Individual Details
Agnes Neesgen Op Den Graeff
(1614 - Abt 1691)
Her name is known to be Agnes or Neess; most people think she was Hillekrin Op den Graeff the daughter of Herman Op den Graef the Mennonite bishop of Crefeld, and a sister of Isaac Hermans who was father to the three Op den graeff brothers who came to Germantown, but I haven't seen on what this is based, and it appears not to be proven.
Her identity is unknown,
and extremely controversial. Three known copies exist of
a 17th century Krefeld family genealogy called the
Scheuten manuscript. One of these copies, which were all
handmade, was altered in an attempt to both make the
Op den Graeff's ancestral to ALL of the founding families
of Germantown, and give the Op den Graeff's royal ancestry.
The Op den Graeff's have always been intense, mystical,
and over the edge, and in this country, prone to various mental health
problems, and they remain so to this day. No other
evidence exists for any of it, and indeed, the other two
editions of the Scheuten manuscript give Hermann Op den
Graeff, the mystic and Mennonite leader of Crefeld, quite
commonplace albeit possibly prominent among Mennonites,
Mennonite ancestry. The altered edition of the Scheuten
manuscripts states that this Agnes/ Neesgen, which is a
Dutch diminutive form of Agnes, was Hillekren, a daughter
of Herman Op den Graeff. The names don't even match up.
There is better evidence for another claim made by the
altered version of the Scheuten manuscript, which is that
the wife of Isaac Herman Op den Graeff, who was the father
of all three Op dengraeff brothers who came to this country,
and thus ancestral to all Op den Graff's in this country,
was a sister of Theiss Doors. Her name was Margaret
Greitjen Peters. Krefeld had a larger thriving Mennonite
community than often comes across from descriptions of
the history of the group who left for Germantown, and they
had close relations with the Mennonite community in
Cresheim or Kriegsheim. A small group of families who
founded Germantown, had become Quakers. This Margaret was the daughter of
someone named Peter. It could have been any Peter, and it
could well have been a different Peter. Theiss' father was
Peter Doors, and he is the only Peter in the area I've seen
any mention of, anywhere. Of course, that would make
all of the Op den graff's in this country, with their
crotchety, intense temperament and tendency to alcoholism
similar to that of the Dehavens, descendants of the aunt of
Gertrude Doors, who had that bout of psychotic depression.
The records show the following about this family; Sometime
before 1655, Theiss Doors left the CAtholic Church and became
a Mennonite. An effort was made to expel him from Kaldenkirchen.
He was fined 100 gold guilders for some violation. He was
unable to pay the fine, and the authorities confiscasted the
goods in his shop to meet it. The bailfiff at Kaldenkirchen
entered the Doors home, and got into an argument with Agnes
Doors, who was soon to give birth to a baby, abused her, and
struck her hardin the face. Charges were filed, and the case
was eventually taken before Elector Philipp Wilhelm, Duke of
Julich, who decreed that theiss could stay on in Kaldenkirchen
and was nt to be further molested.
Agnes had entered their children in the Reformed Church school
but to ease the stress and pressure from the officials, they changed
their children to the Catholic schoo, and had their infant
Margarita baptized Catholic in 1655.
But by 1/20/1656 the family had chnged to the Reformed Chruch and
attended there for three months. The trial record said that
"Theiss Gohrs or Peterschen (Doors) b at Kaldenkirchen of
Catholic parents, later adhering to the Anabaptist sect (joined
the Reformed Church three mos ago but did this only to escape
persecution. (from Charles Custer)
===================================================
Agnes/Nessgen/Hillikren/Nie/Nees/Neessgen Op Den Graef b 1614 Germany
d 1691 m Theis/Matthias Doors, parents of Gertrude Doors married
Paulus Kester, son of a Roman Catholic who had converted to the
REformed faith (Niepoth). *** My ancestor. ***
Go to my Doors/ Kester (Kusters) page
According to Shirley Webb, some of Theiss Doors' children used the
surname "Theisson" (Tyson) while others retain Doors and variations.
References to Streypers brothers fooled people about Gertrude's
identity for a long time; they were brothers in law.
Hillikren is allegedly the form in which this name appears on assorted
peoples'lists of the 18 children of Herman the bishop.
The entire source of this idea turns out to be the Scheuten Manuscripts;
it is presented on the genealogical tables of the Op den Graeff family,
along with HErman's noble parentage and the notion that his wife was
a Plantagenet, all with no evidence to support it whatsover. It is
not even clear that the dates the author of the Scheuten manuscripts
provides for the birth and death of Hillekren are not borrowed from
the known atleast approximate dates of birth and death of Agnes/ Nees
Doors! Not everyone pays any attention at all to ANY of the information
in the Scheuten manuscripts, including most scolars of the Krefeld
emigrants, and White, author of the Castor genealogy.
I think it's an interesting idea, there are important reasons to
check into it, such as Herman's temperament and GErtrude Doors'
attack of serious mental illness following the birth of her son
Reinard; notice the accompanying idea that a sister of the father
of Gertrude Doors married Isaac Hermans Op den Graeff and thus
became the ancestor of all who bear the Op den graeff name in this
country with their legendary temperament and mental health problems.
