| Abraham op den Graeff | |
|---|---|
| Representative, Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly | |
| In office 1689–1692 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | c 1649 Krefeld, Germany |
| Died | 1731 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Profession | Politician, merchant |
Abraham Isacks op den Graeff (c 1649-1731) was an original settler of Germantown, Pennsylvania as well as a politician, award-winning merchant, and signer of the first organized religious protest against slavery in colonial America. He was a subject of John Greenleaf Whittiers poem "The Pennsylvania Pilgrim".
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Abraham op den Graeff was born in c 1649 in Krefeld, Germany, the son of Isaac Herman op den Graeff and grandson of Herman op den Graeff. He took up the profession of linen merchant, and was a member of the Mennonite church. In the summer of 1683 left Rotterdam, immigrating to the Pennsylvania Province along with his mother and siblings aboard the ship "Concord".[1][2][3]
Abraham op den Graeff and his family were one of the original 13 which settled Germantown, comprising 33 in total.[2] There he helped established the linen industry, winning the first Governor's prize from William Penn, a cousin of Abraham, in 1686 for the finest piece of linen woven in the Province.[4] In 1688, Abraham along with three others signed the first organized religious petition against slavery in the colonies, the 1688 Germantown Quaker Petition Against Slavery. In 1689, he was one of the original charter grantees for the settlement, and that year was elected to the Provinicial Assembly, representing the settlement until 1692.[5][6] He would also serve as a burgess of Germantown.[7]
Abraham was a subject of John Greenleaf Whittier's abolitionist poem "The Pennsylvania Pilgrim", published in 1809.[8]
His descendants named Opdegraf(f), Updegraf (f), Updegrave, Updegrove and Updegraph. Pennsylvania Governor Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker was the fourth great-grandson of Abraham.[9]