Johannes is my Revolutionary Patriot ancestor (my 6th
great-grandfather) and even though I have traced my lineage back to Johannes; I
have not research all his descendants. Therefore, this will be my new project,
as I research and search for his descendants (both living and deceased), I will
be recording my research here so that I can then share a link back to the
Facebook page I created for Johannes located at https://www.facebook.com/JohannesSpanknable?ref=bookmarks.
From The Story of
Old Fort Plain and the Middle Mohawk Valley by Nelson Greene, O’Connor
Brothers Publishers, Fort Plain, New York, 1915, page 65; it states that John
Spankable (now Sponable) house was located within a radius of five or six miles
from Nicholas Rechtor’s house. Rechtor was located about three miles west of
the stone grist mill Sir William Johnson had built for the use of that region
which was then known as Tilleborough.
This was known as the settlement of Ephratha (New York).
The first document I reviewed was his Revolutionary War
Pension file, there is a photocopy of his bible pages. It is written in German
and the edges of the pages are torn but you can see the first date is 1747. It
looks like it might be his birth date. The next date is 1770 which I believe is
his marriage date to Elizabeth Kring. Followed by 1754, which I believe is his
wife’s birth date. Then there are a series of more dates and even though I
can’t make out all the months, it appears they are followed by the day of
month. These appear to be the births of seven of his nine children. These dates
match closely to an article that was printed in the newspaper (shown with an
asterisk after their birth date below) when Johannes’s papers were donated by Delos
Hoffman (his 2nd great-grandson). This newspaper article list nine
children as follows:
Ursula born Feb 17, 1772* married to William Smith
Philip born August 11, 1773* married Nancy Youlker
John born Sept 19, 1775* (married Elizabeth Lighthall)
Harmanius (aka Harmon/Herman) born June 7, 1782* married Elizabeth Cool
Henry born May 2, 1784* married Catherine Cool (served War of 1812)
Katherine born Nov 15, 1786*, married Alexander Remour
Anna Elizabeth born March 22, 1789* married Jacob Youker, Jr
Christopher born April 9, 1791, died Jun 12, 1792
Anna Elizabeth born March 22, 1793 married Philip Cool
I added John’s spouse, which didn’t appear in the article. This branch
of the family (my branch) had moved out of the area and settled in Marengo
County, Illinois area. I also added the aka Harmon/Herman because I have found
Harmanius listed as Harmon and as Herman. I have also found that Henry and Harmanius
seem to get confused and currently I have the same descendants listed under
both sons. I hope to clear this up with my research project.
So far, Johannes has sparked 13 DAR applications. 1 through his
daughter Ursula, 2 through his son Philip, 2 through his son John Jr, 1 through his son Henry and finally 7 through his son Harmon.
I have found that some on-lines trees have added another daughter Anna
Sponable 1780-1846. However, I haven’t been able support this with other
documents at this time. Since the bible pages did include births in this date
range, I wonder why this is not included. Plus perhaps this woman is actually a
spouse of a Sponable. Also, the trees list she is buried in Fort Plain,
Montgomery County, New York, and this might be the Anna Sponable with no readable
dates on her stone buried between George and Philip Sponable. George Sponable who died 16 Nov 1851 age 46
years, 10 mos and 8 days. Philip Sponable’s stone is unreadable. So until I can
figure out who George is and any possible relationship to a Philip and Anna, I
will not include her as Johannes Spanknable’s child at this time.
I also found interesting information about Johannes in the Compendium of Early Mohave Valley
Families by Maryly B Penrose, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, © 1990,
page 761.
Under Birth/Baptism: Spanknebel, Johannes & Elisabeth [?]: Herman,
b. 6/7/1782; bapt. 6/9/1782 (DRGF:58). Sponsors” Joh: Ludw:
Kring & Maria. This matches Harmanius birth date listed in the
newspaper article (mentioned above) plus the bible pages, previously mentioned.
Under Death Record: Spanneknebel, Christopher, d. 6/12/1792, age 1
year, 2 months, 3 days; buried 6/14/1792 (RDSA:233). This too matches
Christopher’s information included in the newspaper article. However, the bible didn't include any dates after 1789.
