JOSEPH W. SAUNDERS

Sacramento County

Biographies

JOSEPH W. SAUNDERS

JOSEPH W. SAUNDERS.--A painter known for his thoroughly practical knowledge of his trade, and for his initiative and executive ability as an experienced contractor, is Joseph W. Saunders, of Sacramento, who is also in constant demand as an accomplished decorator. He was born in London, England, on September 16, 1852, the son of James John and Maria (Wright) Saunders, a worthy couple who lived, labored and died in their native land. They did the best they could for their family, and sent young Joseph to the best available private schools; but he abandoned his studies and left school when still young, and made off to sea.

Once embarked upon the career of a sailor, Joseph Saunders followed the sea, off and on, for twenty-five years; and during that time he visited South Africa and practically every European country. In 1868 he crossed the Atlantic in a small schooner with six men on board, and went to the coast of Greenland for codfish, which they took to Italy. In 1870 he went to Guano, and in 1872 and 1873 he was in South Africa, where he joined the police in Cape Town. Then he went on an expedition, killing seals and gathering guano on a group of islands under the British protectorate. He was ship-wrecked on the coast of Jutland, but was saved by the crew at the life-saving station. At one time his ship was jammed in the ice in the Baltic for five months. He was the purser of a steamer plying between London and the Continent. In a collision, the boat sunk; but all the passengers were saved. While catching seals and gathering guano, he with thirteen others spent twenty-two months on an island. They had no fresh foods nor vegetables, and their only eggs were penguins' eggs. Fresh water had to be brought 800 miles, and the only staple foods were rice, flour, and sugar. They had no butter, milk or tea.

Meanwhile, Mr. Saunders had also learned the painters' trade; so that when he landed in New York, in March, 1882, he had a means of livelihood. He followed his trade there, until May, 1890; and then, coming out to the Northwest, he opened a bakery at Seattle, and in the time bought forty acres of land at Cottage Lake, where he lived in the woods for four years. In 1894, he left there and went south to Los Angeles; but after six months in that city he came north to Sacramento. For a year he worked by the day at his trade, and then he opened a painting shop for himself; and ever since venturing to do contract work, he has met with success. He painted the Capital National Bank, all the buildings of the county hospital, the county jail, the old high school, the city hall, and many business structures and even blocks; and as a member of the Master Painters and the Builders' Exchange, he has grown in the esteem of his colleagues. He is a Republican; and as a man of affairs and a patriotic citizen of his adopted land, he served as a school trustee in the state of Washington.

In 1888, Mr. Saunders was married. Twin sons came of this union; and today those boys, J. A. and W. A. Saunders, are themselves local contractors. Mr. Saunders is a Mason, and took the third degree as long ago as March, 1876; and he also is numbered among the B. P. O. Elks. He is fond of music, and would like to see Sacramento become the musical center of the Golden State.

Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.

Source: Reed, G. Walter, History of Sacramento County, California With Biographical Sketches, Pages 821-822. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.