Eric Miller's Family Tree

URL: Herman Op Den Graef - rootsweb

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Herman Op Den Graeff

Notes


He Is the mystery of the Op Den Graff windows all serendipity? Did our Bishop Hermen and his wife, Grietje attend Krefeld Market one day and find two or more window frames for their townhouse? The frames just happened to have hints of the Hebrew Cabala and signs of the Mysteries of the Rosary on them. Nevertheless, Hermen and Grietje decided such fancy work would be good advertising for the linen business and cloth industry. Their Pletjes family niece, Margaret Jasper had married a Van Der Schuren and migrated to Ireland to escape the ridiculous Religious wars over church real estate and to invest in or inherit her own real estate; and her crazy son from her second marriage (William Penn, one of the largest real estate investors in history) had not yet been born to sit down, as if in front of the second window, to write or pen a pamphlet, entitled: "No Cross, No Crown." So, after all this recitation, we are still confronted by a haunting mystery displayed on a beautiful set of stained glass windows dated 1630 AD: One Hermen Op Den Graff, one Blessed Mother of Christ, one missing family seal, one family motto, two extant windows, two different Lohengrin Swan Seals, three shields of a multiple Dukedom, three rectangular insets, four family seals, five centuries of Mennonite-Anabaptist Witness, twenty mystical circles of frame decoration, twenty centuries of Apostolic Interrogation: Who shall separate us from the love of God? Readers of this Thesis are encouraged to discuss it with Glen Wayne Miller. Commentary, documentation and even logical speculation are welcome. You may write to: GW Miller, 136 West Price Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144 or Kevin L. Sholder, 414 Blackstone Dr., Centerville, OH 45459-4111.
He Herman op den Graef was born on 26 November 1585 in Aldekir (Allekirk), County of Muir, Germany near the border of Holland and died on 27 December 1642 at Krefeld, Germany. He was married in Krefeld on 8 June or August ( it is believed August) in 1605 to Greitgen Pletjes who was born on 26 November 1588 in Kempen, Hollandor possibly Germany. She was the daughter of Driessen (born c1550 and died on 27 December 1645) and Alet Göbels Pletjes (who died on 7 January 1640). Many believe that this Herman could have been a son of Abraham Graeff, but it has never been proven. Herman was a linenweaver and merchant, born of Mennonite parents of Aldekirk about 12 miles from Krefeld. Herman and his wife moved to Krefeld in 1605 (or1609?). During the Conference of Leading Mennonites in Dordrecht in 1632, he and another delegate from Krefeld signed the 18 Articles of their religious faith and he served as preacher in the congregation at Krefeld. In 1637, when contributions were requested for the oppressed Reformed Church in Sweebrucke, Herman contributed (from his own means) in the name of the small Krefeld congregation 25 Reich Thanker, while the Reformed Congregation in Krefeld contributed only 22 Reich Thanker. Among the oldest Mennonites of Krefeld, the op den Graeff family is one of the best known, since Herman op den Graeff was the first preacher of the Mennonite community who is known by name. Two glass paintings have been preserved from the Krefeld house of Herman op den Graeff, which had been in the Kaiser-Wilhelm Museum from 1894. The "Crefelder Zeitung" (a newspaper of that time) dated August 20, 1894, No. 421, describes these paintings, particularly the texts that were on the glass paintings at that time. Another reference about the glass paintings with a description of the Coat of Arms was found in the estate of W Niepoth (op den Graeff folder) in the archives of the city of Krefeld, who noted a letter dated November 17, 1935 from Richard Wolfferts 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." At a third point, Nieper mentions the two glass paintings, which were in the local historical museum of the Linn Castle at the time his book was published in 1940. They were apparently transferred to the Linn Castle when it was furnished from the Kaiser-Wilhelm museum. It was Nieper who finally published the texts on the glass paintings. It is thought that most of those spelling their names currently asUpdegraff, Updegraph, Updegrove, Uptegraff, Uptegraph, Uptegrave,Updegrove, Upthegrove, etc are all probably descended from this Hermanand Greitjen. The physical and mental characteristics of these personsseem to be persistent. They seem to be tall and spare in physique andhave strongly marked features. Some say that the family is French-German, but the name sounds more like Dutch. A hand Bible that was printed in Amsterdam in 1633 was located in Newberrytown, PA by Clyde Updegraff Shank, who did a lot of research. He placed the Bible in the York Co, PA Historical Society on 21 August 1957. The Bible was at one time in the possession of Peter Updegraff, son of Isaac. It was before 1609 (when the armistice between the Netherlands and Spain took place) when the Mennonite family op den Graef left Kempen and Aldekerk (Lower Rhine) and settled at Krefeld (about 12 miles away from Aldekerk), where they were tolerated under the reign of Prince Moritz of Orange. Krefeld was a small town of handicraftmen. DeGraeff was formerly the Von GROBER/GROBEN family. this family today shows the same coat-of-arms as the DeGraeff's. Herman was a dealer in linens. [Krefeld Imm V 4 #1 p 10; Op Den Graeff, v 1 LKS film 1036920#3; Pennsylvania Folk Life V3 #8] There is new evidence (but not proven) that Herman op den GRAFF(1585-1642), the celebrated Bishop of Krefeld Mennonites and a Signer of the Dordrecht Confession of 1632, was a morganatic (or natural son) of John William de la MARCH (1562-1609), the Graff von Alten (Count of Altena). This particular John William de la March is listed as the younger son and heir of William V of Cleves (1516-1592) and Mary of Habsburg (1530-1584), who was the Princess Imperial, Princess of the Romans and Duchess of Cleves, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I of Habsburg (1503-1564), niece of Charles V of Habsburg (1500-1558), the Holy Roman Emperor who presided over the sufferings of the Reformation. William V of Cleves parents were John Cleves III (1490-1539) and Mary of Julich-Berg (1491-1543). The morganatic mother of Herman has been TENTATIVELY identified as Anna van ALDEKERK (Dutch) or Anne de ALDEKERK (French) or Anna Cloister of Aldekerk, perhaps a former nun. [From: KREFELD IMMIGRANTS, Vol 8 #1 pp 9, 10, 16].

