SANDERSSiftings an exchange of Sanders/Saunders family research Number 6 July, 1996 four issues per year • $12 per year subscription • edited by Don E. Schaefer, 1297 Deane Street, Fayetteville, AR 72703-1544 A Little About Colonel Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken Fame Sanders/Saunders, The following information on sold food under the Colonel Sanders Which Came First? Colonel Harland Sanders was sent in by trademark. Sanders was first commis- I’m surprised that I haven’t much Donna Foley. It is taken from pages sioned a Kentucky Colonel, an honorary heard from readers about their ver- 796-797 of The Kentucky Encyclopedia title, in 1934 by Gov. Ruby Laffoon sion of how the name Sanders was published by the University of Kentucky (1931-35), and was recommissioned in changed to Saunders or how it was Press. 1950 by Gov. Lawrence Wetherby changed from Saunders to Sanders. HARLAND DAVID SANDERS, the creator (1950-55). After 1950 he began to look the part, We hope to be presenting more on of the Kentucky Fried Chicken fran- this subject in the upcoming issues chise, was born to Wilbert and Margaret growing a mustache and a goatee and wearing a that will show Sander or Sanders Ann (DunIevy) Sanders in Henryville, traveling from what is now Austria to Indiana, on September 9, 1890. When white suit and a string tie. Sanders, oldest England, then many changing to he was six years old, his father died; his Saunders, then later having most of mother later married William Broaddus. daughter, Margaret, sug- gested selling fried chick- them changed back to Sanders in Sanders quit school after the sixth grade America. and went to work at a variety of jobsas en as a take-home item---- How did this happen? Why? farm hand, streetcar conductor, steam- an innoation at that time---- boat ferry operator, railroad fireman, and the first carry-out In a history of my Schäfer’s ances- secretary, insurance salesman, tire sales- Kentucky Fried Chicken was tral town in Germany (Ottenstein), I man, and furniture store owner. built in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1960 have seen families named Sander list- Sanders moved the growing company to ed in more than one place. They In 1930 Sanders moved to Corbin, Shelbyville, Ky. were cabinet makers. That is Kentucky, where he opened a service Sanders without the “s.” station. Behind the station, he operated On February 18, 1964, Sanders sold a lunchroom that seated six around the his franchising business to John Y. I looked up “sand” in the single table. The business expanded Brown, Jr., Kentucky governor during German-English dictionary. As a rapidly, and by 1937 Sanders' Cafe seat- 1979-83, and Jack Massey for $7 mil- noun, it means the same thing in ed 142 customers, who made fried lion. He kept the foreign franchises, German as it does in English. chicken the most popular item on the however, and rewarded Pete Harman by Just about six weeks ago I had an menu. Sanders often told of his experi- giving him those in Utah and Montana. interesting conversation with an mentation with a variety of recipes until Sanders was retained on salary as Englishman (in Prague, Czech he hit upon the unique combination of spokesman for Kentucky Fried Chicken, Republic) about the names of eleven herbs and spices that “stand on often appearing in television commer- Sanders and Saunders in England. I everybody's shelf.” He also refined the cials. Heublein, Inc. of Connecticut thought that they pronounced them frying process by using the pressure bought Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1971 the same. However, he made a dis- cooker. After a fire destroyed the cafe in for $275 million. In 1978 Heublein sold tinction. He said “sawn-das” for 1939, Sanders rebuilt the business as a the business to R.J. Reynolds Company, Sanders and “sewn-das” for restaurant and motel. Business was which in turn sold it to Pepsico, Inc. for Saunders. (That is using Texas/ good until the construction of Interstate $840 million in 1986. Displeased with Oklahoma/Arkansas phonectic inter- 75, which bypassed Corbin. the operation of the company after pretation!) 