Background
Saunders was born near Milton, Caswell County, North Carolina. He was the son of William Saunders and Hannah Mitchell Saunders, attended Hyco and Caswell Academies and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Diplomat lawyer politician representative
Saunders was born near Milton, Caswell County, North Carolina. He was the son of William Saunders and Hannah Mitchell Saunders, attended Hyco and Caswell Academies and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Attended U. North Carolina, 1809-1811.
He was a lawyer, legislator, Speaker of the North Carolina House of Commons, United States. Representative from 1821 to 1827, North Carolina Attorney General, North Carolina Superior Court Judge, and the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee for Governor in 1840 (losing soundly to John Motley Morehead). President James K. Polk appointed him minister to Spain (1846–1849). Saunders served on the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees for forty-five years.
Saunders first married Rebecca Peine Carter on 27 December 1812.
They had five children-James, Thomas Franklin, Camillus, Anne Pine and Rebecca. He is believed to have resided at Longwood early in his career.
Elmwood was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and Longwood in 1976. According to biographer H. G. Jones, "He was a man of considerable ability and talent, but he was rough-hewn in his appearance and speech, often intemperate in his statements, and intensely partisan in his associations.
He was popular among the rank-and-file Democrats, but his inveterate pursuit of public office eventually diminished his influence among party leaders."
Carolina Hall, formerly known as Saunders Hall, on the campus of University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill was often thought to have been named after Romulus M. Saunders.
Instead, it was named for William L. Saunders.
Member North Carolina House of Commons from Caswell County, 1815, 18-21, from Wake County, 1850-1852, speaker, 1819-1820. Member United States House of Representatives from North Carolina, 17th-19th, 27th-28th congresses, 1821-1827, 41-45. Member of commission on French Spoliation claims, 1834.
Member Code Commission to revise North Carolina laws, 1852-1854.
Married Rebecca Peine Carter, December 22, 1812. Married second, Anna Heyes Johnson, May 26, 1823.