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 Our Sanders and Cope Family Tennessee Connections   by Alma Harings

My Grundy Co TN Sanders family connects to the Cope family of Warren Co TN through the union of my gg grandfather Milton Porter Sanders (1836-1911) of Pelham, Tennessee and his first wife Salina Patton Cope (1838-1871) of Warren County Tennessee. Porter and Salina begat my great grandfather William Lafayette Sanders (1871-1958) who begat my grandfather Cecil S Sanders who begat my mother Peggy J Sanders of Jenkins Ky.


Milton and Salina married in Polk County Illinois on 3 December 1857. Salina bore Milton 5 children with her last being ( my great grandfather) Wm L Sanders on 27 Feb 1871 in Monteagle, TN.. Unfortunately, Salina passed away just a few short months later on the 23rd of June 1871. My attempts to locate her death record or cause of death have been unsuccessful though I suspect that she died from complications associated with the childbirth. Unfortunately, situations such as these were not all that uncommon back then. Salina was only 33.


Stephen Cope, Sr. (1806-1887)

Salina's father Stephen P Cope, Sr. was born in the area known as present day Warren County Tennessee in 1806. Stephen followed in the footsteps of his father and was a farmer by occupation and a Democrat in his political views. Stephen Cope Sr was a constable in Warren County TN for six years as well as a justice of the peace for twelve years. Stephen and his Cherokee bride Comfort Bolin- Cope, were the parents of sixteen children with our Sanders line descending from their daughter Salina Patton Cope, wife of Milton Porter Sanders and mother to my gg gf William Lafayette Sanders. To learn about Comfort's tribal affiliation link here: Chickamuka Cherokee Roll


James Cope (1776-1874)

Salina's grandfather James Cope was born in North Carolina about 1776 and was the father of Stephen Lankfordtown Cope (1806-1885) of Warren County Tennessee. It is believed that James Cope came to Warren County Tennessee as early as 1800. He did return to North Carolina after the death of his first wife, Lydia Payne, to marry his second wife, Mary Crouch. James produced for children prior to his death in Warren County at age 98. The 1820 census of Warren County Tennessee lists James as owning 4 slaves. The Census records of 1840 listed ten (10) slaves and the 1850 Census listed James as owning twelve (12) slaves. James owned quite a bit of land in the Warren County Tennessee area, at least 1,500 acres. Most of this land he gave to his former slaves after the Civil War some of which also took the Cope surname. His grave is located in an abandoned cemetery about 75 yards off Northcutt Cove Rd in southern Warren County. There are two large slabs of stone covering his grave and that of his second wife. The other graves in the cemetery are supposedly of his former slaves and their .descendants I descend from James' son Stephen Cope .  ( A Special Thanks to Mike Fromholt for sharing this Cope family history with me)


E-MAIL Alma

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Sanders Crossing School (1945-1960 )

Sanders Crossing,  Grundy County Tennessee

Sanders Crossing School was erected in 1945 by Bob and Ralph Crick of Tracy City, Tennessee. The school opened that same year with Madge Warren serving as principal. Sanders School was named for the community of Sanders Crossing, TN and the community was named for my great great grandfather, Milton P. Sanders (1836-1911) of Pelham, Tennessee.   In 1950, two major additions were built and by 1957 the school served ninety-three (93) students and employed three teachers: Madge Warren, Betty Byrd and Mrs. Bill Paris. During the 1958-1959 school year, a new school building was built less than a mile away from the Old Sanders School. The new Plainview school was built on a sloping lot facing Highway 108 just beyond Plainview Cemetery. In 1960 Sanders Crossing School consolidated to Plainview and the old abandoned school building located at the intersection of the Clouse Hill Road and Hwy. 108 was eventually torn down. Sources: Grundy Co TN Heritage Book 2004                 Sanders Crossing School 1959 Yearbook

SANDERS CROSSING SCHOOL 1959 YEARBOOK (Click to Enlarge) Sanders School was named for the community and the community was named for Milton Sanders, one of the earliest settlers. The Sanders Community got its name about 1904.

Our Grundy County Tennessee Sanders Family Ancestors  Our Sanders Clan first arrived in the Pelham Valley (Elk River Valley) of Tennessee shortly after the turn of the 19th century (ca 1805). My great great great grandfather Thomas Sanders Sr (1790-1855) first arrived in the area along with the family of his paternal uncle, Solomon Sanders of Craven County North Carolina (1740-1837) about 1805. . Our Sanders clan settled in the area of Franklin County known as Payne's Cove and became one of the first white families to settle there. Milton P. Sanders ((who the community  "Sanders Crossing" was named after) was the son of  Thomas Sanders Sr. one of the original founding fathers of Grundy County.   Source:  1843 Petition To Form Grundy County TN Online Resource:  http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/tn/grundy/history/grunpet.txt

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Some Sanders Family History and Mystery
 2004

Contact Alma

I am the great-great granddaughter of Milton Porter SANDERS & Salina Patton COPE of Grundy County Tennessee and will offer evidence here in hopes of proving that William Lafayette Sanders was their 5th and last born child from whom I descend.