1971, Sanders brought suit against Trying to match spelling to pro- Sanders auctioned the restaurant and Heublein over the alleged misuse of his motel, and at the age of sixty-six began nunciation over the years—from one image in the sale of products with which country to another, the spelling of to sell franchises based on his fried he had no connection. In 1975 an chicken recipe. The first franchise went many names have changed, includ- unsuccessful libel suit was brought ing Sanders. to Pete Harman of Salt Lake City. against Sanders after he publicly referred Sanders was a pioneer in the new busi- to Kentucky Fried Chicken gravy as How about some expert opinions, ness of franchising, and initial sales “sludge” and claimed it had a “wall guesses, or gut feelings from Sanders/ Ⅵ were slow. By 1959, however, more than paper taste.” Saunders researchers out there? two hundred Kentucky Fried Chicken Don Schaefer, editor outlets in the United States and Canada (Continued on page three) SANDERSSiftings No. 6 Jul/96 Page 2 Guilford College Library Finding Your Quaker Roots From Carole Treadway, Librarian, Sanders/Saunders researchers who ume referred to as “Hinshaw VII” which Friends Historical Collection, [car- have ancestors in the eastern states of was compiled by Willard Heiss and con- [email protected],edu] and tele- Virginia, Pennslyvania, North Carolina, tains many of the Indiana records. phone: (910) 316-2264. etc. should strongly consider a look at These cover most of the most popular The Friends Historical Collection Quaker Church records. There is good meetings but by no means all of them. of Guilford College is the archives of evidence that many Sanders and Start with your local FHC. Check the Quaker meetings in North Carolina Saunders were Quakers. The following microfiche collection I referred to. If which contains a great deal of family was presented by Cheska Wheatley to you can find Vol. VII, it has an excellent information. As you may know, the the Fidonet Genealogy Conference, explanation of what can be found in the genealogical information in the early 1995. Used by permission. Quaker records, explanations of abbrevi- records is indexed and abstracted in by Cheska Wheatley ations commonly found in the abstrac- Vol. I of The Ecyclopedia of American The Society of Friends (Quakers) tions and lists of various meetings. If Quaker Genealogy, by William Wade probably maintained the most detailed you can print this off, it is a great refer- Hinshaw (Ann Arbor: Edwards Bros., records of any church save the Church ence to keep on hand. Use the FH L cat- 1936 and reprinted several times by of England. The body which maintained alog, checking under the author "Soc- Genealogical Pub. Co. of Baltimore) the vital records of most interest to iety of Friends" should provide a list of Our genealogy research room genealogists is the Monthly Meeting their microfilmed copies of the original includes a collection of published (MM) which served a number of meet- records. Check also the locality catalog genealogies, a card file index, family ings for worship within its jurisdiction. under the county you are interested in history files, and other genealogy Sometimes a Monthly Meeting served a and then Church records. Here you will resources focussing on North very wide area, crossing counties and usually find any abstractions that have Carolina and adjacent areas where Philadelphia had four or five Monthly been done for meetings in that area. Quakers were settled. We also have Meetings. Like county boundaries, the Once you find you have one Quaker material for Quakers in areas served by a particular MM varied line, you will soon find you have many Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, over time. As Quakers moved into a Quaker lines since “good” Quakers were Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, new area such as North Carolina, new required to marry within the Society and Indiana, and Ohio--published histo- MMs were set off from older ones and as would be disowned for marrying a non- ries and public records. people moved on MMs were consolidat- member. Another plus in Quaker Our books are in our public access ed or laid down. There was no central research is that their migration patterns online catalog which may be reached repository for these records which were were very predictable. Families and on Internet at [email protected]. generally maintained by the MM. That individuals received permission from the edu. North Carolina Meeting records would make our search too simple! Monthly Meeting and were issued cer- are on microfilm and may be read Each MM had at least three books. tificates to move to another meeting. here. The genealogy research room The men's minutes, the women's min- When they reached their destination, is open Tues.-Fri., 9:00 am-12:00 and utes, and the book of marriages, births these certificates were deposited with 2:00-5:00 pm. Ⅵ and burials. Certificates of removal were the new MM. Both the granting and recorded and issued in men's and receipt of certificates were recorded in women's minute books. Many of these the minutes. Once you connect to a practicing Quaker! If you still can't find books have been lost over the years, family that were practicing Quakers it is the person you are looking for in the some remain with MMs that are still relatively easy to track them from meet- nearby Quaker minutes, then go functioning, others have been turned ing to meeting.