death_date nationality name birth_date known_for article_title birth_name
1888 or 1889 american stephen a. decatur 1813 pioneer settler in nebraska and colorado stephen decatur bross
 stephen decatur bross
stephen decatur bross

stephen a. decatur -lrb- born 1813 , died 1888 or 1889 -rrb- , born stephen decatur bross and often referred to as commodore decatur , was one of the earliest settlers in nebraska .
he was the namesake and one of the incorporators of decatur , nebraska , the second-oldest settlement in nebraska .
he was born in sussex county , new jersey , one of eleven children of moses bross and jane winfield bross .
he attended williams college during the 1830s , rooming with his twin brother william , who later became lieutenant governor of illinois .
stephen became a schoolteacher under the name stephen decatur bross in new jersey and new york .
in the early 1840s he suddenly disappeared , abandoning a wife and two children .
he next surfaced in the nebraska territory under the name stephen decatur .
while on the nebraska frontier he served in the mexican-american war .
he arrived in what is now the decatur area from bellevue in 1841 and made his home with the omaha tribe .
he lived on a farm which was called `` decatur springs , '' named for a spring of pure water found there which supplied water to the town for the next century .
later he was a clerk at sarpy 's trading post , which opened in 1854 .
in 1854 he was a candidate to serve in nebraska 's first territorial assembly , but he was not seated .
he has been described as a `` highly educated man who claimed he was a nephew of commodore stephen decatur , naval hero of the war of 1812 . ''
the town of decatur was incorporated in 1856 under the name `` the decatur townsite & ferry company . ''
the other incorporators included thomas whiteacre , t. h. hineman , george mason , and herman glass .
the patents for the town were granted on may 1 , 1862 .
in 1859 decatur moved to the colorado territory to work in the gold fields , leaving behind a second wife and child .
during the american civil war he enlisted in the 3rd colorado regiment .
after the war he remained in colorado , including a stint in georgetown , colorado where he published the georgetown `` miner '' .
later he moved to summit county , colorado , which he represented in the territorial legislature from 1866 to 1868 .
he died june 3 , 1888 in rosita , colorado , a small camp in the sangre de cristo mountains ; his age at death was estimated to be 80 .
he is buried in rosita cemetery in custer county , colorado .
