BIO:  Walter H. DECHERT, Straban Township, Adams County, PA

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History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania
Chicago:  Warner, Beers & Co., 1886
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Part III, History of Adams County, Page 507

WALTER H. DECHERT, farmer and stock raiser, P. O. New Chester, was born in 
Chambersburg, Franklin Co., Penn., May 2, 1854, a son of Peter and Margaret 
(Hoffman) Dechert, the latter of whom was born on the farm where Walter H. now 
resides, in Straban Township, and with whom she makes her home.  Peter Dechert 
was born in Chambersburg, of German origin, and for many years was proprietor 
and editor of the Valley Spirit, at Chambersburg, and was widely known for his 
ability as an editor.  Politically he was a Democrat.  He died March 1, 1875, a 
member of the Lutheran Church.  He was a man of enterprise and a citizen of much 
influence in the community.  His family consisted of two children, of whom 
Walter H. survives.  Our subject received a common school education in youth, 
and later attended the Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg.  He adopted farming 
as his vocation, at which he has been very successful and is the owner of 332 
acres of land where he resides, which is well improved and stocked.  In 1875, he 
married Emma Thomas, of German origin.  They have one child - Mervin Roy.  Mr. 
and Mrs. Dechert are members of the Lutheran Church, of which he has been 
deacon.  In politics he is a Democrat.  He is one of Straban’s prominent 
farmers.