NEW LAND PIONEER: Decker Family History Page 1

Peter Decker, our progenitor, was born 12 October 1772. While I have been unable to find his birth place, we can only assume it was either New York or New Jersey. However, in the 1850 Federal census, his birth place was listed as Rhode Island. I believe he was of Netherlands nationality. But have been unable to substantiate this except by a Canadian census record in 1871 when his oldest son, David, said he was "Dutch" when asked for his nationality. We must remember that 1772 was a time of great unrest in this country, and the colonies were soon to be caught up in the American Revolution. The official records of New York and New Jersey States were mostly burned by the British and very little remains to provide an ancestor search. The name "Decker" in New York and New Jersey is a very common name, and it’s nearly impossible to sort families without official records.

The first official record we have of Peter Decker is in the records of the first Presbyterian Church in Morristown, New Jersey. On 17 March 1794 he married Elizabeth Young’s in that church. She was born 18 May 1774 in Morris County, New Jersey, and was baptized in the church on 9 July 1774. Elizabeth was the daughter of David and Elizabeth Jane (Tucker) Youngs of Morris County. David Young was a store keeper in Morristown, and served as a sergeant in the Eastern Battalion of Morris County, State Militia of New Jersey during the Revolutionary war. His great-great grandfather, Rev. John Youngs, came to Salem Massachusetts in 1637 from Southwold, England. He was granted land in Salem but later moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and finally settled in Southold, Long Island, where he is credited with being one of the first settlers.

David Young died in 1796 and left his daughter Elizabeth 600.00 in his will. Soon after David’s death, Peter and Elizabeth Migrated to Schohaire County, New York. They came with all wordly Possesions, traveling in an ox-drawn sled with their two small sons bundeld warmly against the cold. It was necessary to travel toll roads in their journey and family

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