Background

He was born on May 3, 1768 at Sturbridge, Massachussets, United States, the fourth child and only son of Michael and Azubah (Clarke) Sanders. After the death of his father in 1773, his mother married Capt. Ebenezer Fisher of Needham.

Education

At Needham he was prepared for college under the direction of Rev. Samuel West. He entered Harvard, graduating in 1788.

Career

Burdened with the formidable debt of one hundred dollars, he immediately took employment "keeping a common school in Watertown. " Soon afterward he became preceptor of the grammar school in Cambridge. Here he studied theology under the guidance of Rev. Thomas Prentiss of Medfield.

Licensed by the Dedham Association in 1790, he preached as a candidate and as a supply in various pulpits in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. In 1794 he was ordained as pastor in Vergennes, Vt. In 1799 he accepted a call to preach in Burlington, where he also kept a private school until the organization of the University of Vermont. He was made a trustee of that embryo institution in January 1800, and in October became its first president.

His duties while directing the new university during its first fourteen years were varied and onerous. Though students increased from four the first year to over fifty in 1813, the university was in financial trouble.

Hostilities on Lake Champlain during the second war with Great Britain disrupted its activities. In the spring of 1814 the trustees suspended instruction, leased the university building to the government for use as barracks, and dismissed all salaried officers, including the president. Sanders at this time was almost overwhelmed with misfortunes: his book, A History of the Indian Wars with the First Settlers of the United States, Particularly in New England, published anonymously at Montpelier in 1812, had aroused bitter criticism because of its strictures on colonial bigotry and cruelty to the natives; problems in the family.

Now he was without employment and with few resources save a claim on the University for arrears of salary. After preaching for a time in New York City he reluctantly accepted a call (May 1815) to become pastor of the First Congregational Church of Medfield, Massachussets, where his parents and grandparents had been born and where he had preached his first sermon. He attempted unsuccessfully to guide his church through that stormy period. After the stricter Calvinists had seceded, he found it impossible to stay with the thorough-paced Unitarians and resigned his pastorate in the spring of 1829, though he continued to reside in Medfield until his death.

The last phase of his career was devoted to occasional preaching and to public life.

Achievements

• He was the first president of the University of Vermont. He managed its lands and finances, supervised in part the erection of its first building, and for some years carried the entire burden of instruction, continuing meantime his pastoral duties until 1807. During the fourteen years of his pastorate at the First Congregational Church of Medfield he gained a wide reputation as a thoughtful and eloquent speaker. He published a number of sermons, the most famous of which, A Sermon, Preached in Medfield. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1820-21; represented the Medfield district in the Massachusetts House, 1833-36; and during the same years was one of the selectmen of his town

Works

More photos

• book

  • A history of the Indian wars with the first settlers of the United States to the commencement of the late war: together with an appendix, not before ... the battle fought by General Andrew Jackson.

    (Title: A history of the Indian wars with the first settle...)

  • A sermon, preached in Medfield, 5th January 1817, near the 166th anniversary of the incorporation of the town.

    (Title: A sermon, preached in Medfield, 5th January 1817, ...)

  • Tales of the Revolution, and thrilling stories, founded on facts.

    (Title: Tales of the Revolution, and thrilling stories, fo...)

  • An address, delivered in Medfield, 4th July, 1816.

    (Title: An address, delivered in Medfield, 4th July, 1816....)

Personality

He was a moderate man, averse to theological controversies.

Connections

Iin Vergennes he had married Nancy, daughter of Dr. Jabez Fitch. His wife was a victim of occasional attacks of insanity; five of his eight children had died in an epidemic.

His last years he spent caring for his invalid wife, whose death in 1850 he survived by only two months.

Father:

Michael Sanders

Mother:

Azubah (Clarke) Sanders

Spouse:

Nancy Fitch

married:

Ebenezer

step-father:

Capt. Ebenezer Fisher

coworker:

Rev. Thomas Prentiss of Medfield

teacher:

Rev. Samuel West