Moses Decker was born in Orange Co., NY about 11 Jun 1788. His parents moved to Westmoreland Co., PA when he was an infant and then to Muskingum Co., OH. He married Mary E. Reasoner whose family also moved to Muskingum from Westmoreland, PA. Her maiden name may have been Sheplor, another family from those areas as both the Reasoner and Sheplor name are incorporated in descendants names. Moses raised most of his family in Muskingum Co., OH and in 1836 moved to Mercer Co., IL by way of the Muskingum, Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Some children remained in Muskingum including my ancestor Dr. Henry Decker. Moses and Mary had one last child in Mercer Co., IL. in 1846 he and two sons, Solomon and Reasoner went to Bad Axe Co., WI and homesteaded land there. The sons returned later that year to Illinois and returned to WI with the rest of the family in 1847 minus those children who had already married and remained in Mercer Co., IL. Mary died in 1859 and Moses married Anne Goode a widow. Moses was instrumental in the formation of the town of Viroqua, WI which was supposedly named after the steam boat that brought his family from Ohio. He gave 40 acres of land to the town for public use and helped Viroqua become the county seat of the renamed Vernon County (formerly Bad Axe Co.). Moses died 04 Aug 1860 and is remembered by the people of Viroqua as it's founder. They rebuilt one of his earliest homes and there is also a Decker Street named to honor his memory. Moses' parents are not known for certain but he is found in early court records in Muskingum Co., OH with Joseph Decker who is the best candidate for his father. Also Daniel Decker is identified in some of those early court records. We are still looking for hard evidence of his birth in Orange Co., NY as well as that of his parents. For now Moses remains a brickwall but one who had a very well documented history and a large family. Many of his descendants can be found in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, California and elsewhere. Denny Shirer - drdx@neo.rr.com - Canton, OH Shirer Family Genealogy - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~mysong Muskingum County, OHGenWeb - http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohmuskin/