SAUNDERS, GUNNELL, was born July 27, 1783, in Loudon county, Virginia, of English ancestry. His parents emigrated to the vicinity of Lexington, Ky., and a year or two later moved to Fleming county, in the same State. Mary Mauzy was born April 15, 1784, in Fauquier county, Virginia. Her parents, who were of French descent, moved to Bourbon county, and from there to Fleming county, Ky. Gunnell Saunders and Mary Mauzy were there married about 1801, and had seven children there. He was a soldier from Fleming county in the war of 1812, and afterwards moved his family to Sangamon county, Ill., arriving May 10, 1828, and settled four miles northeast of Springfield. Of their children--

JONATHAN R., born Feb. 17, 1802, in Fleming county, Ky., was married there Dec. 18, 1823, to Sarah McKinnie. They moved to Sangamon county, Ill., arriving Nov. 28, 1824, at Springfield. He entered the land on which the Sangamon county fair is held, two miles north of Springfield, and moved there in 1828. They had six children in Sangamon county. GUNNELL A., born Jan. 13, 1825, died in his second year. LEWIS A., born Dec. 27, 1826, in Springfield, was trained to mercantile pursuits in Col. John Williams' store, in Springfield. When gold was discovered in California, he formed a partnership with Samuel Fisher, who for several years had lived with Mr. Saunders. Lewis A. Saunders and Samuel Fisher left Springfield early in 1849, as part of a company of sufficient magnitude for safety. They reached their destination and engaged in mining and selling provisions to the miners on South Feather river. Mr. Saunders wrote to his parents regularly once a month. In a letter written to them early in April, 1850, he reported himself well and in a prosperous condition. That was the last communication his friends ever received from him. His partner, Mr. Fisher, went to Sacramento on business for the firm, and Mr. Saunders was last seen by a Rev. Mr. Mayfield, and a blacksmith from St. Joseph, Mo., April 8, 1850. Neither of those men could say whether it was before or after his partner left for Sacramento. All that his parents ever received from his effects was about two hundred dollars in gold dust, much less than he took with him. Samuel Fisher returned a few months later, and is now--1874--a wealthy farmer and manufacturer at Brooklyn, Schuyler county, Ill. ASBERRY H., born Nov. 7, 1828, in Springfield, was married Oct. 20, 1856, at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, to Marcia E. Underwood, who was born Feb. 7, 1837, at Portage, Ohio. They had four children; three died young. HELEN, born June 2, 1863, lives with her father. Mrs. Marcia E. Saunders died Sept. 30, 1874. Mr. Saunders has farming done in Arkansas, and lives in Springfield, Ill. MARTHA A. and FRANCES died in infancy. MILTON, born Oct. 3, 1836, near Springfield, was married Jan. 3, 1861, to Anna E. Edwards, who was born April 29, 1840, in Salem, N. J. They had three children. CORA died in infancy. Mrs. Anna E. Saunders died June 30, 1863, leaving two children, NELLIE E. and FRANCES S., who live with their father. Milton Saunders was married Aug. 28, 1872, to Martha E. Beeley, who was born of English parentage, Aug. 31, 1842, at Concord, Morgan county, Ill. They have two children, LILLIE and MARCIA. Milton Saunders and family live at his father's house, two miles north of Springfield--1874. Mr. Saunders is a deaf mute, caused by disease, and his present wife was so from her birth. They were both educated at the State Institution at Jacksonville. All his children can hear and converse. Jonathan R. Saunders was a licutenant in a light-horse company from Sangamon county in the Winnebago war of 1826 and '7, and captain of the same company in the Black Hawk war of 1831. He was one of the board of officers who made the treaty with Black Hawk, which the latter violated and caused the war of 1832. J. R. Saunders and wife reside two miles north of Springfield, Ill., and have lived within two miles of their present residence 52 years.

NANCY, born about 1804, in Fleming county, Ky., was married there to Amos Locke, and moved to Bloomington, Ind., and from there to Sangamon county in 1830. The deep snow of 1830 and '31 discouraged them so much that they returned to Bloomington in 1832, and both died there, leaving six children, all of whom moved to Iowa. Two of the sons were killed in the Union army while assisting to suppress the great rebellion.

PRESLEY, born in Fleming county, Ky., came to Sangamon county, Ill., in 1827, and married Edith Cooper. They had three children in that county, who all died young. They moved in 1834 to Iowa, and Presley Saunders laid out the town of Mt. Pleasant. Of their two children born in Iowa, AMANDA married Dr. J. D. Harper, and died in Mt. Pleasant. [See Dr. Harper's name in connection with the Mitchell family.] MARY married in Mt. Pleasant to John McCoy, and lives in Denver, Col. Mrs. Edith Saunders died in Mt. Pleasant, and Presley Saunders married Huldah Bowen. They had four children, and all are married. Presley Saunders is President of the First National Bank at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and resides there--1875.

