Henry Saunders was born in England of Prussian and English parents in about 1857. The US Census of 1880 noted that Henry Saunders, 23, lived in either an apartment building or boarding house at 317 Bush Street, San Francisco, CA. Others at this boarding house at the time included three carpenters (Henry Bochler, Henry Nierholz, Peter McCann) and an engineer (Alfred Morton). Little other information on Suanders is known.

Henry Saunders's father was born in Prussia, his mother, England.