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Welcome to Saunders County
SAUNDERS COUNTY is
named for Alvin Saunders, governor of
Nebraska Territory during the tumultuous
years of 1861-1867. Born to a Kentucky
family that later moved to Illinois,
Saunders continued west to Mount
Pleasant, Iowa, in 1836 at age nineteen.
He went into business, studied the law,
and became involved in politics. In 1860
he chaired the Iowa delegation to the
Republican national convention and
successfully worked for Abraham
Lincoln’s nomination for president.
On March 26, 1861,
President Lincoln appointed Saunders as
territorial governor, a position he held
until Nebraska’s statehood. Saunders was
elected to the United States Senate a
decade later and served one term.
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He actively
promoted the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in
Omaha, whose success he proudly witnessed
before his death in 1899.
Originally named for John Calhoun, the surveyor general of Kansas and Nebraska, the territorial legislature changed the
county’s name to Saunders on January 8, 1862. The first general election of county officers was not held until October 8,
1966.
Governor Alvin Saunders faced issues relating to the Civil War, Indian conflicts on the plains, the organization of the first
transcontinental railroad, and the establishment of a new capital.
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Alvin Saunders
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