Abraham Vanderpoel

Abraham Vanderpoel probably was born during the 1680s. He was a younger son of Melgert Wynantse and his first wife Ariaantie Verplanck Vanderpoel. His mother was dead by 1692 when his father remarried. He was raised in the large combined family of a tradesman/trader. However, his father was dead by 1700 before Abraham had reached adulthood.

In April 1710, he was one of those engaged by the city council to dig ditches and to set up the new stockade.

In September 1710, he was identified as the son and heir of the deceased Melgert in a Mayor's Court action regarding his father's will. It reiterated the testator's desire to divide his substantial estate among his six living children and their survivors.

In January 1713, Abraham married Anna Vandenbergh at the Albany Dutch church. By 1729, seven children had been christened in Albany where the parents were regular baptism sponsors.

In 1715, his name appeared on the roster of an Albany militia company.

After the christening of his daughter in June 1729, the name of this Abraham Vanderpoel (and also that of his wife) appears regularly in the Dutch church records as baptism sponsors until at least 1748.

By the 1740s, however, additional, same-named individuals are at risk in Albany County (when this subject would have been in his seventies). In 1742, an Abraham Vanderpoel was listed as a freeholder in Albany's first ward.

At this point, we move on still seeking defining information on his later life and passing.

Sources: The life of Abraham Vanderpoel is CAP biography number 6232. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.