My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE DECKER, a retired farmer, is a man known all over Seneca County. He was born on his present farm in the town of Tyre, March 25, 1820, and was one of several children born to Jeremiah and Nancy (Bishop) Decker, who were people in moderate circumstances. Early in life our subject was taught the value of time and money.

Jeremiah Decker was born in the State of Vermont, and in the year 1810 came to Seneca County. Soon thereafter he was drafted into the War of 1812 and served with his regiment for two summers. He was born in 1780, and was therefore thirty-two years of age on the outbreak of that conflict. Before going into the army he was married to the widow of Joseph Southwell. Previous to her first marriage she was known as Nancy Bishop, and her birth occurred in Washington County, N. Y. Her first husband lived but a few years, and at the time of his death she was living upon the estate which our subject now owns.

The parental household included six children, of whom George, of this sketch, was the fourth-born, and besides his brother Truman is the only survivor. The latter is also a resident of this town and is in good circumstances. The husband and father departed this life in 1865, and was universally mourned. In politics he was a Republican, and on that ticket filled many of the positions of trust in his locality.

The subject of this sketch was born on the home place, where he was reared by a loving father and mother. He attended the schools of the district, and when twenty-one years of age began to do for himself, working out by the month. He continued to be thus occupied for four years, during which time he saved the greater part of his earnings and made the first payment on ninety-two and one-half acres of land which he purchased in the town of Junius. By industry and economy he paid for this tract six months sooner than he had agreed to. Selling out soon afterward, however, he bought fifty acres in the same town, which he made his home for a period of two years, when he disposed of this also, and moved with his family to Fairfax Court House, Va. Being dissatisfied with the place, he soon disposed of his real-estate interests, and, returning to his native county, became the owner of one hundred acres in the town of Waterloo. After a residence of two years on this place he sold out again, and, moving into the village of Waterloo, established himself in the grocery business. This investment proved to be a failure, and in less than a year we find him engaged as a blacksmith and wagon-maker. Some eight months thereafter he traded his stock for an eighty-acre farm near Grand Rapids, Mich., but this was only an investment, and he did not move his family to that state, but traded his property there for forty acres in the town of Seneca Falls.

His parents being advanced in years, George went home and cared for them until their decease. His father departed this life in 1865, and he then purchased the interests of his brothers and sisters in the place, and has since that time made it his home. He was married, when about twenty-six years of age, to Miss Martha, daughter of John and Polly (McNeil) Magee. Their union was blessed by the birth of five children. Jennie, who married John Thorn, is living in the town of Junius and is the mother of two children. Carrie married Wilbur Hill, and their home is at Magee Corners, where Mr. Hill is engaged in the grocery business; they have one son. George died in infancy. Fred is married and makes his home in Bureau County, Ill., where he is a farmer; he is the father of a son.

In 1841 Mr. Decker voted for Clay, but since that time has been a stanch supporter of Republican principles and candidates. For three terms he has been Assessor, and has filled the office of Road Commissioner for a period of ten years. As a member of the Magee Corners Grange, he has filled most of the offices in the order, and is at present a member of the Executive Committee of that body. His devoted wife departed this life May 9, 1893. She had been to him a true helpmate on his journey through life, and her presence in the household is greatly missed.