MONROE COUNTY, GA - BIOGRAPHIES   W.E. Sanders

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W. E. SANDERS, merchant and mayor of Forsyth, Monroe County,
Georgia, son of Brown and Elizabeth A. (Smith) Sanders, was
born in Jasper County, Georgia, October 13, 1851.  The
family came from England to South Carolina before the
Revolutionary War.  Mr. Sanders’ great-grandfather, Ephraim
Sanders, a soldier in the Patriot Army, was killed in the
battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina, September 8, 1781. 
The latter part of the last century, his grandfather, a
planter, migrated from South Carolina to Georgia and settled
in Jones County, where he raised a large family, whose
members scattered and made homes elsewhere.  Here Mr.
Sanders’ father was born in 1808 and grew to manhood.  He
then moved over into Jasper County, where he married in
1850.  His mother’s family was of Georgia birth, and she was
raised by her grandfather, Aquilla Phelps, one of the older
of the first settlers.  After their marriage his parents
moved to Jones County, where they lived seven years, and
then returned to Jasper County to the old Phelps Plantation,
where they are living now, his father engaged in his
lifetime business of farming.  They had four children born
to them:  W.E., the subject of this sketch; Mary A., died at
thirteen; Frances M., died when eighteen months old;
Florence, died when seventeen years of age.  Mr. Sanders was
reared in Jasper County, and educated in the county schools
and the Monticello high school, and took a course in the
Macon Business College.  In 1871 he clerked in Monticello,
Georgia, and beginning with 1872, he clerked for L.
Greenwood & Brothers, Forsyth, for several years – clerking
in the fall and winter – making a crop in the summer in
Jasper County.  In 1877 he engaged with Solomon & Mount,
remained with them until 1881, when he went into business
with E.R. Roberts, under the firm name of Roberts & Sanders.
The firm continued until 1883, when they were burnt out.
Mr. Sanders then bought his partner’s interest, and has
since conducted the business with phenomenal success on his
own account.  He carried a fine assorted general supply
stock.  He was elected mayor of Forsyth in 1890, re-elected
since in 1892, 1893 and 1894, and is mayor now.  He is
captain of the Quitman Guards (Company K, Second Regiment
Infantry, Georgia Volunteers).  This is a “crack” company,
and he has been a member of it twenty years.  He is also a
member of the Military Advisory Board of the State of
Georgia.   Mr. Sanders was married Dec. 13, 1876, in
Forsyth, Georgia, to Miss Ada O., daughter of W.B. and
Mattie A. Chambers, who now live in Griffin, Spalding
County, Georgia.  To them seven children have been born:
Florence;  W.B., died in 1890;  May;  Charlie; an infant,
died unnamed;  W.E., Jr., deceased.  Mr. Sanders is a
Democrat.  He is very popular, ranks high for energy and
business capability, and commercial integrity.  His
accomplished success gives assurance of a brilliant business
future.