'T.' Sanders, like 'P.' Sanders, is a mystery to us. In the same way, no man with the initial letter of 'T' for his given name and the surname of Sanders was recorded on any tax assessment return for Bedford County prior to 1780. No man by the name Sanders with the given name starting with the letter 'T' is found in any of the rosters for the Bedford County Militia either. Jon Baughman was the first person to suggest that the letter 'T' stood for the given name of 'Thomas'. The initial letter 'T' could also suggest the names 'Tobias' or 'Timothy' which were both common in the Bedford County of the 1700s. I have chosen to assume that the 'T' stood for Thomas, out of respect for Mr. Baughman and as it would have been the most common given name starting with that letter at the time. As with Philip Sanders, Thomas might have been related to Benjamin Saunders, the only individual by that surname to be recorded in the Bedford County tax assessment returns in the 1770s and 80s. It is also possible, but unproven, that Thomas and Philip might have been brothers. No woman by the surname of Sanders filed any application for a pension, so there exists no evidence of Thomas having any family who survived him.
