Wikipedia

Op den Graeff

Op den Graeff (also Updegraff, Updegrove etc) is a German and American family of Dutch origin. They once belonged to Mennonite faith and had a long history in religious service and politics since the early 17th century. In the Colony of Pennsylvania and in Ohio they also became forerunners of the anti-slavery movement and abolitionism.

Op den Graeff
Priestly family, political family
Part of the Op den Graeff stained window of Krefeld, showing their coat of arms (left with the swan)
Current regionPennsylvania and Ohio, among others
EtymologyDutch-German for "of the count"
Place of originGerman American Community, Dutch American Community
Connected familiesVon der Leyen family
Penn family
Lupton family
Schumacher/Shoemaker family
In den Hofen/De Haven family
Van Bebber

History

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The earliest historically proven member of the Op den Graeff family is Herman op den Graeff (1585-1642). He was from Aldekerk (Duchy of Cleves) near the border to the Dutch Republic. His ancestors where of dutch origin.[1] It is claimed, that Herman was a natural son of John William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg from an unproven morganatic marriage with Anna op den Graeff (van de Aldekerk).[2][3] According to their family tradition, the Op den Graeff family together with the Dutch De Graeff family descended from the austrian Herren von Graben through Wolfgang von Graben († 1521).[4][5] He were mentioned in Holland between 1476 and 1483.[6][7][8] Graeff was the dutch spelling of the german Graben during the 14th and 15th century.[9] These sources are not documented and cannot be verified.

 
Herman op den Graeff in front of the 1632 Dordrecht Mennonite Church Delegation and as a signer of the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in a historical sketch by Matthias Laurenz Gräff
 
William Penn with his cousin Abraham Isacks op den Graeff

The Op den Graeffs were originally Mennonites. Herman op den Graeff was a rich linen weaver and settled to Krefeld in 1609. He become the Mennonite leader ("bishop") of Krefeld and delegate to the Dordrecht Confession of Faith in 1632. The Op den Graeff family is said to be related to William Penn, the founder and gouverneur of Pennsylvania.[10][11] Sources say, that their connection goes through the Pletjes family, who married into the Penn and Op den Graeff families.[12]

The Op den Graeff family turned Quaker in part around 1679-1680. In 1683 Hermans grandchildren Derick, Herman and Abraham op den Graeff migrated to the United States. They belonged to the Original 13, the first closed group of German emigrants to North America, often referred to as the Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Founders.[13][14][15]

In Germantown, Derick and Abraham op den Graeff, signed the first organized religious petition against slavery in the colonies. This is named the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery. In Pennsylvania the family split up into a lot of different family branches: Opdegraf(f), Updegraf(f), Uptagraff(t), Updegrave, Updegrove, Updegraph, Uptegraph, Upthegrove, Upthagrove and Ubdegrove.

 
Jonathan Taylor Updegraff

In 1802[16] a branch of the family settled in Mount Pleasant, Jefferson, Ohio.[17] This branch belonged to the 19th-century Quaker families of that state[18] This Updegraff branch of belonged to the leading families of the Quaker religious movement and produced a long line of ministers and elders.[19] David Benjamin Updegraff (1789-1864) was a conductor and one of the leaders of the Underground Railroad. He was one of the first outspoken anti-slavery men. His house was the home of antislavery advocates and temperance lecturers. The family also has a lot of delegates, members of U.S. House of Representatives and the Senat, like Abraham op den Graeff (1649-1731), Updegraff (1750–1827), Jonathan Taylor Updegraff (1822–1882), Thomas Updegraff (1834–1910) or Joseph S. Updegraff. Direct descendants of the family where Pennsylvania Governor Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker[20] and US-president Theodore Roosevelt.[21]

