Spelling was much less standardized in the 1600s than today and no independent "Sanders" family of Amersham with two generations of "Tobias" has been found while reviewing parish records, wills and court documents.
[5][6] This entry originally asserted, based on the "Nutmegger article", that "Saunders likely used his inheritance to pay for his passage to America after his father's death in 1642.
This Saunders family had been established in Amersham for many years and at least 2 older siblings were previously baptized there so a delay of that length between birth and baptism would seem to be unusually long.
With the permission of the colonial legislature, a group of Rhode Island speculators purchased a tract of land called "Misquamicut" from the Indian Chief, Sosoa (a.k.a.
By 1661, Tobias Saunders had acquired a quarter of a share in a division of Misquamicut (the area which now encompasses the towns of Westerly, Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton, Rhode Island).
When Roger Williams secured a land patent from the Earl of Warwick in 1643 Jackson,[11] Rhode Island was not a political entity.
The newly formed colony claimed jurisdiction over the land south of Warwick and between the Pawcatuck River and Narragansett Bay.
The Massachusetts Bay Colony proclaimed prior jurisdiction over Pequot country (which it argued, included land west and east of the Pawcatuck River), as part of their spoils from the Pequot War, and created a paper town, Southertowne, (which includes parts of modern day Westerly, RI and Stonington, CT), to solidify their gains.
An additional group of Rhode Island speculators, including Benedict Arnold, purchased a title to Misquamicut, the land south of Warwick and west of the Pettaquamscut territory, and actively sought settlers to protect their investment.
William Chesebrough, a sixty-six-year-old resident of Southertowne, testified that "about thirty six inhabitants of Road Island" were laying out lots within Southerntowne boundaries on the east side of the Pawcatuck River.
In response to charges of "forcible entry and intrusion into the bounds of Southerntowne," Saunders and Burdick contended that with the approval of the Rhode Island General Court they had purchased land from Indians and lawfully had begun constructing homes and farms.
An un-neighborly and unchristian intrusion upon us, as being the weaker, contrary to your laws, as well as ours, concerning purchasing of lands without the consent of the General Court.
In addition, they concurred that the owners and inhabitants on Atherton Trading Company land could "choose to which of those Colloneis they will belong."
"It was by the efforts of Dr. John Clarke alone that Rhode Island retained her independence as a colony and her sons enjoyed a liberty of conscience unique in the early history of this land".
[15] Overseeing British colonial policy, the Earl of Clarendon anticipated continued conflict and appointed a royal commission to investigate and resolve the various controversies surrounding Connecticut and the recently acquired Province of New York.
The Rhode Island government protested to Connecticut authorities and suggested that representatives of the two colonies should meet to establish a boundary.
Pressure was placed on people living on Atherton Trading Company land to pledge their allegiance to Rhode Island.
Rhode Island, unwilling to relinquish its southwestern territory, referred its adversaries to the 1644 patent, the 1664 charter, and the royal commissioners' determination of the King's Province, all of which set the Pawcatuck River as the Boundary.
They offered Saunders a town office under Connecticut jurisdiction (he is listed as a Selectman of Stonington in 1677)[19] but both he and Babcock had to post bail to appear before magistrates at New London the following June.
When Rhode Island objected, Connecticut replied that people in the disputed territory were supposed to choose which government they wanted rather than having it imposed, and they complained that their citizens were the ones being molested.
Two of the four non-attendees, included James Babcock, reversed themselves the next day, and they too acknowledged the sovereignty of the King and the Rhode Island government.
Thomas Stanton and the Reverend James Noyes of Stonington performed a similar function with the Pequots and the Niantics, while Tobias Saunders of Westerly also had some influence with Ninigret.
"[25] On 10 December 1675, Tobias Saunders and Thomas Stanton wrote to Governor Winthrop regarding their meeting that day with Chief Ninigret and his pledge to stand with the English against the Narragansett Indians if it came to war.