But nothing exists to support it. As far as linguistic analysis,
I'm having trouble getting from Agnes/ Neess/ Nys/ Nes to Hillekren;
the only possible path I can see is via the name HElen, and this isn't
among the myriad forms of that name that I know of. Certainly there
are probably a very limited number of girls the right age who COULD
have married Herman, but on the other hand Mennonites were migrating
during that time and they also occasionally came over to the Krefeld
area from nearby towns like Goch.
From addenda in the fall 1998 issue of Krefeld IMmigrants, it becomes
evident that this connection is made only on one or two VERSIONS of
the Scheuten Manuscripts! Iris JOnes presents the tables of
Herman's immediate family from a different copy of the manuscripts;
specific rather than vague dates are provided for HIllekrin, and
WHO SHE MARRIED IS UNKNOWN - on all three charts dealing with her.
[Phil's Copy.FTW]
IGI #K972811
Her identity is unknown,
and extremely controversial. Three known copies exist of
a 17th century Krefeld family genealogy called the
Scheuten manuscript. One of these copies, which were all
handmade, was altered in an attempt to both make the
Op den Graeff's ancestral to ALL of the founding families
of Germantown, and give the Op den Graeff's royal ancestry.
The Op den Graeff's have always been intense, mystical,
and over the edge, and in this country, prone to various mental health
problems, and they remain so to this day. No other
evidence exists for any of it, and indeed, the other two
editions of the Scheuten manuscript give Hermann Op den
Graeff, the mystic and Mennonite leader of Crefeld, quite
commonplace albeit possibly prominent among Mennonites,
Mennonite ancestry. The altered edition of the Scheuten
manuscripts states that this Agnes/ Neesgen, which is a
Dutch diminutive form of Agnes, was Hillekren, a daughter
of Herman Op den Graeff. The names don't even match up.
There is better evidence for another claim made by the
altered version of the Scheuten manuscript, which is that
the wife of Isaac Herman Op den Graeff, who was the father
of all three Op dengraeff brothers who came to this country,
and thus ancestral to all Op den Graff's in this country,
was a sister of Theiss Doors. Her name was Margaret
Greitjen Peters. Krefeld had a larger thriving Mennonite
community than often comes across from descriptions of
the history of the group who left for Germantown, and they
had close relations with the Mennonite community in
Cresheim or Kriegsheim. A small group of families who
founded Germantown, had become Quakers. This Margaret was the daughter of
someone named Peter. It could have been any Peter, and it
could well have been a different Peter. Theiss' father was
Peter Doors, and he is the only Peter in the area I've seen
any mention of, anywhere. Of course, that would make
all of the Op den graff's in this country, with their
crotchety, intense temperament and tendency to alcoholism
similar to that of the Dehavens, descendants of the aunt of
Gertrude Doors, who had that bout of psychotic depression.
The records show the following about this family; Sometime
before 1655, Theiss Doors left the CAtholic Church and became
a Mennonite. An effort was made to expel him from Kaldenkirchen.
He was fined 100 gold guilders for some violation. He was
unable to pay the fine, and the authorities confiscasted the
goods in his shop to meet it. The bailfiff at Kaldenkirchen
entered the Doors home, and got into an argument with Agnes
Doors, who was soon to give birth to a baby, abused her, and
struck her hardin the face. Charges were filed, and the case
was eventually taken before Elector Philipp Wilhelm, Duke of
Julich, who decreed that theiss could stay on in Kaldenkirchen
and was nt to be further molested.
Agnes had entered their children in the Reformed Church school
but to ease the stress and pressure from the officials, they changed
their children to the Catholic schoo, and had their infant
Margarita baptized Catholic in 1655.
But by 1/20/1656 the family had chnged to the Reformed Chruch and
attended there for three months. The trial record said that
"Theiss Gohrs or Peterschen (Doors) b at Kaldenkirchen of
Catholic parents, later adhering to the Anabaptist sect (joined
the Reformed Church three mos ago but did this only to escape
persecution. (from Charles Custer)
===================================================
Agnes/Nessgen/Hillikren/Nie/Nees/Neessgen Op Den Graef b 1614 Germany
d 1691 m Theis/Matthias Doors, parents of Gertrude Doors married
Paulus Kester, son of a Roman Catholic who had converted to the
REformed faith (Niepoth). *** My ancestor. ***
Go to my Doors/ Kester (Kusters) page
According to Shirley Webb, some of Theiss Doors' children used the
surname "Theisson" (Tyson) while others retain Doors and variations.
References to Streypers brothers fooled people about Gertrude's
identity for a long time; they were brothers in law.
Hillikren is allegedly the form in which this name appears on assorted
peoples'lists of the 18 children of Herman the bishop.