In 2013 the worldwide active Family Association Gräff-Graeff (Familienverband Gräff-Graeff e. V.) was founded for the Graeff lineages of austrian noble Wolfgang von Graben († 1521). The family association serves to get to know, communicate, exchange, search and bring together the Graeff families. They are splitted off in different fsmilies and branches: Graeff, De Graeff, De Graaff, Gräff, Op den Graeff, Updegraff, Updegrove etc. Chairman is the austrian Matthias Laurenz Gräff. The association has several global state representatives and more than 150 members[22] and is officially registered in Austria.[23][24]

Coat of arms

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Possible, but bot proven, coat of arms Op den Graeff as descendants of Herman op den Graeff. Heraldic representation by Matthias Laurenz Gräff based on a stained glass window in Krefeld, 1630, which may depict the “Lohengrin swan” of the Kleve coat of arms in one window.

There is a reference about the Op den Graeff glass paintings of Krefeld. It has a description of Herman's possible, but not proven, coat of arms. It was fund in the estate of W. Niepoth (op den Graeff folder) in the archives of the city of Krefeld. In a noted letter dated November 17, 1935, Richard Wolfferts wrote to Dr Risler: "Saw the Coat of Arms glass pane in the old museum: 'Herman op den Graeff und Grietgen syn housfrau' or the like. Coat of Arms - In the sign a silver swan in blue. Helmet decoration (I think): Swan growing."[25]

Family members

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Herman op den Graeff
  • Herman op den Graeff (1585–1642), Mennonite community leader ("bishop") of Krefeld, delegate and signer of the sign the Dordrecht Confession of Faith
  • Herman Isacks op den Graeff (1642-1708), one of the "Original 13", the first closed group of German emigrants to North America, original founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania
  • Derick op den Graeff (1646-1697), leader of the "Original 13", politician, signer of the first organized religious protest against slavery, original founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania
  • Abraham op den Graeff (1649–1731), one of the "Original 13", politician, signer of the first organized religious protest against slavery, original founder of Germantown, Pennsylvania, member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly
  • Nathan Updegraff (1750–1827), a founder and delegate to Ohio's first constitutional convention
 
David Benjamin Updegraff
  • David Benjamin Updegraff (1789–1864), conductor of the Underground Railroad, minister of Friends church
  • Joseph S. Updegraff, member of the Ohio Senate
  • Jonathan T. Updegraff (1822–1882), U.S. Representative from Ohio
  • David Brainard Updegraff (1830–1894), minister of Friends church (Quaker minister)
 
Thomas Updegraff
  • Thomas Updegraff (1834–1910), attorney and five-term Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from northeastern Iowa
  • Allan Eugene Updegraff (1883–1965), American-born novelist, poet, and editor; died at Paris, France
  • Laura Upthegrove (1896–1927), American bandit known as "The Queen of the Everglades"
  • Clarence Dewitt Upthegrove (1899-1982), American businessman and politician
  • Ed Updegraff (1922–2022), American amateur golfer and urologist
  • Mark K. Updegrove (born 1961), American author and historian, director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
  • Stephen Updegraff (born 1962), American refractive surgeon
  • Dave Upthegrove (born 1971), American politician
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Op den Graeff.

