Rachel Elizabeth Sanders 1835-1870 (10111)

Wilkinson County, Georgia

Rachel Elizabeth Sanders was born about 1835 in Wilkinson County, Georgia, the eldest daughter and second child of Claiborne B. Sanders and Nancy Holder. Rachel's maiden name is confirmed by her marriage license. Her birth year (1835) is taken from Census Records. She appears with her parents in the 1860 Federal Census, which confirms her connection to her parents. Claiborne Sanders (her father) was living in Stewart County, Georgia in 1850, then shows up in Montgomery, Texas for the 1860 Census. We know, from the 1870 Census, that Rachel was born in Georgia and that she was in Montgomery County, Texas for her marriage, which consolidates the fact that Claiborne Sanders must be her father.

Rachel cannot be found with her family in the 1850 Census. She would have been fifteen years of age that year, and old enough to have been useful in helping with child care or housework for an elderly family member. There is a Rachel E. Sanders in the 1850 Federal Census who appears in Georgia Factory District, Clarke County GA with a Smith and Epps family. A few doors down is a Silas Sanders and his family. It has yet to be determined if or how these families are related, but it is believed that this may be our Rachel.

Rachel E. Sanders in the home of the Smith family for the 1850 Census,
in Georgia Factory District, Clarke County, Georgia

Georgia Factory Dist, Clarke, Georgia

Anna Smith 62 f SC

Martha A. Smith 26 f GA

Mary C. Smith 34 f GA

Elizabeth A. Smith 24 f GA

Winnifred Epps 22 f GA

Francis Eppes 25 m Millwright GA

Rachel E. Sanders 20 f GA

Simeon Smith 10 m GA

By 1854, the Sanders family had relocated to Montgomery County, Texas. Rachel moved with her family, and it was there that she met, fell in love with and married Isaac Cryle Decker from the pioneering Decker family. 

Rachel's marriage record gives the following information:

Cryle Decker to Rachel Sanders, State of Texas, County of Montgomery. Marriage was solemnized the 26th day of December 1855, by Lem G. Clepper, Justice of the Peace.

Isaac Cryle Decker and Lizzie Decker had the following children:

Central Texas in the spring with bluebonnets in bloom,
showing the beauties that Lizzie would have enjoyed.

1) Almira Elizabeth Decker b. 10 Jan 1857 Montgomery County, TX, d. 1 Nov 1913 Brownwood, Brown, TX; m. James Andrew Gilley 2 Feb 1875 Waller County, TX

2) Ophelia Jane Decker b. 20 Sep 1859 Montgomery County, TX, d. 15 May 1939 Hageman, Chaves, NM m. Andrew Austin Andrus

Rachel would have been living with her husband and daughters in the 1860 Federal Census in Montgomery County Texas. However, no census record has been found for the family in that year.  The 1870 Census shows the family is still in Montgomery County Texas.

Rachel E. (Sanders) Decker with her husband and children in the 1870 Census
Tillis Prairie Precinct, Montgomery County, Texas

Rachel disappears after the 1870 Census, in which she is only 35 years of age. It is possible that she died young. We know that her husband, Isaac Cryle Decker, died in 1873. It is believed that she died within days of her husband. A cholera epidemic spread through south western Texas from Louisiana during that year killing many people. Rachel and her husband were likely victims of that plague. Rachel would have been buried in the family cemetery at Decker's Prairie in Montgomery County, Texas.