Jacob Sanders was born around 1790 in North Carolina. He married Phoebe Woodward, and they had at least three children: Sarah, born around 1817; William, born around 1819; and John, born around 1830. The family was living in Illinois in the early 1830s, and they eventually settled in Martin County, Indiana. Sanders worked as a farmer, and by 1860, he owned $150 of personal property. He died around 1863.