Spork is a small farming settlement just outside of Bocholt. It's never had its own administration. At the time our ancestors emigrated in 1856, it was administered through Liedern, a slightly larger community nearby. Both Spork and Liedern are now administratively a part of Bocholt:
http://www.stadtplan-bocholt.de/stadtplan/index.cfmMore on Bocholt in English:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocholt%2C_GermanyI can't speak to all the reasons for emigrating, since it was a large group of around 70, but I do know that my great-grandfather Johann _Wilhelm_ HÜNING was seeking economic opportunity, and his betrothed Adelheid HÜNING (coincidentally with the same surname) was seeking relief from Prussian militarism: she desired that her future sons would not be subject to the compulsory military conscription imposed by the Prussian rulers of Westfalen.