#3980: RE: Prince Sanders (Saunders) (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

[Please reply directly to Kurt Snyder and the address below this
line]

From: Snyder, Kurt R. <snyderk@pweh.com>

Mr. Corbett and Associates,

	My name is Kurt Snyder and I am doing research on a person by the
name of Prince Sanders (Saunders) 178? to 1843. He was a teacher who was
employed by Christophe in Haiti and published a book (The Haytian Papers) in
England. He was also reported to be the Attorney General of Haiti under
Boyer. Died in Haiti arround 1843. Looking for information or leads to round
out some research during Sanders time in Haiti.Looking for your guidance for
sources. A little history on Sanders follow.

Sanders was born in Lebanon, CT. to a Cuff Sanders in the 1789 or so. His
father was a slave in Connecticut in the 1700's. Owned by a pharmacist in
Hartford who gave him his freedom when Cuff served in the revolution for his
master. He married a servant of a Charles Hinkley of Goshen Hill, Lebanon,
CT. and bought a small farm on the Colchester/ Lebanon, CT. line. Young
Prince was born on this farm and his father died when he was four. His
mother moved back in with the Hinkleys shortly afterwards and Prince was
cared for and educated at the Hinkley home. Charles had invested in land in
Thedford, Vermont and his oldest son moved there to start a life. He took
along seven year old Prince. (Why? I don't know.) Prince was treated as one
of the family as Hinkley married and had children of his own. Prince was
given a good education and worked the area until he was sixteen. Hinkley (a
lawyer at this time) helped get a judgement against a local farmer's estate
that provided Prince with five acres of land in Thetford. At sixteen, Prince
sold his land to Hinkley for $5 and moved back to Colchester, CT. He was
hired as a teacher for the Colored school associated with the new Bacon
Academy. (arround 1805-6). He taught for two or three years and took over
and sold his fathers property ($50 or so). He then moved back to Vermont and
was educated at the Free School at Dartmouth College, NH. Dartmouth was
started by a Lebanon, CT native who moved his "Indian School" from Lebanon,
CT. to Dartmoth, NH after the Chief of the Mohegans, Uncus, returned from
England with a lot of cash for the school. Some controversy with this move,
but the Hinkleys and Wheelocks came from the same town and associated with
each other.

Sanders next moved to Boston, MA with a letter of introduction to teach at a
colored school on Beacon Hill in Boston. He associated with notables in the
churches and upper classes of this area. He was the secretary of the Prince
Hall Masons on Beacon Hill. He was one of the original members of a "Belles
Lettres"  society in Boston. He was reportedly able to convince a wealthly
boston merchant to leave $4000 to start a school for "Colored" children on
Beacon Hill. This school is now called the African Meeting House. He
associated with noted abolitionist of the time and was able to find backing
with the Masons and others to finance his trip to England. He had letters of
introduction to William Wilberforce who was an advocate of stopping the
slave trade. He also was an agent for Christophe and was contracted to send
teachers to Haiti. I will put together a note that has all the dates and
information I have about Sanders time in Haiti and send it out next week.
Thankyou.

> ----------
> From: 	Robert Corbett[SMTP:bcorbett@netcom.com]
> Sent: 	Tuesday, May 23, 2000 5:18 PM
> To: 	Kurt R. Snyder
> Subject: 	Re: Prince Sanders (Saunders)
> 
> 
> Prince Sanders is real and there is a book publised that carries his
> name.  It is:  HAYTIAN PAPERS.  A COLLECTION OF THE VERY INTERESTING 
> PROCLAMATIONS AND OTHER OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, TOGETHER WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF 
> THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND PRESENT STATE OF THE KINGDOM OF HAYTI
> 
> The Heinl book on Haiti says:  Heinl:  Prince Sanders, an American 
> freedman who had served as one of Henry's foreign helpers....   Sanders 
> (somestimes called Saunders) is said to have introduced vacinnation into 
> Haiti and vaccinated Henry's children
> 
> This is interesting to me since I just posted an item on my web site
> from an 1820 Baltimore newspaper which mentions the fact of vaccination
> in Haiti during Christophe's rule.  You may see that post at:
> 
> 
>   http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/history/earlyhaiti/2-haitis.htm
> 
> The book is quite rate in the 1816 original, but was reprinted in 1969
> by the Negro University Press.  I have it in my own library and see
> copies of it for sale from out of print dealers from time to time.
> 
> My notes on the book say:
> 
> The non-descript brown covers on this book contain an interesting rarity: 
> not only is this source
> material on Haitian history, but an example of the intersection of 
> Haitian and African-American
> history. Prince Saunders--the son of a black Revolutionary War soldier-- 
> was the first teacher at
> Colchester, Connecticut's School for Colored Children in 1808. From there 
> he went to Boston to
> teach at a similar school and help organize the Belles Lettres Society, a 
> literary and cultural
> organization. Soon after, he left for England as a delegate of Boston's 
> Masonic Lodge of Africans.
> At this point, his career really took off as he made the acquaintance of 
> the likes of the Duke of
> Gloucester and the Archbishop of Canterbury. They, and other influential 
> Englishmen, made possible
> his first trip to Haiti in 1816, where, among other things, he introduced 
> vaccination to the country,
> became one of the first four professors of Haiti's Royal College, and an 
> emissary of King Christophe
> and promoter of African-American resettlement in Haiti. This book was 
> part of his efforts to
> establish Haiti's image as that of a nation worthy of diplomatic 
> recognition. It contains a capsule
> history of the then-new nation in original documents, including the 
> correspondence between Henri
> Cristophe and the French forces sent to reconquer Haiti for Napoleon, the 
> "Narrative of the
>  Accession of their Royal Majesties to the Throne of Hayti, &tc," (an 
> account of Christophe's rise to
>  emperor of Haiti), Haiti's first constitution, and several other 
> historically important documents. 
> 
> ============
> 
> I do note that there is a mistake in those notes at the end.  I went to
> the
> book recently to find this "first Constitution of Haiti."  It isn't there.
> There are NOTES about Christophe's constitution, but it is neither
> complete
> nor the first constitution.  It is at best the third, and then only of
> the Kingdom and not of the whole nation.
> 
> Hope this helps,
> 
> Bob Corbett
>