Mahlon S. Decker

NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

Mahlon S. Decker

Mahlon S. DECKER, of Hopatcong, New Jersey, is the bearer of a name which is frequently met with in the United States. It is a genuine German surname, frequently spelled DECHER, which represents the number ten, and was applied to the tenth child. Some assume, however, that the name was derived from the occupation of a decker, one who builds or lays the decks of vessels. The name is common in Germany, and the family is also found in Holland, whither it is believed they fled to escape religious persecution. It is found in the early records of Staten Island, where Johannes de DECKER arrived in April, 1665. He was a prominent man in his day, filling a number of public offices and then retiring to his farm on Staten Island.

Morris C. DECKER, grandfather of Mahlon S. DECKER, was born in Newfoundland, and when a small boy removed to the Berkshire Valley with his parents. His father was Morris DECKER and he settled on Raccoon Island, Morris county, about 1844 and for many years was the only resident of that place. He owned land there and was occupied as a fisherman. He died in 1889. Morris C. DECKER died in February, 1914, at the age of sixty-six years, and his wife died in 1908. They had children: James, a fisherman, died in 1901; George, also deceased, married Mahala SMITH, and his family now reside at Mount Arlington; Mahlon S., whose name heads this sketch; Euphemia, married Joseph TRIPP, and lives in the State of Illinois; Anselm B., a fisherman and a dealer in bait, married Delia BAIN, of Brooklyn; Herman, a violinist, lives in Netcong.

Mahlon S. DECKER was born on Raccoon Island, Jefferson township, Morris county, New Jersey, February 16, 1859. He acquired his education in the public schools of Hurdtown, and was engaged in business as a fisherman for a period of thirty-five years. In 1907 he established himself in the steamboat business on Lake Hopatcong, and is the owner of the Edeva D. and the Sallie D., both gasoline boats, the former carrying eighty-five passengers, the latter carrying ninety-nine passengers, and both plying on Lake Hopatcong. At the time he commenced his business there, there were no improvements on the lake, and he has been instrumental in furthering many of them. Since the death of his father, Mr. DECKER has been the owner of the old homestead, and has resided on it. He is a Democrat in his political opinions, and a member of the Dover Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Mr. Decker had children, Raymond and Edeva, by his first marriage, and by his second marriage, one child: Morris, a railroad man in the employ of the Jersey Central Railroad Company, at Jersey City, New Jersey. He married (third) in October, 1907, Lillie, daughter of Matthew and Eliza (CRAMER) BUSH, of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and has children: Marjorie, Mildred, and Ethel. Mr. Decker is an excellent man of business, and his unvarying courtesy has won him the esteem of the community. During the summer months he is scarcely able to handle the volume of business with which he is fairly overwhelmed.

Transcribed by John Cresseveur (1949-2003)