Individual Details
Abraham Isaac Op den Graeff
(1660 - 25 Mar 1731)
Abraham OPDEGRAEF, by deed dated 4, 1mo. 1689, granted to Jacob SHOEMAKER of Germantown, 125 acres, part of the above 2,000 acres in several parcels, viz: Parcels in Germantown the One containing 21 1/4 acres and the other 28 3/4 acres, being both together 50 acres, and 50 acres in Krisheim, the other 25 in Crevelt. 1698, 10 Oct - 91 acres in Creveld, Germantownship, PA were conveyed as a "Deed of Gift" by Abraham Op Den Graeff to "Richard Adams and Gertien his wife, the daughter of the aforesaid Abraham up den graef. This transcription shows also the 1703 indenture of Thomas Williams and his wife Mary selling 81 acres of the land "lying at Creveld in the Germantownshp, which had been sold to them by Richard Adams and his wife Gertien
The Germantown town lots (55) were located in 1687, and were drawn for by lot in 1689, being 27 1/2 lots on each side of the road. Their side lots up town being from Abington lane, (at Samuel Johnson's) and went up to the foot of the hill by Leibert's board yard. The original price of the township of Germantown was 1s. per acre.
The original of the following curious paper is in the hands of John Johnson, Esquire.
"We whose names appear are to these presents subsribed, do hereby certify unto all whom it may concern, that soon after our arrival in this province of Pennsylvania, in October, 1683, to our certain knowledge Herman of de Graff, Dirk op den Graff, and Abraham op den Graff, as well as ourselves, in the care of Francis Daniel Pastorius, at Philadelphia, did cast lots for the respective lots which they and we then begain to settle in Germantown; and the said Graffs (three brothers) have sold their several lots, each by himself, no less than if a division in writing had been made by them. Witness our hands this 29th Nov., A.D. 1709.
Lenart Arets Thomas Hunder Abraham Tunes
Jan Lensen William Streygert Jan Lucken
Reiner Tysen”
I have Abraham op den Graeff, son of Isaac ( b. Feb. 28, 1616; d. Jan 17, 1679) and grandson of Herman op den Graeff, a delegate to the Mennonite convention at Dororecht in 1632, who wed, Aug 16, 1605, Grietje (b. Nov 26,
1588, d. Jan 7, 1643) daughter of Driessen Pletjes of Kempen, by his wife Alet (wed Dec 13, 1584; d. Mar 16, 1615) daughter of Syllis Goebels.
He and his brother Dirck and Herman on Jun 11, 1683 bought 2000 acres around
Germantown and along the Perkiomen, and with their sister Margaretha arrived at Philadelphia on Oct 13, 1683. Abraham op den Graeff was a Burgess of Germantown and a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly.
He sold his house at Germantown on May 16, 1704, and thereafter lived in "The Dutch township" along the Perkionen, where he died before Mar 27, 1731, when his tract of 530 acres was divided among his surviving children.
In 1698 (7 day, 6 mo) Abraham had given to his daughter Gertien and her Husband Richard Addams 91 acres in what is now Chestnut Hill, Germantown, Penn.
Children:
1. Isaac wed before Mar 27, 1731, Mary
2. Jacob wed Apr 29, 1712, Anneken in de Haven
3. Anneken wed Feb 16, 1710/11 Herman in de Haven
4. Gertien wed Richard Addams
5. Margaretha wed before Aug 27, 1709, Thomas How
He is the ancestor of all who bear his name in Pennsylvania. One of his two sons and one of his two daughters who left issue married children of Evert Indenhoeven. (Dehaven). One of the first Burgesses and Bailiffs of Germantown in addition to being on the Concord in 1683. A member of the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania in 1689-90-92. Also town exectuive, committeman etc. In 1709 he purchased a large tract of land in "van Bebber's Townsip, in the Perkiomen region of Philadelphia County. Part of the 6,616 acres taken up there by Matthias Van Bebber in 1704. Later partioned among a number of the Germantown settlers and later German immigrants. Abraham's land wqas in what became Perkiomen and Skippac twp in 1725. He died there and was buried in the old Mennonite burial ground at Skppackville. Also described as near Evansburg, PA. It looks like the Op den Graeff brothers had land both in Germantown, and possibly 2000 acres from Jacob Telner, agent for the Frankfort Co, in Amsterdam in 1683, and drew lots for land in Germatnown which they later sold. Also they settled next to each other in Germantown and took up weaving and public affairs. He conveyed his 50 acres in Germantown to Jacob Shoemaker, who gave it to the Germantown Quakers for meeting house. They never divided the original 2000 acres but each convetyed some of it, the remainder came to Abraham as surviving brother.
