Diane, I agree. I really think Count/Clarence DECKER was born SOMEWHERE in Illinois. It was only trough family members on census' after his death, that said he was born in Kansas, and I think that was because his family lived there, so they assumed he was born there. Thanks for your reply, and I will check out that web site. Kathy [email protected] wrote: > Kathleen wrote: > "What I do know about Clarence/Count DECKER: he was born 1849/50 in > IL/KS ..." > > You can be fairly sure he was born in Illinois as there weren't too many > people living in Kansas in 1849/50. Kansas became a territory in 1854 and a > state in 1861, so only a few areas in the eastern part of the state were > settled at that point. Wichita didn't exist anywhere near that early. If he > was born in Kansas, it was probably in the Kansas City area (which was not > then known as Kansas City) or Lawrence, Leavenworth, or Atchison. Check out > more Kansas history at the Kansas State Historical Society's site at > http://www.kshs.org. > > Diane Good > (my mother was a Decker from the St. Louis area) > Topeka, KS