The Hare, Preston, Fuller & Decker Families

About the book

The Hare, Preston, Fuller & Decker Families, Long Time Residences Of America traces William Henry Decker’s genealogy and the related families whose histories extend across generations of American life.

Photographs, documents, and captions accompany the family histories and their westward journeys. The book brings together research for family members, genealogists, and readers interested in the people behind the records.

Read the book

Begin with the introduction, then continue through the chapter PDFs covering pages 1–307.

• Introduction (PDF)
• Chapters 1–11 · Pages 1–64 (PDF)
• Chapters 12–14 · Pages 65–98 (PDF)
• Chapters 15–17 · Pages 99–146 (PDF)
• Chapters 18–23 · Pages 147–215 (PDF)
• Chapter 24 · Pages 216–271 (PDF)
• Chapter 25 · Pages 272–307 (PDF)

The backstory

My name is Lawrence Reinhold. Growing up, we heard little about the Decker family, on Dad’s mother’s side. Much of what we did hear concerned Carl Oscar Reinhold, Dad’s father, moving his family from Iowa to Wisconsin to get away from the Deckers. The stories often included unfavorable judgments about the family’s drinking and way of life.

We also heard that Native American ancestry came through the Decker line, but no one could explain exactly who the ancestor was, where the connection occurred, or how it could be documented.

What the family remembered

I grew up as one of twelve children on a dairy farm in central Wisconsin. While I worked with Dad in the barn between the ages of ten and eighteen, he repeatedly spoke of Native American ancestry in the family. The fractions used in these conversations were inconsistent, and I later realized they could not all be correct.

Dad’s sister, Carrie Lucille (Reinhold) Kerns, also recalled the family stories. She said that her grandfather, William Henry Decker—Grandma Nora (Decker) Reinhold’s father—had called his children “little Indians.” Dad, Mom, and Dad’s sisters Hazel and Carrie Lucille all remembered being told that William Henry Decker had Native American ancestry.

According to Mom, Nora had said that her father’s father, William Decker Sr., had married a Sioux woman. Mom doubted that records could substantiate the account. Carrie Lucille also remembered hearing that the ancestry might be Sioux, but she had no further details. These were family recollections, not documented findings.

Carrie Lucille recalled another account from Nora: that William Decker had not told his wife, Eliza Jane, about the ancestry until after their marriage. According to that account, Eliza Jane then prevented their children from meeting his other relatives near Independence. Carrie Lucille never learned who those relatives were.

Following the evidence

I pursued DNA testing for myself and a female cousin in the hope of learning more. Those efforts did not resolve the family question. The testing company later suggested testing a Decker male, but that was never arranged.

Other researchers and I, primarily members of the Hare and Decker families, spent years following these lines. The Hares are Grandma Nora’s maternal line; the Deckers are her paternal line. We traced many generations, but our research did not establish Native American ancestry for William Decker or Margarete (Preston) Decker.

Lylia Hare and I also researched William and Margarete’s family backgrounds, alongside the work of Linnea B. Foster. We did not find a birth record for William Henry Decker or a marriage record for William and Margarete. The available information leaves important questions about the family relationships unresolved.

For me, the possibility remained an open research question. The family stories explain why we searched, but the missing records do not settle the question of ancestry.

The family line followed in the book

The book’s primary focus is the line of descendants from William Hare to Carl Oliver Reinhold. The names and relationships below reproduce the supplied family outline; they should be read alongside the supporting evidence and uncertainties discussed in the book.

How to read the research

I commissioned Linnea B. Foster, CGRS, to research the Hare, Preston, and Decker families in New Jersey. Her work included related families and produced a series of reports and photocopied documents.

Despite that extensive search, information about some key individuals remains limited. Some relationships and marriages are supported by evidence; others are suggested by the available records. Please keep those differences in mind while reading the book.

The records searched without finding a family member are also part of the research history. They help identify where researchers looked and what remains unresolved. A search that found no record should be considered in the context of its scope, rather than treated as a final answer.

Working theories

The book discusses working theories in the text and footnotes. These were developed to guide further searches where records were scarce or relationships uncertain. They are research tools, not established conclusions, and future evidence may support or overturn them.

The number of people named Decker—and particularly William Decker—made the work especially difficult. The book therefore also discusses people who were investigated and found not to belong to Carl Oliver Reinhold’s family line, helping readers distinguish them from the relatives being traced.