The entire source of this idea turns out to be the Scheuten Manuscripts;
it is presented on the genealogical tables of the Op den Graeff family,
along with HErman's noble parentage and the notion that his wife was
a Plantagenet, all with no evidence to support it whatsover. It is
not even clear that the dates the author of the Scheuten manuscripts
provides for the birth and death of Hillekren are not borrowed from
the known atleast approximate dates of birth and death of Agnes/ Nees
Doors! Not everyone pays any attention at all to ANY of the information
in the Scheuten manuscripts, including most scolars of the Krefeld
emigrants, and White, author of the Castor genealogy.
I think it's an interesting idea, there are important reasons to
check into it, such as Herman's temperament and GErtrude Doors'
attack of serious mental illness following the birth of her son
Reinard; notice the accompanying idea that a sister of the father
of Gertrude Doors married Isaac Hermans Op den Graeff and thus
became the ancestor of all who bear the Op den graeff name in this
country with their legendary temperament and mental health problems.
But nothing exists to support it. As far as linguistic analysis,
I'm having trouble getting from Agnes/ Neess/ Nys/ Nes to Hillekren;
the only possible path I can see is via the name HElen, and this isn't
among the myriad forms of that name that I know of. Certainly there
are probably a very limited number of girls the right age who COULD
have married Herman, but on the other hand Mennonites were migrating
during that time and they also occasionally came over to the Krefeld
area from nearby towns like Goch.
From addenda in the fall 1998 issue of Krefeld IMmigrants, it becomes
evident that this connection is made only on one or two VERSIONS of
the Scheuten Manuscripts! Iris JOnes presents the tables of
Herman's immediate family from a different copy of the manuscripts;
specific rather than vague dates are provided for HIllekrin, and
WHO SHE MARRIED IS UNKNOWN - on all three charts dealing with her.
[Phil's Copy.FTW]
IGI #K972811
Events
| Birth | 1614 | Alderker, Juli, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany |  | ||
| Marriage | Abt 1640 | Mathias Dohrs | | ||
| Death | Abt 1691 | Krefeld, Krefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany | | ||
| Church | Reformed Church, Kaldenkirchen |
Families
| Spouse | Mathias Dohrs (1614 - 1663) |
| Child | Reiner Theissen (1659 - 1745) |
| Child | Entgen Anna Doors (1641 - 1700) |
| Child | Gertrudje Theisson Doors (1645 - 1707) |
| Child | Cornelius Theissen (1652 - 1716) |
| Child | Agnes Doors (1654 - ) |
| Child | Derek Tyson (1657 - 1683) |
| Child | Peter Tyson Doors (1643 - ) |
| Child | Johanna Doors (1649 - ) |
| Child | Elizabeth Doors (1647 - ) |
| Child | Margarita Doors (1655 - ) |
| Child | Mary Tyson (1660 - 1742) |
| Child | Hermann Doors (1663 - 1739) |
| Child | Elin Magadalen Tyson (1650 - 1729) |
| Father | Hermann Op Den Graef (1585 - 1642) |
| Mother | Gretjen Driessen Pletjes (1588 - 1643) |
| Sibling | Unknown Op Den Graeff (1606 - ) |
| Sibling | Hester Pletjes Op Den Graeff (1607 - 1657) |
| Sibling | Trinken (Dinken) Op den Graeff (1607 - 1608) |
| Sibling | Abraham Op den Graeff (1610 - 1654) |
| Sibling | Trinken (Dinken) Op den Graef (1611 - 1658) |
| Sibling | Isaaks Hermans Op den Graeff (1616 - 1669) |
| Sibling | Unknown Op Den Graeff (1620 - ) |
| Sibling | Dirck Isaacks Op den Graeff (1621 - 1697) |
| Sibling | Daughter Op den Graeff (1622 - 1622) |
| Sibling | Alletjin Op Den Graeff (1623 - 1706) |
| Sibling | Frinken Op Den Graeff (1628 - ) |
| Sibling | Sophia Op den Graeff (1629 - ) |
| Sibling | Susanna Op Den Graeff (1629 - 1714) |
| Sibling | Andreas Op den Graeff (1631 - ) |
| Sibling | Jacob Op Den Graeff (1634 - 1634) |
| Sibling | Fricken (Frincken) Op den Graeff ( - ) |
| Sibling | Alletjen Op den Graeff ( - ) |
| Sibling | Child Op den Graeff ( - ) |
Endnotes
1. Rohlfing, John H., The Rohlfing-Spurgeon Family Tree - Rootsweb File the rohlfings@comcast.net.
2. .
3. The Decendeants of Paulus and Gertrude Kusters, p 48.
4. Brøderbund WFT Vol. 6, Ed. 1, Tree #1395, Date of Import: Dec 29, 1996The Descendants of Paulus and Gertrude Kusters.
5. Brøderbund WFT Vol. 6, Ed. 1, Tree #1395, Date of Import: Dec 29, 1996Dohrs or Theissens by Neipoth translated by Aelmor.
6. The Decendeants of Paulus and Gertrude Kusters, p 48.
7. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, International Genealogical Index.
8. Brøderbund WFT Vol. 6, Ed. 1, Tree #1395, Date of Import: Dec 29, 1996.