Decatur 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, Nebraska 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 by the legislatureon May 1, 1862. In Nebraska Decatur married again. In 1859 he moved to the Colorado Territory to work in the gold fields, leaving behind his second wife and their 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, where he published the Georgetown Miner. Soon he moved to Summit County, Colorado, which he represented in the territorial legislature from 1866 to 1868. He died June 5, 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. References External links Williams College alumni People from Decatur, Nebraska People from Sussex County, New Jersey People from Clear Creek County, Colorado People of Colorado in the American Civil War Editors of Colorado newspapers Members of the Colorado Territorial Legislature 1813 births 1880s deaths 19th-century American politicians