Willem Verplanck

by


Willem Verplanck was born in November 1727. He was the second son of Guleyn and Ariaantie Vanderpoel Verplanck. He grew up in the Albany home of a frontier trader turned businessman and city official. His father died in 1749 leaving his mother to raise their family in a house in the second ward.

In July 1759, Willem was thirty-two when he married the spinster Lydia Lievers at the Albany Dutch church. By 1765, three children had been christened in Albany. At the time of his marriage, he was identified as a cooper.

Willem Verplanck first appeared on the community landscape in 1749 when he was appointed constable for the second ward. He settled his family in the third ward where his holdings were accorded moderate assessments.

In 1763, his name was included on a list of Albany County freeholders.

In 1767, he was identified as a private in an Albany militia company. In his late forties at the outbreak of hostilities, in 1778, he was among the older residents exempted from active duty. In 1775, he was among the third ward residents who contributed supplies for Ticonderoga. In February 1778, he complained that too many soldiers were billeted in his house. After the war, he was accorded a land bounty right in conjunction with the Albany militia regiment.

In March 1779, the personal holdings of William Verplanck were assessed substantially under the third ward lot owned by Abraham Ten Broeck. In 1788, his third ward property also housed another adult family member. Before and after the war, he held lots along Foxes Creek.

In February 1787, both parents were listed as sponsors at the christening of their daughter's son who was named "Willem."

In 1785, Willem Verplanck was among those paid from the city treasury and his debts were shown on a number of Albany account books during the post war years. In 1790, his household included three adults and two slaves. A decade later, his name was no longer found on the Albany census.

We seek information on the passing of Albany resident William Verplanck.


biography in-progress


notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Willem Verplanck is CAP biography number 1172. This sketch is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources.





first posted: 12/30/10