(1649–1731),
Derick op den Graeff (1646–1697) and
David Benjamin Updegraff (1789–1864); sketch by
Matthias Laurenz Gräff (2023) Born near
Mount Pleasant, Ohio, a descendant of the German and Dutch
Op den Graeff family, Jonathan was the son of
David Benjamin Updegraff, a
Quaker minister, and grandson of
Nathan Updegraff, a delegate to Ohio's
first constitutional convention. He was also a direct descendant of
Herman op den Graeff,
mennonite leader of
Krefeld, and his grandson
Abraham op den Graeff, one of the founders of
Germantown and in 1688 signer of the
first protest against slavery in colonial America. Jonathan attended private schools and
Franklin College. He studied medicine. He was graduated from the
University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1845 and later from medical schools in
Edinburgh and
Paris. Although he practiced his profession, he devoted a large share of his time to agricultural pursuits. He served as a surgeon in the
Union Army during the
Civil War. He served in the State senate in 1872 and 1873, and as a
Presidential elector for
Grant/
Wilson in 1872. He served as delegate to the Republican State convention in 1873 and to the
1876 Republican National Convention.
Congress Updegraff was elected as a
Republican to the
Forty-sixth and
Forty-seventh Congresses and served from March 4, 1879, until his death in
Mount Pleasant, Ohio, November 30, 1882. More than 2000 people viewed his corpse at the
Friends Meetinghouse. He served as chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor (Forty-seventh Congress). Updegraff had been reelected to the
Forty-eighth Congress prior to his death, and his position was filled by
Joseph D. Taylor.
Death and burial He was initially interred in Updegraff Cemetery, near
Mount Pleasant, Ohio but was later reinterred in Short Creek Cemetery, west of Mount Pleasant, in 1926.
Legacy The house built by Updegraff in 1856 remains in Mount Pleasant.
Coat of arms (Heraldic representation by
Matthias Laurenz Gräff based on the Krefeld Op den Graeff stained glass window from 1630, which may depict the “Lohengrin swan” of the Kleve coat of arms in one window) There is a reference about the Op den Graeff glass paintings of
Krefeld with a description of Herman op den Graeffs possible, but not proven 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''. ==See also==