Isaac Verplanck

by


Isaac Verplanck was born in late September 1725. He was the first child born to the marriage of Albany residents Guleyn and Ariaantie Vanderpoel Verplanck. He grew up in the second ward home of a frontier trader-turned-businessman who died in 1749.

This eldest son probably did not marry but lived with his widowed mother and siblings. He also witnessed a number of baptisms at the Albany Dutch church with his mother and with other women of the community.

In 1747, he was elected constable and then appointed high constable. In 1753 and again in 1763, his name was included on the cumulative roster of Albany firemen.

In 1763, he was named among the freeholders of Albany County. The next year, Isaac G. Verplanck was among those Albany merchants who petitioned the provincial governor.

In March 1762, he was named co-executor of the estate of his cousin David Verplanck of Rensselaerswyck. In September 1767, he witnessed the will of an Albany neighbor. In September 1772, he was identified as an Albany resident when a notice appeared in the New York newspaper stating that he had laid claim to a lot in New York City that belonged to his great greandfather, Abraham Verplanck.

Beginning in 1766, his second ward property was valued on city assessment rolls - sometimes, his mother was referenced under Isaac's holdings. In 1779, his house and property and another lot were valued on the Albany tax list. After that, his name drops from Albany rolls.

Fifty years old at the outbreak of hostilities in 1775, Isaac supported the Revolutionary cause by pledging to serve if called in the Associated Exempts. In December 1778, he was paid four pounds from the city treasury. In 1779, he was among the Albany residents who petitioned Governor Clinton for the return of Dr. Van Dyck. Otherwise, his name has not been encountered in our sweep of wartime records. However, afterwards, he was accorded a land bounty right in conjunction with the Albany militia regiment.

Isaac Verplanck filed a will in July 1777. It named his siblings and his nephew as his heirs. It passed probate in January 1791. His name did not appear in the will filed by his brother in March 1784.


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Isaac Verplanck is CAP biography number 1143. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.





first posted: 2/20/11