"Over the years there seems to have been a decline in the respect held towards him by Germantown settlers. His personality, which seems to have been difficult, as is evident from his increasing appearances in the Germantown court, may have been mostly responsible for this development. Excepting the recording of deeds two appearances as a juror, in 1702 and 1703, and a debt case in 1704, most of Op den Graef's court appearances involved personal infringements of the law. Thus he was twice cited and fined for neglecting his fences, he was deemed responsible for the repeated misdeeds of his children, he let his hogs run loose, and he verbally abused people, who then abused him in return. ...In March 1704 Op de Graef was convicted of abusing the bailiff in open court..." (House of Representatives, Pennsylvania, 1991, "Lawmaking and Legislators in Pennsylvania: A Biographical Dictionary".
His last years were marked by trouble; his fences over which he had quarrelled w neighbors were condmened as insufficient. He quarrelled with the sheriff over how much he had to pay for the legal costs associated with his son's unauthorized appropriation of a neighbor's horse. He was sued in 1704 by a neighbor for money due on purchased goods- and he was hardly a poor man. "That same year, an old Krefeld neighbor and fellow-pilgrim, Veit, or David Scherkes, declared that "no honest man woud be in Abraham's company" and when Abraham sued him for slander, David was acquitted." (Dutch Quakers)
The fact that Abraham with Pastorus were the only two from Germantown who served as provincial assemblymen during the colony's first three decades has been interepreted to suggest that they both spoke English well, and were the only residents of GErmantown who did so. (PA House of Representatives, Lawmaking and Legislators in Pennsylvania)
In 1688 Abraham and Herman Op den graeff and another man, and Pastorus, met at Conrad Kunder's home to draft a resolution in opposition to salvery, supposedly put in writing by Pastorus; they presented it at their monthly meeting, which reffered it up the Quaker chain of meetings as too weighty to deal with until it reached the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. A slave ship had sailed intoPhiladelphia, allegedly the slaves were bought up by wealthy Philadelphia Quakers. Allegedly, most wealthy Englishmen in Philadelphia owned slaves, and the GErmans at Germantown all opposed slavery, allegedly because of their history of having been oppressed in Germany!
The Germantown town lots (55) were located in 1687, and were drawn for by lot in 1689, being 27 1/2 lots on each side of the road. Their side lots up town being from Abington lane, (at Samuel Johnson's) and went up to the foot of the hill by Leibert's board yard. The original price of the township of Germantown was 1s. per acre.
The original of the following curious paper is in the hands of John Johnson, Esquire.
"We whose names appear are to these presents subsribed, do hereby certify unto all whom it may concern, that soon after our arrival in this province of Pennsylvania, in October, 1683, to our certain knowledge Herman of de Graff, Dirk op den Graff, and Abraham op den Graff, as well as ourselves, in the care of Francis Daniel Pastorius, at Philadelphia, did cast lots for the respective lots which they and we then begain to settle in Germantown; and the said Graffs (three brothers) have sold their several lots, each by himself, no less than if a division in writing had been made by them. Witness our hands this 29th Nov., A.D. 1709.
Lenart Arets Thomas Hunder Abraham Tunes
Jan Lensen William Streygert Jan Lucken
Reiner Tysen”
I have Abraham op den Graeff, son of Isaac ( b. Feb. 28, 1616; d. Jan 17, 1679) and grandson of Herman op den Graeff, a delegate to the Mennonite convention at Dororecht in 1632, who wed, Aug 16, 1605, Grietje (b. Nov 26,
1588, d. Jan 7, 1643) daughter of Driessen Pletjes of Kempen, by his wife Alet (wed Dec 13, 1584; d. Mar 16, 1615) daughter of Syllis Goebels.
He and his brother Dirck and Herman on Jun 11, 1683 bought 2000 acres around
Germantown and along the Perkiomen, and with their sister Margaretha arrived at Philadelphia on Oct 13, 1683. Abraham op den Graeff was a Burgess of Germantown and a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly.
He sold his house at Germantown on May 16, 1704, and thereafter lived in "The Dutch township" along the Perkionen, where he died before Mar 27, 1731, when his tract of 530 acres was divided among his surviving children.
In 1698 (7 day, 6 mo) Abraham had given to his daughter Gertien and her Husband Richard Addams 91 acres in what is now Chestnut Hill, Germantown, Penn.