Further reading

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References

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  1. ↑ William Penn and the Dutch Quaker Migration to Pennsylvania, by Prof. William I. Hull (2018)
  2. ↑ Krefeld Immigrants and Their Descendants, Bände 7-12, p 15 ff and 53 ff, Links Genealogy Publications, 1990
  3. ↑ Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King's 'Beloved Sister', by Heather R. Darsie . [1] Some claim the records were destroyed in the conflict between Protestants and Catholics at the time but regardless because Anna op den Graeff was of lower social rank, Johann Wilhelm's titles and privileges were not passed on to their son and he was considered officially without an heir
  4. ↑ "US family genealogy". Archived from the original on 2023-12-07. Retrieved 2024-11-13.
  5. ↑ "Van Bebber Pioneers Newsletter", Doc Store. January 1988" A copied text that is not documented by extern sources says: "Made up from genuine document by Pieter de Graeff, Baron van Zuid Polsbrook (Polsbroek), Purmerland and Ilpendam, living 1661, continued by Pieter Gerritsz de Graeff and after that by Dirk de Graeff van Polsbroek (Holland). In the Diploma of Nobility loaned to Andries de Graeff it was affirmed that the family De Graeff was formerly called von Graben, which is the same as de Graeff. This family today shows the same Coat of Arms as the De Graeff family." Accessed 29 sept 2011
  6. ↑ Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Ritter- u. Adels-Geschlechter, Band 3, p 229 (1870)
  7. ↑ De Graeff (Pieter Graeff) and Von Graben in the dutch "DBNL"
  8. ↑ Der deutsche Herold: Zeitschrift für Wappen-, Siegel- u. Familienkunde, Band 3, p 91/92, von Verein Herold
  9. ↑ Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in Beziehung auf Abstammung und Begriffsbildung, p 254, by Conrad Schwenck (1834)
  10. ↑ "History of the Op Den Graeff/Updegraff family", June Shaull Lutz, 1988, S. 1
  11. ↑ Mennonite World Review - More than our family tree
  12. ↑ The Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society. Volume 103, number 4, Winter 2001-2002. "The Ancestors and Descendants of John Cope, Son of Caleb and Mary Cope", by Thomas R. Kellog, p 193
  13. ↑ "The Friend, Volume 48", The Friend., 1875. Harvard University. p. 67
  14. ↑ "Ship Passengers Mentioned in Merion MM Minutes; Chester County, PA." Archived 2012-04-21 at the Wayback Machine, Yvonne Prough. U.S. Genealogical Web Archives. Accessed 29 sept 2011
  15. ↑ "1683 Concord" Archived 2013-05-21 at the Wayback Machine, Pro Genealogists. Accessed 29 sept 2011
  16. ↑ History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with Family History and Biographical Sketches: History of Jefferson co., O., by J. H. S. And w. M. rainer. History of Logan, the Mingo chief, by R. H. Taneyhill. Resources of Jefferson co., by J. B. Doyle. Bench and bar of Jefferson co., by O. M. Sanford. Biographical sketches. Education and religion. by W. M. Trainer. The press. Medical history of Jefferson co. History of Belmont co., by C. L. Poorman, including Biographical sketches. Agricultural resources, by A. T. McKelvey, p 188 (1890)
  17. ↑ David B. Updegraff, Quaker Holiness Preacher, p 12, by J. Brent Bill (1983)
  18. ↑ Updegraff family papers
  19. ↑ History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with Family History and Biographical Sketches: History of Jefferson co., O., by J. H. S. And w. M. rainer. History of Logan, the Mingo chief, by R. H. Taneyhill. Resources of Jefferson co., by J. B. Doyle. Bench and bar of Jefferson co., by O. M. Sanford. Biographical sketches. Education and religion. by W. M. Trainer. The press. Medical history of Jefferson co. History of Belmont co., by C. L. Poorman, including Biographical sketches. Agricultural resources, by A. T. McKelvey, p 187 (1890)
  20. ↑ "Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania", John W. Jordan. Genealogical Publishing Com, 1978. ISBN 0-8063-0811-7, 9780806308111. p. 486
  21. ↑ The Descendants of James Carrell and Sarah Dungan, His Wife. P 140/142 (1928)
  22. ↑ Familienverband Gräff-Graeff e.V.
  23. ↑ Austrian association register (Österreichische Vereinsregister-Abfrage Online): Code 597756615
  24. ↑ www.gars.at Familienverband Gräff-Graeff e. V.
  25. ↑ History of the Op Den Graef/Updegraff Family, p 22; by June Shaull Lutz, 1988 (Original at University of Wisconsin - Madison)
  26. ↑ Graeff Forschung, est. 2006; for Op den Graeff see: Verwandtschaften > Namensverwandtschaften > VI) Die Op den Graeff aus dem Rheinland
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