Milton Porter SANDERS was born 24 JUN 1836 in Pelham, Coffee County, Tennessee. He was widowed twice before his death ca Aug 1911 in Grundy County, Tennessee and is buried in the Clouse Hill Cemetery, Grundy, Tennessee. Milton Porter was the son of Thomas SANDERS, Sr. (1790-1855) of North Carolina and Mary ROBERTS (1795-1866) of Georgia.


Click here  To View Milton's Confederate Tombstone at Clouse Hill Cemetery ~ Grundy Co TN


Salina Patton COPE was born 8 MAR 1838 in Warren County Tennessee and died on 23 JUN 1871 in Grundy County, Tennessee. She was Milton's first wife and the daughter of Stephen Payne COPE, Sr. (1806-1885) and Comfort BOULDIN (1805-1898). According to oral legend, both Comfort and Stephen are believed to be of Cherokee descent. Comfort was recently found listed within the Chikamaka Cherokee Roll which can be viewed online by Clicking Here


William Lafayette SANDERS was born 27 FEB 1871 in Tennessee and died 14 JUL 1958 in Jefferson County Alabama. The census records indicate that William married abt 1891 though the exact date and place remain a mystery. His wife Minnie Farmer was born in Alabama on 18 May 1875 and died 21 Aug 1950 in Jefferson County Alabama. It is known that Minnie was the daughter of a John Farmer of Alabama though the identity of her mother remains a mystery.


For reasons to be discussed later in this report, William Lafayette Sanders was not found within the census records as were his siblings. William Lafayette's sister and brothers were: (1) Stephen A. SANDERS b: JUN 1865 in Pelham, Grundy, TN (2) R. H. SANDERS b: 1868 in, Grundy County, TN (3) Timma A. SANDERS b: MAR 1869 in Pelham, Grundy, TN and (4) Emery H SANDERS b: 16 SEP 1858 in Grundy County TN.


As of this writing, I have not found any published research that lists William Lafayette as the son of Milton P SANDERS and Salina P COPE. Only Williams siblings as listed above have been included as children of Milton and Selina. Even so, I feel confident that I have enough evidence to substantiate my claim, proving that William Lafayette was their 5th and last born child.


According to our family oral history, my great grandfather Wm Lafayette Sanders was the son of Milton Porter Sanders and was born in 1871 in or around Tracy City, Grundy, TN. Williams mother Salina Patton Cope-Sanders died in Grundy County TN (23 Jun 1871) about 5 months after giving birth to WM L on 27 Feb 1871. I have concluded (from reviewing the census records) that someone else other than his newly widowed father (Milton Porter Sanders) raised Wm. L.


Milton & his wife Salina were living in Grundy County, TN during the taking of the 1860 census but were not found in 1870 even though Milton was still a landowner there. I expanded my search areas for Milton and Salina but found nothing. I have concluded that the family simply was not interviewed by the census taker that year. Later in 1880, the now widowed Milton reappears and is listed again in the Grundy County Tennessee Census. William was NOT found with his father in this census (1880) nor any other census for that matter.


Further research has shown that on April 29, 1861 Milton P. Sanders, aged 23, enlisted in the confederate army as a private in "Co. A"  Turneys' 1st TN Infantry Regiment at Pelham, Frankin Co., Tennessee.   Milton served with the "Pelham Guards" in several battles including Seven Pines to Gettysburg where Milton was shot in the head early in the first day's fighting in McPherson's Woods 1 Jul 1863.  A Brother in arms,  Pvt W. B. Pattie, Co A, was in the fricket line in front of the Regiment and when he happened to look back to see Milton fall and slap his hand to his head"  ( pg 8 of Milton P Sanders CSA Pension Application)


I have no doubt that he suffered both emotionally and physically for the rest of his days. Milton had been diagnosed with a condition they used to call nervous .prostration I believe this condition was comparable to that of ppost traumaticstress disorder or shell shock depending on your preference of terms. I believe that this could explain his inability to care for young Wm L. after Salina died in 1871 and could explain his reasoning for giving his young son up for someone else to raise.


Milton remarries during the winter of 1883 and his new bride Tennessee ChildersÓ gives him a son Sidney J Sanders the following year in 1884. Unfortunately, Tennessee dies only eight years later widowing Milton for the final time. Milton never remarries.


Later in 1906, Milton applies for a confederate soldiers pension and files the application in Tracy City on November 21st of that year. I was able to obtain a copy of my ancestors pension file and found strong evidence in support of my claim. Within this pension application, Milton describes his current marital status as widowed and when asked how many children his has; his response is one daughter and 5 sons.


Marriage 1: Milton and Salina with one daughter and 3 sons: Stephen, Timma, Emery & RH Sanders,


Marriage 2: Milton and Tennessee Childrerss- Sanders with one son Sidney J. Sanders


The above accounts for one daughter and four sons born to Milton Porter. Since William L. does not appear with his family in any of the census records, it is understandable as to how this oversight could have happened. Given this along with the knowledge of our family oral history, I am confident that William Lafayette is in fact Milton's 5th mystery son referred to in his pension application.


