PIONEER FAMILIES Of PIKE COUNTY ILLINOIS |
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PIONEER FAMILIES Of PIKE COUNTY ILLINOIS |
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From the notebook of Mavis (Turnbaugh) Wike The introduction and postcript of this family history were written by Janita Metcalf John Decker was baptized 7 June 1719 in the Dutch Reformed Church at Kingston NY, the son of Jan and Barbara (DeWitt) Decker, of Mombaccus, Ulster Co., NY. He was a descendant of some of the early Dutch settlers of New York. His paternal grandparents were Gerrit Jansen Decker, the son of Jan Gerritsen, and Margrietje Janse Decker, daughter of Jan Broersen. Jan Gerritsen, a native of Heerde, Holland, had settled at Kingston NY before 1664 later moving to Mombaccus. Jan Broerson was originally from Husum, Denmark, settling at Kingston in 1658 after several years in the Dutch West Indies on the islands of Curacao and Santa Cruz. He later moved to Marbletown in Ulster Co., NY. For some reason the children of both men adopted "Decker as a surname although they do not appear to be related. On his mother's side John Decker was a descendant of Dr. Hans Kierstede, the first doctor in New York as well as several other notable Dutch settlers. John probably grew up near Minisink, Sussex Co NJ (possibly in the neighboring areas of Pike Co., PA or Orange Co. NY, rather than in N.J.) where his family later moved to. He married, about 1740, Diana Kuykendall, also a descendant of Dutch settlers. She had been baptized 18 Jan 1719 in the Dutch Church at Machachemeck (now Port Jervis) NY, but most likely had been born at Minisink NJ, where her father, Jacob Kuykendall, had been one of the early settlers. During the early years of their marriage John and Diana probably lived, in addition to the Minisink region, in the communities of Water Gap, in Monroe Co PA and at Walpack, Sussex Co NJ. all along the Delaware River. About 1745 John and Diana along with their children and several of their brothers and sisters and their families, moved to Hampshire Co VA (now West Virginia). They settled along the South Branch of the Potomac River near where the town of Romney, is now. They were among the very first families in this beautiful and rugged mountain valley. It was in the wilderness of West Virginia that most of John and Diana's children were born, grew up, married and had children of their own. The sorrows and hardships they went through can now only be imagined but one story gives a fair idea of the dangers of pioneer life on the frontier. In 1758 Tobias Decker, probably a younger brother of John, moved further west into the mountains and started a settlement on Decker's Creek, in Monongalis Co WV (where Morgantown is now). Among the other settles of this community were John Decker, his brother, Garret and their sister and her husband William Zorn/Zern. On the afternoon of 16 Oct. 1759 the tiny settlement was attacked by about 30 Delaware Indians who burned the cabins, destroyed the crops, killed the livestock and massacred eight persons, including William Zorn and his wife, and Tobias Decker along with his wife and two children. It is said that the others were away from the settlement at the time. Apparently after the massacre, John and Diana moved their family back to the South Branch Valley of Hampshire Co. The pioneer spirit remained undaunted, however, for in 1767 John Decker sold his Hampshire Co land and moved into Western Pennsylvania. By 1775 he had drifted further west, to the banks of the Ohio River at a place called on early maps "Decker's Fort", near present day Wellsburg, Brooke Co WV. In 1784 John and Diana moved to Knox Co IN along with many of their sons and grandchildren. Legend has that they travelled down the Ohio and up the Wabash River on three skiffs and that on the night of their arrival in Fort Vincennes one of the children of their party was kidnapped by Indians. The Deckers settled in the southern part of Knox Co along the White River where they later operated a ferry. A small village called Deckers is there today. John Decker died in 1791 and Diana in 1797. They had a family of about 10 children. Elizabeth, Barbara, John, Isaac, Joseph, Abraham, Susannah, Moses, Luke and possibly Jacob. Moses Decker, one of their younger sons, served in the Pennsylvania Militia during the American Revolution. He seems to have lived near his parents at Decker's Fort, in Brooke Co WV and moved with them to Knox Co IN in 1784. He later settled in Gibson Co IN and appears to have moved to Randolph Co IL only a short time before his death which likely occurred on 30 July 1814. His wife was named Christine and they had at least seven children: Moses (2nd), John, Diana, Aaron, Nancy, Susannah and Charlotte. Three of the children of Moses and Christine Decker later became pioneer settlers of the Barry area (Pike County IL). There are still many descendants of this Decker family living in the area, but since most are descendants of female members of the family, many may not be aware that they are related to the Decker's. For some odd reason there weren't very many male Decker's and the few there were seemed to have died young, unmarried, or just simply moved away! The first member of the Decker family to settle in Pike Co. was Nancy (Decker) Pulliam, a daughter of Moses and Christine Decker and the wife of Thomas Pulliam. She was born on 1 May 1792 probably in Knox Co IN and died 6 Mar 1873 near Kinderhook. She is buried with her husband in the Hull Cemetery. She came with her husband and children from Wabash Co IL in 1829 and settled in what is Barry Township. Children are:
John Decker, son of Moses and Christine Decker was born about 1782 probably either in Brooke Co WV or Washington PA.