Under Probate Abstract: Spanknable, Johannes, (of Palatine), will dated
9/8/1825; probated 12/26/1827. legatees: wife, Elisabeth; sons, Philip, John
(decd. & his heirs), Henry, Harmanus (decd, & his Henry H., Philip,
John, Catharine and Harriet); daus., Ursula (wife of William Smith & her
daus.), Elizabeth (wife of Jacob Youker) and Maria (wife of Philp Cool, Jr.).
Executors: son, Philip; son-in-law, Jacob Youker; Christopher Getman. (WMC
57:270). This listed all his children except Katherine.
To date, I have been unable to find any
further information on Katherine or her husband Alexander Remour. Perhaps they
moved out of the area and had a falling out and thus he didn't include her.
According to another descendant, he has seen Elisebeth’s (Johannes Wife) will
and she included Katherine. I hope to get a copy of that will, for clues on
Katherine’s whereabouts.
Under Pension Abtract: Spanknable, John, m. Elizabeth [?], 2/9/1770; d.
12/20/1825. (Elizabeth Spanknable, b. 1751/2; resident of Ephratah, Montgomery
Co., N.Y. on 10/11/1836) John enlisted and served as a private in Cap. Nicolas
Richter’s Co., Col. Jacob Klock’s 2nd Regt., Tyron CO., Militia; he
fought in the battle of Oriskany and was captured by the enemy; John was taken
to Canada where he remained a prisoner for upwards of four years.
In the Syracuse and its Environs:
a history by Franklin H chase, Lewis Historical Publishing Company,
Inc. New York and Chicago, 1924, pg 123.
Johannes Spanknable (Anglicized Sponable), upon coming to the Mohawk
Valley of New York, settled at Ephratah, Fulton County, and when the colonies
were fighting the Indians he enlisted in the Tryon County militia, serving
under Colonel Joseph Klock. He was later captured by Indians, and while in
their hands was claimed by a young Indian maiden as her own, but upon his
refusing to take her for his wife, he was attacked, clubbed into
unconsciousness, and left as dead. He recovered and made his way to a British
camp, where he expected succor, but instead, was sold into slavery and held by
a Frenchman for four years before he could escape and return to his home. When
the colonies took up arms against the mother country, he proved his loyalty by
enlisting in a New York command and was engaged in a battle fought near
Johnstown, New York. He married Elizabeth Kring, founded a family and died in
1823, at Palatine, Montgomery County, New York.
As you can see, in the above paragraph his death date appears incorrect. How
could his will be dated 1825 if he died in 1823. His military pension states he
died on 20 December 1825 so this is the date I will go with.
Finally, on his FindAGrave memorial, it lists his birth date as 1741 and his death date as Sep 12, 1827. However,
the picture of the stone does not show any of this information. My question,
did the person who created this memorial add this information herself? Where did
she get this information? The creator also had that Johannes arrived in
Philadelphia aboard the ship “Boston” in Nov 1754. In 1770 he married Elizabeth
Kring in Clarkstown, Rockland Co, N.Y. They moved to Fulton co. where they had
8 children. Johannes served in the Revolutionary War. After the war he returned
to his family where he farmed and did tailoring work.
Was Johannes only 7 when he arrived here? Was he an indentured servant
or did he come with parents? Who were the eight children, who is the creator missing that I have? Where did the creator find this information?
In conclusion I have decided on the following facts, until I find anything
that changes this…
Johannes was born in 1747 (according to his bible). He married Elizabeth Kring on 9 Feb 1770 and
moved to Ephratha, Fulton Co, New York. He had nine children of whom he
mentioned eight in his will (please note this is a transcribed will and it
might be missing the ninth child). He died on 20 Dec 1825 and two of his sons,
John Jr and Harmanus (Harmon/Herman) died before him. His wife Elizabeth was born in 1754 and died on 17 Jan, 1843 (according to her Final Payment Voucher).
Perhaps not the most concrete of facts, but I am happy with what I found and that I have supporting documents for my conclusions. Next I am moving onto his first child, Ursula and will be using the DAR application as my first clue of her descendants.