He Is the mystery of the Op Den Graff windows all serendipity? Did our
Bishop Hermen and his wife, Grietje attend Krefeld Market one day and find two or more window frames for their townhouse? The frames just happened to have hints of the Hebrew Cabala and signs of the Mysteries of the Rosary on them. Nevertheless, Hermen and Grietje decided such fancy work would be good advertising for the linen business and cloth
industry. Their Pletjes family niece, Margaret Jasper had married a
Van Der Schuren and migrated to Ireland to escape the ridiculous
Religious wars over church real estate and to invest in or inherit her
own real estate; and her crazy son from her second marriage (William
Penn, one of the largest real estate investors in history) had not yet
been born to sit down, as if in front of the second window, to write
or pen a pamphlet, entitled: "No Cross, No Crown."

So, after all this recitation, we are still confronted by a haunting
mystery displayed on a beautiful set of stained glass windows dated
1630 AD: One Hermen Op Den Graff, one Blessed Mother of Christ, one missing family seal, one family motto, two extant windows, two different Lohengrin Swan Seals, three shields of a multiple Dukedom, three rectangular insets, four family seals, five centuries of
Mennonite-Anabaptist Witness, twenty mystical circles of frame
decoration, twenty centuries of Apostolic Interrogation: Who shall
separate us from the love of God?

Readers of this Thesis are encouraged to discuss it with Glen Wayne Miller. Commentary, documentation and even logical speculation are welcome. You may write to: GW Miller, 136 West Price Street, Philadelphia, PA 19144 or Kevin L. Sholder, 414 Blackstone Dr., Centerville, OH 45459-4111.