FRANCES, born in Fleming county, Ky., was married in Sangamon county, Ill., to David K. Mackey. They had one child, and Mr. Mackey and the child died. Mrs. Frances Mackey was married to Rev. Arthur Miller, who died, and she died Sept. 24, 1876, in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

GEORGE M., born Oct. 6, 1811, in Fleming county, Ky., was married April 9, 1833, to Maria L. Sampson, who was born April 5, 1811, in Fleming county, Ky. They had four children. EVELINE M., born March 4, 1835, married Dr. William Logan. They have one child, and live in Oconee, Shelby county, Illinois. JAMES W., born March 24, 1837, and served three months in the beginning of the rebellion, in an Illinois regiment. He married Sarah Dorrell, and lives in Mason City, Ill. JOHN S., born May 2, 1840, enlisted for three years, in 1861, in Co. G, 10th Ill. Cav., served three years and four months, and was honorably discharged. He was married August 4, 1866, to Cordelia Montgomery. They have two children, ARAMINDA and LEWIS L., and live two miles north of Springfield. DAVID S., born June 17, 1842, enlisted in 1861, in the 2d Ill. Art., for three years, and died at Fort Donelson, May 3, 1864. Mrs. M. L. Saunders died Nov. 29, 1847, and George M. Saunders was married March 9, 1849, to Nancy A. Offill, who was born May 4, 1826, in Bath county, Ky. They had seven living children. ALVIN L., born Feb. 4, 1850, enlisted in 1862, for three years, in Co. C, 115th Ill. Inf., was transferred to the 121st Ill. Inf., served to the end of the rebellion, and was honorably discharged. He married Mary J. Shaw. They have one child, and live two miles north of Springfield, Ill. JULIA E., SARAH J., EDWARD L., ETNA A., MARY E. and HARVEY E., live with their parents, four miles north of Springfield, Illinois.--1874.

ALVIN, born July 12, 1817, in Flemin7 county, Ky., came with his parents to Sangamon county, Ill., in 1828, drove an ox team in breaking prairie and hauling wood to Springfield. He remained with his father until 1836, when he joined his brother Presley at what is now Mt. Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa, then part of the territory of Wisconsin. There were but four families, and not more than a dozen houses in the town. He first hired to a farmer, but soon after found employment as a clerk in a small dry goods store. His education was too limited for the latter position, so he attended night school, and in this way improved himself, and retained his position as clerk. He was the first Postmaster at Mt. Pleasant, and continued in that position seven years, during which time he was in a partnership with his brother Presley, in mercantile business. He was a member of the constitutional convention of Iowa, under which that State was admitted into the Union, and was elected State Senator in 1854. He was a delegate to the first Republican convention of Iowa, which met Feb. 22, 1856. Alvin Saunders was married March 11, 1856, in Washington, D. C., to Marthena Barlow, who was born Oct. 24, 1834, at Greencastle, Ind. She is a niece of Mrs. Senator Harlan. They have two children. CHARLES L., born Dec. 23, 1856, and MARY A., born Nov. 16, 1860, live with their parents. In 1858 Mr. Saunders was elected his own successor to the State Senate. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention of 1860, which nominated Mr. Lincoln as a candidate for President of the United States. He and Mr. Lincoln became acquainted in Sangamon county, Ill., when both were unknown. During Mr. Saunders' second term as State Senator of Iowa, Mr. Lincoln appointed him, early in 1861, Governor of Nebraska Territory, a position he held for six years, and until Nebraska was admitted to the Union as a State, which he officially announced by proclamation, March 27, 1867. When the Union Pacific Railroad bill passed congress, Gov. Saunders was appointed by that body one of the commissioners to give practical form to the measure, and on Dec. 2, 1863, ground was broken at Omaha by his moving with his own hands the first spadefull of earth for the construction of that great thoroughfare. When he was appointed Governor, Nebraska Territory was in debt equal to two dollars per head for every man, woman and child within its limits, and when she was admitted as a State, and Governor Saunders retired, there was sufficient money in the treasury to pay all indebtedness, including the expense of furnishing Nebraska's quota of troops to suppress the great slaveholders' rebellion. Ex-Gov. Saunders resides in Omaha, Nebraska, and is President of the State National Bank of that place.

WILLIAM A., born in Fleming county, Ky., came with his parents to Sangamon county, in 1828, and afterwards went to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, where he was married to Louisa Dickey. All their children died young, except one. Mr. Saunders died in 1863, and his only child, WILLIAM, born after his father's death, lives with his mother, in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

Gunnell Saunders and his wife moved from Springfield, Ill., to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in the summer of 1846. Hon. E. D. Baker, of Ball's Bluff fatal memory, with whom Mr. Saunders was on terms of most intimate friendship, visited Mt. Pleasant, and made a speech in favor of the election of Gen. Taylor. Mr. Saunders took Col. Baker in his carriage to Ottumwa, and on the morning of Oct. 26, 1848, bade him adieu and left for home. He was found about two miles from Ottumwa, in his carriage, dead, with the lines so adjusted as to bring the carriage on a cramp. Gunnell Saunders was about sixty miles from home, but his remains were taken to Mt. Pleasant for interment. His widow continued to live there until Oct. 18, 1851, when she died from the effects of a dose of arsenic carelessly put up by a druggist in place of morphine.