Sancho Sanders (?--?)

From the composite of radical members of the South Carolina legislature, 1868.

  Sancho Sanders was, like Syfax Milton, a freedman who entered politics in the Reconstruction-era South. Elected to represent Chester County in the South Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1868, Sanders also served in the capacity of state representative in the session of 1868-69. Like the man who preceded him here, details on Sanders's life remain scant, with both his birth and death date being unavailable at this time. A Baptist minister in Chester County, Sanders provided compelling testimony to Congress on Ku Klux Klan activity in his state during his time as a state representative. 

  Born into slavery, Sanders's birth occurred in the early 1800s, as he is recorded as "about sixty years of age" at the time of his election to the state house of representatives. He is recorded by the Yorkville Enquirer as being owned by Rev. James Lowry of Chester County, and "in slavery times officiated as a carriage driver for his master." This same paper denotes Sanders's prosecution for an alleged act of hog stealing in the 1840s, with "a sound flogging being administered upon his back" sometime later.

   Following the Civil War, Sanders was ordained as pastor of the Pilgrim Baptist Church near Chester. In the election of 1867 Sanders was one of four black Union Republican candidates from Chester County, and that November three were elected. The fact that three black freedmen were to represent Chester County in the constitutional convention proceedings subsequently drew the ire of the Yorkville Enquirer, which reported:

"It is supposed the Union Republican candidates, Barney Burton, Pervis Alexander and Sancho Sanders, all black, are elected--two whining preachers (so called) and a conceited blacksmith, by the Providence of God and the policy of the Yankee nation, are entrusted, for a season, with the destinies of our District. This Reconstruction farce is so pitiable that we cannot believe that the sensible people of the North will permit it to be played out"

   The 1868 Constitutional Convention was of significant importance, as it was instrumental in South Carolina being readmitted as a state following the Civil War. One of 76 black men to take part in the convention proceedings, Sanders and his fellow delegates began their work in January 1868, and during the two-month convention developed the following tenets that would be adopted in March 1868:

• A Declaration of Rights, noting "distinction on account of race or color, in any case whatsoever, shall be prohibited, and all classes of citizens shall enjoy equally all common, public, legal and political advantages."
• Every male citizen age 21 and over had the right to vote, "regardless of their educational background or material wealth."
• An act making divorce legal in South Carolina.
• All children were required to attend a state-sponsored school for at least two years (between ages six and sixteen.)
• Abolished debtors prison
• No provisions against interracial marriage
• Overturned the Black Codes that had been affirmed by the constitutional convention of 1865.

  Just days following the opening proceedings of the convention, Sanders's character was further disparaged by the Enquirer in its January 23, 1868 edition, which remarked:

"Like most negro preachers, he was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and did not hesitate, when opportunity presented, to prositute his calling to the prosecution of most unworthy ends...Since his emancipation he had continued to live on the fat of the land, by preaching to his misguided followers, the Word, mixed considerably with the torch and the sword. He was elected by so large a vote from the fact that the Baptists made a nomination of a ticket, at the head of which was Sancho, followed by the names of some of his brother Baptists. Now the blacks in that section are nearly all Baptist or Methodist."

From the Yorkville Enquirer, January 23, 1868.

  In the capacity of constitutional convention delegate, Sancho Sanders also served as a representative in the South Carolina legislature from 1868-69 and is recorded as such in the following legislative roster. In August 1869 tragedy struck when the Pilgrim Baptist Church was destroyed by fire. Newspaper reports in the Chester Reporter and Yorkville Enquirer noted it most likely was a Ku Klux Klan motivated fire, and also detailed problems from within the church itself, arising from a tumult between parishioners loyal to Sancho Sanders and others following Lee Sanders, another minister. As both papers remarked in issues following the fire, Sancho Sanders had "wielded, up to a short time back, a wonderful influence, both politically and religiously, over his brethren of color, in fact leading them wheresoever it pleased him."

   In the days following the fire both the Enquirer and Chester Reporter further detailed that during his time in politics Sancho Sanders:

"Was like a fish out of water in the Convention, and ditto in the legislature. Rumors of his stupidity in the House, of employing his time as a legislator in learning to write, and of many other things unbecoming a man of his wisdom they had entertained the very highest opinion, come to the ears of his constitutents, and his political influence began to diminish. The colored people mix up politics and religion to such an extent that what affects one of their number as a politician necessarily affects him as a religious man, and vice versa. Hence when Sancho began to lose prestige as a politician, he also began to lose prestige as a preacher."

   As per the above papers (as well as the 2002 work The Reconstruction Ku Klux Klan in York County, South Carolina, 1865-1877), Sancho Sanders was ousted from his pastorate at Pilgrim Baptist Church and replaced by Lee Sanders. The church, now divided between rival congregations, issued threats against one another, followed by alleged physical violence. Given the racial animus of the time and the Enquirer's previous besmirching of Sanders's character, one is left to venture their own opinion as to whether the fire was due to Klan violence, or was the result of inner church turmoil.

  During his legislative term, Sancho Sanders provided compelling testimony on Klan atrocities in his district, giving a statement before Alexander Stuart Wallace (1817-1893), then a candidate for U.S Representative from South Carolina. This testimony was later entered into Congressional correspondence following Wallace's successful contesting of his congressional race, with Sanders relating the tumultuous period during the election of 1868. Sanders stated that while working the Republican polling station in his district Democratic voters blocked the door and threatened to shoot him "because he influenced people to vote the republican ticket." He went on to describe the Ku Klux Klan riding through his district issuing threats to anyone who dared vote for Republican candidates, and that "about 200" registered Republican voters had failed to come out to vote due to fears of violence. Sanders's full testimony can be read at the following link. 

From the Columbia Daily Phoenix, November 10, 1870.

   In November 1870 Sancho Sanders was elected to a second term in the house of representatives, a notice of his election appearing in the Columbia Daily Phoenix. Taking his seat at the start of the 1871-72 session, Sanders served alongside Syfax Milton and sat with him on the committee on the State House and Grounds. In January 1872 Sanders introduced a house bill aimed directly at the Klan, which aimed to keep any Klan member from running or holding political office in the state. This bill received mention in the Charleston Daily Courier of January 31, 1872, which, stereotyping black dialect, listed the tenets of Sanders's bill--purposely misspelling person/persons as "puson", as well as spelling "connected", "court", and "unconstitutional" with k's instead of c's. 

From Charleston Daily Courier, January 31, 1872 .

  Little else is known of Sanders's life following 1872. At some point, prior to that year, he had returned to his pastorate at a new Pilgrim Baptist Church, and that September was involved in a fracas between members of his congregation, the police, and a new churchgoer who "had always voted the Democratic ticket." Sanders's death date remains unknown, as do census records recording him after 1872. However, the 1870 U.S. Census records him as a 65-year-old resident and state representative in Chester County. This census also records the name of his wife Milia (aged fifty-four) and three children, Henry (aged fifteen), Joseph (aged fifteen), and Sisily (aged twenty).

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  While a number of details have been found regarding Sancho Sanders's political service, the latter portion of his life remains a mystery. If you are a reader or possible descendant and have information you'd like to contribute, please leave a message below or at the Facebook link on the upper right side of this page!