The original owner of Pleasant Grove Plantation was Col. DAVID SAUNDERS, who fought at Valley Forge with George Washington. In a letter to one of Saunders' great-granddaughters, an acquaintance wrote, "I recollect he was particularly fond of telling of the winters at Valley Forge of 'the blood dyed snows, of the miserable huts and the scanty larder.'"

A native of Hanover, SAUNDERS served three years in the Revolutionary War, and somehow ended up with 5,000 acres in Bedford County after the war. According to "Bedford Villages, Lost & Found, Vol. 1" by the Peaks of Otter DAR, the brick for the house was made on the plantation, which is located a half mile from U.S. 460 on Krantz Corner Road (Virginia 715).

A brick on the house - now covered up - once revealed a date of 1793, according to several written sources.

In 1788, Saunders married 14-year-old LOCKEY M. LEFTWICH. The couple had 16 children between 1790 and 1814.

SAUNDERS was an important local figure beyond his Revolutionary War service. He served as a magistrate in Bedford throughout his life and represented the county eight consecutive years in the General Assembly.

When he died at age 85, he was high sheriff and presiding justice of the county.

Saunders was never far from battle. During the War of 1812, he was a colonel commandant of the 7th Regiment, stationed in Norfolk. He was in command of the local militia, made up of men from Bedford and adjoining counties.

He and his wife are buried in the family cemetery behind the plantation home.

Correction sent from Find A Grave

The date on David Saunders' tombstone is incorrect. Obituaries follow.

From Henley Marriage and Obituary Database at the Library of Virginia - "Died- On Sept. 29, in Bedford County, Col. David Saunders in his 83rd year. Leaving his wife and children. Born in Hanover County, he had moved to Amherst County, then in Bedford County." [Richmond Whig and Public Advertiser, 11 October 1842, p.4 c.5]

From the Lynchburg Virginian; 10 October 1842, p.3 c.3 - "COMMUNICATED. / Though an extended notice of the death of private individuals may be of questionable propriety, it sometimes becomes a duty to society to record and preserve some of the characteristics and services of men who have devoted their lives to the cause of virtue and of public usefulness. The death of COL. DAVID SAUNDERS, on Thursday the 29th ultimo, at his residence, in the county of Bedford, in the 85th year of his age, renders it proper to pay to his memory this tribute due to a well-spent and meritorious life; not in the spirit of idle panegyric, or of unweighed eulogy--not as a vain compliment to the dead,--but as an incitement and example to the living. / DAVID SAUNDERS was a native of Hanover county, Virginia; and having removed to the county of Amherst, an humble and unaided youth yet in his minority, he purchased the unexpired term of his indenture to a mechanical trade, and joined the Army of the Revolution, in which he continued, as a private and as a non0-commissioned officer, for three years, until the triumphant and closing scene at Yorktown. He afterwards removed to the county of Bedford, where he engaged in the occupation of planting, which he followed with the perseverance and success during his life. In the second war of Independence, he again entered the service of his country, as Colonel Commandant of the 7th regiment of Virginia Militia,--was stationed at Norfolk,--and aided throughout the war in the preservation of those liberties he had fought to acquire. He had filled, at different times, almost every office of civil usefulness in his county;--had served in the House of Delegate of Virginia for five years--had cast his vote for THOMAS JEFFERSON, as one of the Electors for the State of Virginia during the great contest with the elder Adams,--had been twice commissioned High Sheriff of the county,--and as an Overseer of the Poor, School Commissioner, &c., had filled many of those subordinate, yet important offices, the humble, yet arduous duties of which, though too low for ambition, are the surest proofs of true patriotism.--The unostentatious solidity of his mind, the simplicity of his manners, and the unyielding integrity which had sustained him in all the vicissitudes of a long life, had secured him the confidence and respect of society--while the kindness of his heart, and the benevolence of his nature, were rewarded by the affectionate attachment of his family, and the warm regard of his friends. Of this the bereaved widow, the distressed and numerous train of descendants and friends, and the large assemblage of citizens which attended his interment, was at once the result and the evidence. He had been, for many years, a member of the Christian Church, of the Presbyterian persuasion; and animated by the precious assurances of immortality, he manifested, in death, that fortitude which had encountered the foes of his country, confirmed by an approving conscience, and made steadfast by the faith of eternal salvation."

Obituary Notices from "Watchman of the South" as published in the Virginia Genealogical Society Quaterly, Volume 27 Number 2 (May 1989), 90 - "Died on Thursday the 29th ult. at his residence in Bedford Co., Col. DAVID SAUNDERS, in the 83rd year of his age, of Congestion of the Lungs. A member of the Presbyterian Church, he leaves a widow and children. He long acted as presiding Justice of the Court, was a delegate for several years to the State Legislature, and was a Colonel Commandant of a regiment at Norfolk in the last war. (13 October 1842)."