He married 18 Nov 1815 in Knox Co IN to Eleanor Johnson. He settled on "Decker's Prairie" in Wabash Co IL in 1814 along with his sister Nancy and brother Moses. He came to Pike Co about the same time as his sister, 1829 but settled just over the Adams Co line in Richfield Township. He later lived at different times in both Pike and Adams Counties, and the last record of him is in 1860 when he was living near Kinderhool. His children:
Most of this family seems to have left the area. There were quite a few members of Rebecca Wagy and Nancy Smith's families remain in Pike and Adams Co and leave a few descendants. Moses Decker (2nd) son of Moses and Christine Decker was born 6 March 1780 in Washington Co PA and died 1864 near Barry. He was
married to his second cousin Christine Harness, a daughter of Adam and Sarah (Kuykendall) Harness. (Nathaniel Kuhlendall, the father of Sarah Harness, was a brother of Diana (Kuykendall) Decker.) Christine was born 25 Feb. 1782 probably in Hampshire Co WV and accompanied her parents to Knox Co IN in 1799, where she probably married Moses in the early 1800's. He fought at the Battle of Tippecanoe against the Indian in 1811 and is said to have been badly wounded. He moved to Pike Co in 1830 to a farm near Barry. He is buried in the George Cemetery, long since destroyed, near Barry. His children are:
2. Moses Decker (3rd) m Melinda Boren 3. Sarah Decker m Morris Hammond 4. Harrison F. Decker m Bethany Hull 5. Catherine Decker m Gillium Bailey 6. Abner Decker m Phoebe Nichols, later moved to Texas
7. William Decker m Clarissa Whitten, moved to Bozeman MT There are still a few descendants of Moses (2nd) in the Barry area. Most from his son Moses (3). Moses Decker (3rd), son of Moses and Christine (Harness) Decker was born 16 Dec. 1806 in Knox Co IN and died
25 Feb 1884 near Kinderhook. He was married 8 Feb. 1827 to Melinda Boren, who had been born 2 Sep. 1809 in Sumner Co TN., the daughter of Tarleton and Hannah (Dillon) Boren. Melinda died 25 May 1877 near Kinderhook. They are both buried on their own farm, north of Kinderhook along with two of their sons that died young. Moses remained in Wabash Co., until 1835 when he joined his parents and other relatives in Pike Co., settling on a farm near Kinderhook. He was the father of 11 children:
I have discovered 19 instances of descendants of either Moses, John or Nancy, that married "cousins" of theirs, that is a descendant of one of the other two. POSTSCRIPT:
The history of the Deckers not only relates to the early history of the Barry area but to Kinderhook as well. Kinderhook too was platted in 1836, this being their sesquicentennial year also, as well as El Dara. Both were platted in April of 1836. Ancestry from the early settlers of Barry, Kinderhook, El Dara, New Canton and Hull overlap today, and are so entwined that they are tied together in a bond that will never be broken.
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