Nevada Genealogy Trails Washoe County Wiltshire Saunders Biography

WILTSHIRE SAUNDERS. Few residents of Reno have longer been connected with the city and its development than has Wiltshire Saunders. Almost half a century has passed since he became a California pioneer. The traveler of to-day, seeing the thriving towns, the splendidly developed farms and the excellent ranches and industries of every character, can scarcely realize the condition of things which faced Mr. Saunders at the time of his arrival.

He was born in Nova Scotia, September 13, 1830, a son of John and Jemima (Wilson) Saunders. The Saunders family is of English and Scotch extraction, and the grandfather. John Saunders, who had emigrated to the new world, settling in New York, was a loyal defender of King George's cause, and at the time of the Revolutionary war removed to Nova Scotia. There he was given a fine grant of land and became one of the prominent and influential early settlers of that part of the continent.

John Saunders, Mr. Saunders' father, was born in Nova Scotia on the 26th of October, 1782, and throughout his life carried on agricultural pursuits. He wedded Jemima Wilson, who was a native of his own town, born on the 20th of March. 1790. Both held membership relations with the Baptist church, taking an active part in its work, and Mr. Saunders became a preacher of considerable ability, although never ordained to the ministry. He died in the seventy-fifth year of his age, while his wife passed away at the age of eighty years. They had become the parents of eleven children, but Wiltshire is the only one now living.

Wiltshire Saunders spent his early years in his native town, but when nineteen years of age removed to Boston, Massachusetts, and learned the carpenter's trade in Watertown, a small place near Boston. After completing his apprenticeship he remained with his employer for one year as a journeyman, and because he had attained efficiency in his chosen field of labor he found it easy to secure good paying positions. He had also worked in a lumber yard in Boston prior to learning his trade, the firm building houses for San Francisco and shipping them ready to be erected. Mr. Saunders also was employed for five years at his trade in Nova Scotia, but he had heard much of the west, its development and its possibilities, and in 1858, attracted by the opportunities of the Pacific country, he made his way to California by the isthmus route. His brother Charles had gone to California in 1849. and Mr, Saunders joined him in the Golden state nine years later. There he worked at his trade of carpentering and also followed carriage-making. He and his cousin Stephen, who came out with him. joined his brother, who was located at Monte Cristo. Later he and his brother and cousin went to what is known as Whisky diggings, near Gibson, and were there engaged in mining. The work was carried on by Means of tun- nels, and they were thus enabled to prosecute their labors throughout the winter. Mr. Saunders did the outside work, however, framing the timbers for the tunnel. In the spring they sold their property, receiving for it twenty-one hundred dollars, or a sum of seven hundred dollars for each one. The following winter they mined on the other side of the ridge, but again sold out. and as Stephen Saunders was a daguerreotype artist Wiltshire joined him in the conduct of a photographic gallery. They took some of the first daguerreotypes in California, charging at that time from five to eight dollars each. They journeyed from camp to camp, carrying with them their outfit, and at Onion Valley they established a gallery which they conducted for one season. In 1862 they removed to Marysville and purchased the Heath gallery on D street, where they aid a photographic business for two years and during the time of the great flood. Soon afterward Mr. Saunders sold out to his partner and removed to Oroville. California, where two years were also passed.

On the expiration of that period Mr. Saunders and his brother Charles went to Honey Lake and rented the Dr. Spalding farm of one hundred and sixty acres. In the meantime he had been ill and thus much of his savings had dwindled away. The first year the brothers cut hay, which brought a comparatively low price that season, while potatoes sold at a very high price. Therefore, they decided to devote their ground to the raising of the latter vegetable, and planted four acres of ground. They plowed the ground three times, getting it in excellent condition, and paid nine cents a pound for seed potatoes. The plants grew splendidly, and when about a foot high the army worm came and ate every living green thing in sight. In the succeeding fall Mr. Saunders engaged in hauling goods in order to earn money to pay for his seed potatoes. He teamed to Humbolt and on taking the last load he was caught in a severe storm on Smoke creek, having his foot frozen on that occasion. However, he managed to reach Humboldt, but his foot and limbs were very badly frozen so that a bed of straw was made in his wagon and he was placed upon it, his team following the others back to the starting point. After severe suffering he eventually recovered, losing only one of his toes. He and his brother spent the remainder of the winter in Honey Valley, Dr. Spalding residing with them. They then took another ranch, and Mr. Saunders continued to engage in teaming, hauling freight to Virginia City. He had two wagons and ten big horses, and, receiving quite a liberal patronage, he was enabled to pay off all his indebtedness. Later he engaged in teaming between Reno, Carson and Genoa. He began his carpenter work and built a number of the best homes in Reno Surveyor General Hatch also employed him to make a coffin, which was one of the first made in the town, and this led to more patronage in that same line, so that he eventually did quite an extensive business. Having invested in village lots at a time when land was very cheap he located the Hillside cemetery, and now owns that projierty together with a nice home in the city and several other residences, his realty possessions being a monument to his industrious efforts and diligence. The growth of this city and the consequent rise in land values have made him one of the substantial residents here.

In 1871 Mr. Saunders was married to Miss Margaret Williams, a native of Cardiff, Wales, and a daughter of Thomas and Ann (Hopkins) Williams. They have two sons. Robert Wiltshire, now a student in the Industrial All School in San Francisco and a very bright young man: and John Olin. who is now attending the high school in Reno. Mr. Saunders and his sons are members of the Baptist church. He has always been a stanch Republican in politics and while living in Oroville, California, during the Civil war, he served as lieutenant in the Oroville Guards, For many years he ha~ been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and deeply interested in the success of that worthy organization. Few men have undergone more of the pioneer experiences than has Mr. Saunders, and while engaged in teaming he often encountered great danger, for the Indians were frequently upon the war path and he and his comrades had to sleep on their guns in the wagons. The Pacific country owes a great debt to the brave pioneers who inaugurated the civilization of this section.

Source:
A History of the State of Nevada: Its Resources and People
By Thomas Wren, Lewis Publishing Company
Published by The Lewis publishing company, 1904