Hole-in-the-Rock Landmarks and People

Hole-in-the-Rock Landmarks and People
Answers at bottom of the left column.

January 12, 2010

Decker, Zachariah Bruyn, Sr and son George William Decker


Zachariah (1817-1902) was born 22 Jun 1817 rank: as a PVT in Company A. (Civill War?)
He married Nancy BEAN (1826-) His father was Cornelius Johannes Decker (1789-1836) who was married to Gertrude Bruyn(1795-1888). Zachariah raised a family of eleven children. He is buried in the Parowan,Iron,UT cemetery. There has been very little written about his life in New York, and Illinois. Nancy Bean was born 14Dec 1826 in West Troy, Lincoln, Missouri. She was the daughter of James BEAN and Elizabeth LEWIS. She married Zachariah 4 Oct 1849 in Salt Lake City. Nancy died 3Mar 1903 in Parowan, Iron, Utah, and was buried 5 Mar 1903 in Parowan, Iron, Utah. More in Bean family history

(The following account was contributed by  great-great granddaughter, Bonnie Trower Brantley, Moab)   Nancy Bean, had an interesting and complicated life. She was born 14 Dec 1826 in West Troy, Missouri. Nancy and her parents were converted to the church while her family lived in Quincy, Illinois. The citizens of Quincy had given refuge toNancy Bean, had an interesting and complicated life. She was born 14 Dec 1826 in West Troy, Missouri. Nancy and her parents were converted to the church while her family lived in Quincy, Illinois. The citizens of Quincy had given refuge to homeless LDS church members who were exiled from Missouri and they were converted by Alexander Williams, one of the young exiled Elders.

Alexander Williams was a young uneducated Elder, and went to school with the Bean children, who befriended him and brought him home to meet their parents. He shared the gospel with the Bean family and other residents of the neighborhood, much to the chagrin of local ministers. Those members of the family who were old enough were baptized in May of 1841.

Thomas Williams was a school teacher, who was boarding with the family, and Sept. 4, 1842 he and Nancy were married. He did not accept the gospel, and left Nancy, taking their little daughter, Nancy Elizabeth, with him. Mother and daughter did not see one another again, until the daughter was a grown woman.

The Bean family moved to Nauvoo, and lived through the joyful as well as tragic times. They contributed much of the money from the sale of their property in Quincy to the building of the Nauvoo Temple. On November 4, 1844, Nancy married John D. Lee in the Nauvoo Temple and this marriage was also an unhappy union. They had a baby girl Jan 15, 1846, and the marriage ended in a divorce. Nancy crossed the plains with her baby daughter, Cornelia Lee. Nancy traveled in the Brigham Young Company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley 1n 1848 when she was 21 years old.
She met and married Zachariah, March 6, 1849, and this marriage was a long and happy one. Zachariah raised Cornelia Lee as though she were his own.

In 1850 the Iron Mission opened in Parowan, and the family became one of the founding families in the area. It was said of Zachariah that his life was always a force for good. He served in the town and the church in many important ways. He was the town constable and one of the presidents of the Seventy's. In 1869 he was called to serve a mission to the Eastern states. The United Order was practiced in Parowan from 1873 to 1876. As his responsibility during the times of the United Order, Zachariah was the superintendent of the "West Field" and Nancy was a tailor.homeless LDS church members who were exiled from Missouri and they were converted by Alexander Williams, one of the young exiled Elders.


Alexander Williams was a young uneducated Elder, and went to school with the Bean children, who befriended him and brought him home to meet their parents. He shared the gospel with the Bean family and other residents of the neighborhood, much to the chagrin of local ministers. Those members of the family who were old enough were baptized in May of 1841.
Thomas Williams was a school teacher, who was boarding with the family, and Sept. 4, 1842 he and Nancy were married. He did not accept the gospel, and left Nancy, taking their little daughter, Nancy Elizabeth, with him. Mother and daughter did not see one another again, until the daughter was a grown woman.

The Bean family moved to Nauvoo, and lived through the joyful as well as tragic times. They contributed much of the money from the sale of their property in Quincy to the building of the Nauvoo Temple. On November 4, 1844, Nancy married John D. Lee in the Nauvoo Temple and this marriage was also an unhappy union. They had a baby girl Jan 15, 1846, and the marriage ended in a divorce.

Nancy crossed the plains with her baby daughter, Cornelia Lee. Nancy traveled in the Brigham Young Company and arrived in the Salt Lake Valley 1n 1848 when she was 21 years old. She met and married Zachariah, March 6, 1849, and this marriage was a long and happy one. Zachariah raised Cornelia Lee as though she were his own.

In 1850 the Iron Mission opened in Parowan, and the family became one of the founding families in the area. It was said of Zachariah that his life was always a force for good. He served in the town and the church in many important ways. He was the town constable and one of the presidents of the Seventy's. In 1869 he was called to serve a mission to the Eastern states. The United Order was practiced in Parowan from 1873 to 1876. As his responsibility during the times of the United Order, Zachariah was the superintendent of the "West Field" and Nancy was a tailor."


Zachariah Decker, served in the Mormon Battalion, was at Sutter's Mill in California when gold was discovered, and was in the Hole-in-the-Rock ...Church news  Zachariah R. is mentioned on p. 189 Miller, Hole in the Rock.

George William Decker is included on pp. 43,49,50, 54, 80, 104, 109, 122, 200-206 of Miller's book. Inscription on back of photo:
George was only 15 when the pioneers descented the dangerous Hole in the Rock: Ensign article says: On 26 January 1880, everything was ready. George W. Decker, then a boy of fifteen, told of the first wagons to pass through the notch: “Hy’s and Ben’s wagons came to the Chute in this order. Hy’s horses refused to face the Chute—too steep—and they had too clear a view of the river about two-thousand feet below. They tried another team with the same rearing and surging backward and still a third team. … Joe [Barton] brought his big wheel horses and they moved off unconcerned but very slow and sure, feeling their way with their large careful feet for they were totally blind [an epidemic of “Pink Eye” had blinded them as well as hundreds of other horses in southern Utah more than a year earlier]. … Joe’s horses, calm and sure, gave the other horses courage to go down. … The crowd at the top came to life with chatter, laughter, and a crazy explosion of hurrahs.”
From George Decker’s journal, we get this insight into Ben Perkins: “Among those who loved to dance was Benjamin Perkins. His snappy Welch jigs furnished no end of entertainment and enjoyment for the entire company.”

More on Decker Family forum

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