Children:
1. Isaac wed before Mar 27, 1731, Mary
2. Jacob wed Apr 29, 1712, Anneken in de Haven
3. Anneken wed Feb 16, 1710/11 Herman in de Haven
4. Gertien wed Richard Addams
5. Margaretha wed before Aug 27, 1709, Thomas How
He is the ancestor of all who bear his name in Pennsylvania. One of his two sons and one of his two daughters who left issue married children of Evert Indenhoeven. (Dehaven). One of the first Burgesses and Bailiffs of Germantown in addition to being on the Concord in 1683. A member of the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania in 1689-90-92. Also town exectuive, committeman etc. In 1709 he purchased a large tract of land in "van Bebber's Townsip, in the Perkiomen region of Philadelphia County. Part of the 6,616 acres taken up there by Matthias Van Bebber in 1704. Later partioned among a number of the Germantown settlers and later German immigrants. Abraham's land wqas in what became Perkiomen and Skippac twp in 1725. He died there and was buried in the old Mennonite burial ground at Skppackville. Also described as near Evansburg, PA. It looks like the Op den Graeff brothers had land both in Germantown, and possibly 2000 acres from Jacob Telner, agent for the Frankfort Co, in Amsterdam in 1683, and drew lots for land in Germatnown which they later sold. Also they settled next to each other in Germantown and took up weaving and public affairs. He conveyed his 50 acres in Germantown to Jacob Shoemaker, who gave it to the Germantown Quakers for meeting house. They never divided the original 2000 acres but each convetyed some of it, the remainder came to Abraham as surviving brother.
"Over the years there seems to have been a decline in the respect held towards him by Germantown settlers. His personality, which seems to have been difficult, as is evident from his increasing appearances in the Germantown court, may have been mostly responsible for this development. Excepting the recording of deeds two appearances as a juror, in 1702 and 1703, and a debt case in 1704, most of Op den Graef's court appearances involved personal infringements of the law. Thus he was twice cited and fined for neglecting his fences, he was deemed responsible for the repeated misdeeds of his children, he let his hogs run loose, and he verbally abused people, who then abused him in return. ...In March 1704 Op de Graef was convicted of abusing the bailiff in open court..." (House of Representatives, Pennsylvania, 1991, "Lawmaking and Legislators in Pennsylvania: A Biographical Dictionary".
His last years were marked by trouble; his fences over which he had quarrelled w neighbors were condmened as insufficient. He quarrelled with the sheriff over how much he had to pay for the legal costs associated with his son's unauthorized appropriation of a neighbor's horse. He was sued in 1704 by a neighbor for money due on purchased goods- and he was hardly a poor man. "That same year, an old Krefeld neighbor and fellow-pilgrim, Veit, or David Scherkes, declared that "no honest man woud be in Abraham's company" and when Abraham sued him for slander, David was acquitted." (Dutch Quakers)
The fact that Abraham with Pastorus were the only two from Germantown who served as provincial assemblymen during the colony's first three decades has been interepreted to suggest that they both spoke English well, and were the only residents of GErmantown who did so. (PA House of Representatives, Lawmaking and Legislators in Pennsylvania)
In 1688 Abraham and Herman Op den graeff and another man, and Pastorus, met at Conrad Kunder's home to draft a resolution in opposition to salvery, supposedly put in writing by Pastorus; they presented it at their monthly meeting, which reffered it up the Quaker chain of meetings as too weighty to deal with until it reached the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. A slave ship had sailed intoPhiladelphia, allegedly the slaves were bought up by wealthy Philadelphia Quakers. Allegedly, most wealthy Englishmen in Philadelphia owned slaves, and the GErmans at Germantown all opposed slavery, allegedly because of their history of having been oppressed in Germany!
Events
| Birth | 1660 | Krefeld, Germany | |||
| Marriage | 23 Jul 1679 | Krefeld Reformed Church, Crefeld, Germany - Catherina Trintje Jansen | |||
| Death | 25 Mar 1731 | Skippack, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||
| Burial | Skippack Memorial Cemetery, Pennsylvania |
Families
| Spouse | Catherina Trintje Jansen (1648 - 1710) |
| Child | Jacob Op den Graeff (1687 - 1750) |
| Child | Isaac Op den Graeff ( - ) |
| Child | Margaret Op den Graeff (1667 - 1748) |
| Child | Anneken Op den Graeff (1684 - ) |
| Child | Elizabeth Op den Graeff ( - 1711) |
| Child | Gertian Op den graef (1680 - 1747) |
| Father | Isaaks Hermans Op den Graeff (1616 - 1669) |
| Mother | Greitjen Peiters (1620 - 1683) |
| Sibling | Dirck Op den Graeff (1642 - 1697) |
| Sibling | Herman Isaacs Op den Graeff (1644 - 1704) |
| Sibling | Margrit Isacks Op Den Graef (1645 - 1685) |
| Sibling | Adolphus Op Den Graef (1648 - ) |
| Sibling | Vonder Op Den Graef (1651 - ) |
| Sibling | Margaretha Op den Graeff (1651 - ) |
| Sibling | Jacob Op den graeff (1653 - ) |