Hermann op den Graeff

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Op den Graeff window: Poem on Herman op den Graeff and his wife Greitgen (Greitje) Pletjes (1630)

Hermann op den Graeff (born November 26, 1585 in Aldekerk ; † December 27, 1642 in Krefeld ) was a leading figure of the Krefeld Mennonites .

life and work

Hermann was born into a Mennonite family in Aldekerk, near the Dutch border. In Aldekerk, Hermann worked as a linen weaver and trader, which made him prosperous. In 1609 he and his family moved to Krefeld . There Op den Graeff became lay preacher and chairman of the Mennonite religious community. In 1630, Op den Graeff had two stained glass windows with paintings and sayings laid out for himself and his wife as a sign of his piety. In 1632 Hermann took part in the Dordrecht Mennonite Assembly and was one of the signatories of the Dordrecht Confession . In 1637 he was referred to in the log book of the Reformed congregation as "the local menisten herr bischoff (the local Mennonites mr bishop)" from Krefeld.

progeny

Hermann op den Graeff was married to Grietjen ( Greitje ) Pletjes, with whom he had 18 children. One of his sons, Abraham op den Graeff (~ 1610–1656) married Eva von der Leyen , a sister of Adolf von der Leyen , the founder of the Krefeld silk industry. Isaac Hermans married Margaret 'Grietgen' Peters Doors (d. 1679) and converted to Quakerism . About Greitgen Pletjes sister Alet Pletjes (* 1583) the family Op den Graeff was related to the Penn family - namely with the English admiral Sir William Penn and his son William Penn (1644-1718), the governor and founder of Pennsylvania.

The three sons of Isaac Hermans op den Graeff, Derrick Isacks, Hermann Isacks and Abraham Isacks op den Graeff emigrated to the United States. They were among the thirteen (" Original 13 ") families who founded Germantown after they landed in Pennsylvania in 1683 on the sailing ship Concord . Two of the brothers, Derrick Isacks and Abraham Isacks, signed the first protest against slavery in America . Abraham's numerous descendants can still be found today under different spellings such as Opdegraf (f), Updegrave, Updegrove etc. and under the name Updegraf in Pennsylvania.

Individual evidence

  1. Google Book Search: William Penn and the Dutch Quaker Migration to Pennsylvania, by William Isaac Hull, p. 210
  2. Google Book Search: Baptism-Minded and Big Capital. From Peter Kriedte. P. 107
  3. Google Book Search: Baptism-Minded and Big Capital. From Peter Kriedte. P. 106
  4. Google book search: Baptism-minded and big capital: the Lower Rhine-Bergisch Mennonites and the rise of the Krefeld silk trade, mid-17th century-1815. Peter Kriedte, p. 105 (2007)
  5. Google Book Search: Baptism-Minded and Big Capital. From Peter Kriedte. P. 185
  6. ^ "History of the Op Den Graeff / Updegraff family", June Shaull Lutz, 1988, p. 1
  7. ^ Mennonite World Review - More than our family tree
  8. (En) Google Book Search: Slavery in the United States: a social, political, and historical ..., Volume 2. By Junius P. Rodriguez
  9. (En) Google: Across the Atlantic and beyond: the migration of German and Swiss immigrants ... By Charles R. Haller. Pages 129/130

literature

  • Bender, Harold S. (1957) Graeff, op den (Opdegraf, Updegrave, Updegrove) family . Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online.
  • Ulle, RF (1983) The Original Germantown Families. Mennonite Family History April.