Johannes Spoor

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Johannes Spoor was born in November 1713. He was the son of Gerrit and Mary Gilbert Spoor.

In 1719, he was identified as the eldest son in the will filed by his father. About thirteen at that time, he is said to have been left his father's bible.

This son of Gerrit and Mary Spoor was an Albany resident who may have lived for much of the remaining century. However, a number of similarly named contemporaries dictate caution in the assignment of qualitative information.

In 1735, he was named constable for the third ward. The next year, he was appointed high constable.

In July 1748, "Johanes Spoor" was among the witnesses at the filing of the will of a prominent third ward merchant.

Traditional sources note that his mother moved to New York following the death of Gerrit Spoor. But she may have been living in Albany as late as 1756 and was keeping a "mead house." Perhaps Johannes was among those living with her.

Even though this individual was in his forties, Johannes married Albany native Magdalena Bogert in June 1757 at the Albany Dutch church. By 1767, the marriage had produced four children. In June 1762, one of those children was buried from the church.

A list of freeholders in Albany County dated 1763 included the name "john Spoor Jr." In 1766 and '67, Spoor's third ward holdings were assessed moderately.

In his early sixties at the outbreak of hostilities, in 1775 he pledged ten shillings for supplies for Ticonderoga. Perhaps he was the Spoor who was granted a land bounty right in conjunction with the Albany militia regiment.

In 1779 and later in 1788, his holdings in the same general vicinity as earlier were valued modestly on city assessment rolls.

In 1790, the third ward house of "John Spoor" included two men, two boys, and two females. Seven years later, a third ward freeholder list identified him as a "yeoman." After that, his name no longer appears to have appeared in the community-based record.

With identity uncertainities, and unanswered questions on the later life and passing of Johannes Spoor, we move on for now.


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Johannes Spoor is CAP biography number 6529. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.




first posted 7/20/13