Philipp Decker, a farmer, and his family immigrated to Denmark (Schleswig-Holstein) in 1762.
Philip Decker and Jacobina Esewein, daughter of Daniel & Magdalena Esewein, were married on 11 May 1762 in the Danish parish of Grossenwiehe.
They joined the migration to Russia, and settled in the Volga German colony of Balzer on 28 August 1765. Philipp Decker, his wife Jacobina, and children (Maria Katharina, age 2; Johannes, age 2-weeks) are recorded there on the 1767 census of Balzer in Household No. 7.
Johann Heinrich Decker, presumed son of Philipp Decker and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Balzer in Household No. Bz029.
The death of Johann Heinrich Decker (born about 1771) is recorded on the parish register of Balzer on 26 January 1845.
Jakob Decker, presumed son of Philipp Decker, and his family are recorded on the 1798 census of Balzer in Household No. Bz043.
The death of Johann Heinrich Decker (born 15 February 1791), son of Jakob Decker, is recorded in the parish register of Balzer on 14 September 1851.
The Eichhorn research of the Danish records and the 1767 census record that Philipp Decker came from the German village of Zweibrücken in the Kurpfalz region.
- Eichhorn, Alexander, Jacob & Mary Eichhorn. The Immigration of German Colonists to Denmark and Their Subsequent Emigration to Russia in the Years 1759-1766 (Deiningen, Germany: Drukerei und Verlag Steinmeier GmbH & Co. Kg, 2012): B-254.
- Mai, Brent Alan. 1798 Census of the German Colonies along the Volga: Economy, Population, and Agriculture (Lincoln, NE: American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1999): Bz029, Bz043.
- Parish register of Balzer.
- Parish register of Grossenwiehe.
- Pleve, Igor. Einwanderung in das Wolgagebiet, 1764-1767 Band 1 (Göttingen: Der Göttinger Arbeitskreis, 1999): 73.
Brent Mai
Wayne Bonner
Groand (Wolgadeutsche.net Forum)