Author: John Dennis Coleman
Henry Spyker (1753 – 1817 was the sixth child of Peter and Margaretha Spyker. He grew to manhood at Tulpehocken and on 29 Oct 1774 married Anna Maria Weiser. She was the Great Grand Daughter of noted Johannes Conrad Weiser and Great Niece of famed Conrad Weiser Jr. Seven children were born of this union. At the age of 23 on the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Henry served as Adjutant under the command of Col. John Patton’s Battalion of Berks Co. Militia. Commissioned as a Colonel himself, Henry was given the command of the Sixth Battalion of the PA Militia consisting of 7 companies and 367 men. Additionally he served as Paymaster for the Berks County Militia dispensing payments with accurate accounting for every penny, (amount estimated to have been over $600,000). His unit saw action at Germantown and other operations in New Jersey. After the war Henry was elected to one term 1788-1790 in the PA State Legislature. In 1797 he sold all his interest in Berks Co. and moved to Lewisburg Union Co., Pa. He purchased a store and became a merchant, also serving as a justice of the peace. As J.P. Henry performed marriages and wrote wills. His wills are identifiable due to his persistence that the testator’s souls are to be willed to God. He and his wife at buried in the Lewisburg Cemetery.