During my search of the Internet, I happened across something that connected Wm L to his family On paper so to speak.
The information was originally given to Mike Fromholt by Betty M Majors during his trip to McMinnville Tennessee in 1999. Betty said that it came from a photocopy of a book that was in the possession of a Trudy Coppinger and how this "Trudy" fits into the Cope family line has yet to be discovered. On the margin of the book was written "Bought in Warren County on the 1st thursday in August on Election Day in 1833." The Females Praticle Monitor or Guide to Health" by Thom A Anderson,M.D., 1832".


It appears that this was someone's personal journal where they kept a running log of the family births and deaths . It lists all 16 children of Stephen and Comfort Cope as well as some of the descendants and other associated family members. The information given within this journal has been found to be consistently correct and as far as I know, there are only two people in this list that Mike F. has been unable to identify as descendants of Stephen and Comfort. The two entries in question are Earnest Sanders and Livsay Sanders even though it is suspected they are associated with the line of Lousia Cope and Andrew Sanders.


This was the first document I found which offered a birth date for my great grandfather Wm L Sanders as well as vital info for his mother: Salina Patton Cope (Sanders) b. Mar 8, 1838 - d. 23 June 1871. All was later verified as correct through comparison with William's Death Certificate as well as his tombstone images currently in my possession. The journal can be viewed in its entirety by Clicking here .


The following entries found within the personal journal are most relative to my discussion :



Salina Patton Cope was born Mar 8th 1838

Saliney Sanders departed this life June 23,1871


Wm Lafayette Sanders son of Salina Sanders was born Feb 27th 1871


UPDATE: April 12, 2004

Alabama Death Certificate for William L Sanders Now on File. Father is listed as Milton P Sanders of Tennessee and mother unknown. I believe that this additional piece of evidence proves William L Sanders as the last born child of Milton Porter Sanders & Salina Patton Cope of Grundy County Tennessee.


Click hereTo View Wm L Sanders Death Certificate

Thank you for your time and interest in my family.
  Alma

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About My Confederate Ancestor  ~ Pvt Milton Porter Sanders ~ & The War Dept.'s Charge of Desertion     Submitted by Alma Harings


My great great grandfather Pvt. Milton Porter Sanders,  applied for a confederate soldiers pension in Tracy City, Tennessee on 21 November 1906. The pension for which my ancestor was applying totaled less than $100/ year, so he was not seeking more than a mere survival income. When I first read over Milton's confederate pension application and realized that my great great grandfather Sanders had been denied his application based on a charge of desertion by the State Department, I felt compelled to learn what really happened.

 After months of study, I slowly began to realize that the charge of "desertion" was not what it had originally seemed. The men in the First Tennessee left Middle Tennessee in May 1861 and the survivors did not return until 1865. (Their entire war service in the Virginia theater. )  Some of these men from the 1st TN were granted furloughs due to sickness, disease, or wounds and some were granted ordinary furloughs.  Some of the men who came back to Tennessee were unable to return to Virginia at the end of their furloughs due to the presence of Union troops.  Others simply stayed at home when they were unable to secure transportation back to Virginia. At this point I can say with a  reasonable degree of certainty that Milton was  granted a medical furlough enabling him to return to TN

   According to Milton's sworn statement joining Capt. JP Henley's Command.  ( Co "I" of  Meads Calvary ):  ( Companies B-L making up the 27th TN Cal Bat) .   Milton's  charge of desertion was based on his not answering the roll on March 1st 1864. (Harrisburg VA)    All evidence suggests that Milton was simply unable to return to Virginia at the end of his furlough due to the presence of Union troops.

For ease of viewing, I have re-created (page 8 of 8) of Milton P Sanders' CSA Pension Application.  This was the correspondence between the TN board of pension examiners and the War Dept in Washington showing why Miltons application for a confederate pension was denied.  I have also provided additional evidence/history  relating to Capt JP Henley's Command and the (lack of ) records pertaining to that company.   It took me a long time to finally realize that in many of the Civil War records a lot of so-called desertions will be noticed. True, there were desertions, but due consideration must be given to the fact that records were lost or captured, men scattered, or left on the battlefield killed, wounded or captured, and because they were not present to answer at roll call, were marked deserted. Neither did they have men or paper for such work.


The following letter was written by W.B. Pattie of Tracy City TN on 01 JUL 1907 in support of his brother in arms and my great great grandfather, Milton Porter Sanders. His letter was addressed to the Board of Pension Examiners in Tracy City TN and reflected his opinion regarding the denial of Miltons civil war pension application based on their charge of desertion. This letter also offers additional evidence that Milton P Sanders fought in the Battle of Fredricksburg in December of 1862.

This is a word for word transcription of its contents
Alma Dailey-Harings 12/2003

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