  "Wednes" refers to the pagan Anglo-Saxon god Woden.  
Wednesbury is ancient, at least 2,000 years old, dating back to the iron age.  The remains of a Roman road were found running thru Market Place in the town center.  During the Middle Ages, the town was a center for coal and iron-ore mining and smelting.  This area is where "The Industrial Revolution" began.
The most prominent feature of the village is Church Hill, where St. Barthlomew's church stands today, Built atop the ruins of Woden's temple in 711a.d.  Much of the Saunders family genealogy came from the church records.  Many of the ancestors were baptized in the great stone font in the baptistry...the only remaining structure from the original church.  Several are buried  in the churchyard.  The church today is a beautiful example of medieval stonework, with ornate ceilings and geometric patterns and the wonderful Kempe windows.  When Mary Jane and I visited in May, 1994, the Vicar invited me up to the ringing chamber, above the baptistry, to ring the fine peal of  ten bells.  The oldest bell was dated 1614, still inscribed with the words  "I will resound unto Thee, O Lord, to call Thy people to Thy word".
Modern Wednesbury is a delightful mixture of the old and the new.  Ancient buildings, lovingly restored and maintained...it looked as if the entire town had been freshly painted the day before we visited, all sparklingly clean with flowers everywhere. Not only was there no street litter...we saw no litter-barrels, either.  Market Place is the center of town, with it's great Clock Tower...a gift from King George V.  Streets radiate outward like spokes in a wheel.  Upper and Lower High Streets comprise the "Main Drag"'.  The oldest pub in town is "Ye Olde Leathern Bottel", established in 1510.  It was a favorite watering-hole of the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin.  The great reformer John Wesley attended services at St. Bartholemew's Church, and preached from atop a large stone "horse block" near the center of town.
The townspeople are warm and friendly...exceptionally courteous and helpful to visitors.  They speak a Staffordshire dialect that you must listen closely to or you'll find yourself asking them to repeat everything.  At tea-time, the phrase "a nice cup of tea and a nice cake" comes out this way: "a noyce cuppa tay and a noyce kike".
John Saunders -  Christened to Thomas and Ann (Brassington) Saunders at St. Bartholomew's, January 12, 1815.  John married Ann Whiston in Bradley-By-Stafford, England June 23, 1834.  They emigrated to the United States in 1837, settling first in Shepherdsville, KY.  John was a steel-mill worker and the family later moved to Newport, KY.  In 1849, an epidemic of cholera swept thru the Covington-Newport area.  It claimed the lives of all the Saunders immigrants, leaving John's son William David an 11- year old orphan who, we believe, was raised by James Pearson...a minister of the Primitive Methodist Church. All the immigrants, including the Reverend Pearson, are buried in the Saunders cemetery plot at Evergreen Cemetery, Newport, KY.