| Herman op den Graeff | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of the Mennonites | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 26, 1585 Aldekerk, Germany |
| Died | December 27, 1642 Krefeld, Germany |
| Nationality | German |
| Denomination | Christianity |
| Occupation | Linen weaver |
| Profession | merchant |
Herman op den Graeff (Aldekerk, 26 November 1585 - Krefeld, 27 December 1642) was a Mennonite community leader and bishop from Krefeld.
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Herman op den Graeff was born November 26, 1585 in Aldekerk, Germany, the son of disputed origins.
During the Thirty Years' War, many genealogical records housed in churches were destroyed, and attempts to reconstruct Op den Graeff's genealogy were made in the late 1600s in Germany. One reconstruction, entitled "The Works of Gabriel Bincelint" and printed in 1662, had Herman descending from the House of Graben von Stein through Wolfgang von Graben.[1] The De Graeff line of the Netherlands which descended from Wolfgang von Graben were a family of merchants who later became Dutch patrician regents and nobles. Another reconstruction had Op den Graeff descending from the House of Cleves, including possibly through John II, Duke of Cleves' "kindermacher" lines.[2][3]
Archeological evidence, such as a coat-of-arms in his possession, suggest a descent from the House of Cleves.[4][5] Biographical sources suggest one of his parents was surnamed Van de Aldekerk.[6] When he married, he was registered as Herman zu Graff allegedly.[6] The family legend thus equates him as being an illegitimate descendant from the House of Cleves paternally who was given his mother's maternal name from the House of Graben von Stein.[7]
Despite this, his origins remain disputed and claims of descent from the House of Cleves and House of Graben von Stein are unproven.
Herman op den Graeff was a wealthy linen weaver and merchant. In 1605 he removed to Kempen where he met and married on August 6, 1605 Greitgen Pletjes (or Greitje Pletjes) (1588–1643).[6] They moved to Krefeld in 1609.[6]
In Krefeld Op den Graeff became a leader and bishop of the Mennonite community, and in 1632 was one of two Krefeld Mennonite Church delegates to sign the Confessions of Faith.
Some of Herman up den Graeff's descendents migrated to the United States. They are among the thirteen families often referred to as the Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Founders, who arrived on the ship Concord on October 6, 1683.[8][9][10] Among these families were three op den Graeff brothers, including grandson Abraham op den Graeff, a cousin of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania Governor Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker was Herman's sixth-great grandson.[11]
A fictional book published in 2011 by Nancy Dellinger entitled the "The Legend of the Lohengrin Swan" plots Op den Graeff as a central figure leading during the tumultuous religious divisions and wars of the period.[5][12]