Johannes de Graaff

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Johannes de Graaff
The port of Sint Eustatius.

Johannes de Graaff (* 1729 on Sint Eustatius ; † 1813 ibid), also Johannes or Johannis de Graeff , was governor of Sint Eustatius, an island in the former Netherlands Antilles .

Life

De Graaff was the son of Simon de Graaff , a member of the council of Sint Eustatius. Johannes de Graaff received his education in the Netherlands. After his return he married Maria Heyliger , the daughter of the incumbent governor Abraham Heyliger .

After serving first as commander of the neighboring island of Sint Maarten and then as secretary of the administration of Sint Eustatius, de Graaff received the post of governor after the death of his father-in-law on September 5, 1776.

Andrew Doria Incident

After the start of the uprising of the Thirteen Colonies against Great Britain , Sint Eustatius became an important trading center, as the rebellious colonists were able to purchase urgently needed war material here. The island's merchants and shipowners (de Graaff the richest) profited greatly from the conflict in North America; Ships from the rebellious colonies were accordingly welcomed. On November 16, 1776, Johannes de Graaff welcomed the incoming brigantine Andrew Doria from New Jersey , a two-masted warship which sailed under the flag of the Continental Congress and which had a copy of the Declaration of Independence for the governor on board, with a gun salute . Since the greeting with gun salute was reserved for warships of sovereign states, this gesture marked the first formal recognition of the United States by a representative of a European power.

The British government took the salute as a targeted insult and provocation, protested several times through diplomatic channels and called for the governor to be punished. The States General finally summoned de Graaff to a hearing in Amsterdam in 1778 , where he was questioned by a committee of the West India Company . The result of the investigation was that de Graaff had acted correctly and was not guilty of any misconduct. All British demands for punishment and impeachment have been rejected.

War with Britain

In 1779 de Graaff returned to Sint Eustatius. In the period that followed, trade with the United States increased significantly as the pro-American stance of the governor and the - officially neutral - States-General became known.

This attitude also helped Britain declare war on the Netherlands on December 20, 1780. On February 3, 1781, a British squadron under Admiral Rodney appeared before St. Eustatius; he landed 3,000 men and ordered the governor to surrender within an hour. Since de Graaff had no significant armed forces, he surrendered the island to Rodney without a fight. De Graaff, who had incurred the particular displeasure of the British Government through the salute for the Andrew Doria , was taken to London as a prisoner with his family; the admiral had his plantations confiscated.

Return to St. Eustatius

After France conquered Sint Eustatius from the British in November 1781, the island was returned to the Netherlands in 1784. Johannes de Graaff returned as a private citizen and successfully resumed his business. He died in 1813 a man of great wealth.

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personal data
SURNAME Graaff, Johannes de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Graeff, Johannis de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Governor of St. Eustatius
DATE OF BIRTH 1729
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Eustatius
DATE OF DEATH 1813
Place of death St. Eustatius