He Herman op den Graef was born on 26 November 1585 in Aldekir (Allekirk), County of Muir, Germany near the border of Holland and died on 27 December 1642 at Krefeld, Germany. He was married in Krefeld on 8 June or August ( it is believed August) in 1605 to Greitgen Pletjes who was born on 26 November 1588 in Kempen, Hollandor possibly Germany. She was the daughter of Driessen (born c1550 and died on 27 December 1645) and Alet Göbels Pletjes (who died on 7 January 1640). Many believe that this Herman could have been a son of Abraham Graeff, but it has never been proven. Herman was a linenweaver and merchant, born of Mennonite parents of Aldekirk about 12 miles from Krefeld. Herman and his wife moved to Krefeld in 1605 (or1609?). During the Conference of Leading Mennonites in Dordrecht in 1632, he and another delegate from Krefeld signed the 18 Articles of their religious faith and he served as preacher in the congregation at Krefeld. In 1637, when contributions were requested for the oppressed Reformed Church in Sweebrucke, Herman contributed (from his own means) in the name of the small Krefeld congregation 25 Reich Thanker, while the Reformed Congregation in Krefeld contributed only 22 Reich Thanker.

Among the oldest Mennonites of Krefeld, the op den Graeff family is one of the best known, since Herman op den Graeff was the first preacher of the Mennonite community who is known by name.

Two glass paintings have been preserved from the Krefeld house of Herman op den Graeff, which had been in the Kaiser-Wilhelm Museum from 1894. The "Crefelder Zeitung" (a newspaper of that time) dated August 20, 1894, No. 421, describes these paintings, particularly the texts that were on the glass paintings at that time. Another reference about the glass paintings with a description of the Coat of Arms was found in the estate of W Niepoth (op den Graeff folder) in the archives of the city of Krefeld, who noted a letter dated November 17, 1935 from Richard Wolfferts 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." At a third point, Nieper mentions the two glass paintings, which were in the local historical museum of the Linn Castle at the time his book was published in 1940. They were apparently transferred to the Linn Castle when it was furnished from the Kaiser-Wilhelm museum. It was Nieper who finally published the texts on the glass paintings.

It is thought that most of those spelling their names currently asUpdegraff, Updegraph, Updegrove, Uptegraff, Uptegraph, Uptegrave,Updegrove, Upthegrove, etc are all probably descended from this Hermanand Greitjen. The physical and mental characteristics of these personsseem to be persistent. They seem to be tall and spare in physique andhave strongly marked features. Some say that the family is French-German, but the name sounds more like Dutch. A hand Bible that was printed in Amsterdam in 1633 was located in Newberrytown, PA by Clyde Updegraff Shank, who did a lot of research. He placed the Bible in the York Co, PA Historical Society on 21 August 1957. The Bible was at one time in the possession of Peter Updegraff, son of Isaac.

It was before 1609 (when the armistice between the Netherlands and Spain took place) when the Mennonite family op den Graef left Kempen and Aldekerk (Lower Rhine) and settled at Krefeld (about 12 miles away from Aldekerk), where they were tolerated under the reign of Prince Moritz of Orange. Krefeld was a small town of handicraftmen.

DeGraeff was formerly the Von GROBER/GROBEN family. this family today shows the same coat-of-arms as the DeGraeff's. Herman was a dealer in linens. [Krefeld Imm V 4 #1 p 10; Op Den Graeff, v 1 LKS film 1036920#3; Pennsylvania Folk Life V3 #8]

There is new evidence (but not proven) that Herman op den GRAFF(1585-1642), the celebrated Bishop of Krefeld Mennonites and a Signer of the Dordrecht Confession of 1632, was a morganatic (or natural son) of John William de la MARCH (1562-1609), the Graff von Alten (Count of Altena). This particular John William de la March is listed as the younger son and heir of William V of Cleves (1516-1592) and Mary of Habsburg (1530-1584), who was the Princess Imperial, Princess of the Romans and Duchess of Cleves, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I of Habsburg (1503-1564), niece of Charles V of Habsburg (1500-1558), the Holy Roman Emperor who presided over the sufferings of the Reformation. William V of Cleves parents were John Cleves III (1490-1539) and Mary of Julich-Berg (1491-1543). The morganatic mother of Herman has been TENTATIVELY identified as Anna van ALDEKERK (Dutch) or Anne de ALDEKERK (French) or Anna Cloister of Aldekerk, perhaps a former nun. [From: KREFELD IMMIGRANTS, Vol 8 #1 pp 9, 10, 16].

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