Biography of John Robertson Decker, Hardin County, Illinois Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives Copyright 1999 Wanda Reed Taken from Hardin County Independent, 25 April 1935 UNCLE JOHN DECKER, ROSICLARE PASSES EIGHTY YEAR MARK John Robertson Decker, known by most Rosiclarians and by many in Hardin County as "Uncle John" and as "Pa Decker" was born on a farm in Gallatin Co. IL. on June 20, 1859. His father the late Asa Decker of Decker's Springs, was a native of Indiana and his mother the late Lydia Patrick Decker was born in New Jersey. He was the sixth in a family of twelve children. The children now living besides him are Mrs. Florence Gullett of near Decker's Springs, Mrs Malissa Lasater of Joe Catt Mountain, Mrs. Lydia Gross of Harrisburg and Asa Decker of Phoenix, AZ. When he was about five years of age his parents moved to a farm near Herod in Pope Co. where he attended his first school. He recalls that the school house was built of logs and that it was heated by a large fireplace at one end of the building. It was while living at this place that the Civil War began and his father became a soldier in the Union Army. Mr. Decker was only a small child at the time, but he has an excellent memory and can relate many interesting stories of the Civil War period. He remembers clearly the day his father rode away to the war on his own horse with about three dozen other men who met at his house. Some of his neighbors at that time who joined the group were Ben Thacker, Harve Lambert, Aaron Lambert, Thomas Cronk, Jesse Waggoner, and John E. Rose. The captain of his father's company Dr. T. S. Herod of Shawneetown. He also remembers hearing the battle of Fort Donaldson and of going with his father to see Joe Gibbs, one of their neighbors who was killed for being a deserter in the Union Army. While his father was away in the Army the problem of carrying on the farm work and making the living was left in the hand of his mother, his brother and sister and himself. "Uncle John" remembers plowing with a yoke of steers. He says that he drove the steers and his mother sowed wheat out of her apron. His father helped cut the wheat and took it to the mill when he came home on his furlough. Another interesting event that he recalls is that all of the neighbor women used to come to his home and get his mother to read and answer their letters for them during the war. He said that his mother was the only woman in their neighborhood that could write and it became her duty and privilege to assist her friends in carrying on a correspondence with their husbands, sons and brothers while they were away in the Army. From Pope County, the Decker family moved to a farm in White County, and sometime later they moved from there to Decker's Spring where they lived for many years. Mr. Decker recalls that the trip from the farm in White County to the new home at Decker's Spring took three days. He says that there were several families moving at the same time and that there were thirteen wagons in their procession beside the horses and cows that they were driving. When Mr. Decker was about 30 yrs of age, he was united in marriage with Miss Susan Holbrook of near Decker Springs and to this union were born 9 children. The oldest, a daughter, Elizabeth died in infancy and one son the late Owen Decker of Rosiclare, died in 1921 from injuries received in the mines where he worked. The other children are Asa Decker of Sparks Hill, Mrs Myrtle Tolbert of near Grossville, IL., Mrs. Lydia Young, of Dixon, IL., John Decker Jr. of near Keeling, C. C. Decker of Elizabethtown, Gordon Decker of Chicago and Mrs. Goldie Hurford of Rosiclare. He has 19 grandchildren living and 4 great-grandchildren. He and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on December 13, 1934. From Decker's Spring "Uncle John" and his wife moved to a farm near Moore's Spring which is about three miles from Elizabethtown, and from there they moved to Rosiclare, where they are living at the present time. When being interviewed by a reporter for his life's story, Mr. Decker was very frank to admit that he had not had much schooling during his life time, but it is very apparent to anyone who has the privilege of talking with him that he is a well-read man. He enjoys keeping up with the latest government news by reading the daily newspapers and listening to radio broadcasts and is a very enthusiastic reader of history, geography and the Bible. His favorite hobby is discussing history, past and present, with his friends which are many. ------------------------------------------------------------------ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organiza- tions or persons. 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