Groff family

Originating in Bäretswil, Switzerland, the Groff family (also Grove), originally spelled Graff, became during the early seventeenth century one of the founding families of both the United States and what was later to become Canada.

History

The family, known in the Swiss area since the middle of the 16th century, is an alleged branch of the German Op den Graeff family from Krefeld. Forced to convert from Catholicism to Protestantism in the early 16th century they became Anabaptists in 1560 and migrated from Switzerland to the area around Sinsheim, Germany around 1651. In 1695 Hans Graff migrated to Pennsylvania.

The Groff family has largely remained an East Coast family found both on the United States and Canadian sides of the border. In the United States the Groff family is most commonly found in southeastern Pennsylvania. In Canada, the Groff family is best known in the area around Markham, Ontario.

Ancestors

Hans Graff (1661–1746) founder of Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania was the uncle of the father of Jacob Groff. He is believed to be the oldest known member of the Groff family in North America and the holder of the title Baron von Welden of Grafenwald Castle near Bäretswil, Switzerland.

Family tree

The following is an approximate tree from the founder Abraham op den Graeff to Hans Graff/Groff:

1. Abraham op den Graeff (around 1485-1561)
   1. Isaac op den Graeff (1525/1530-?)
      1. Jacop op den Graeff (* 1560)
         1. Hans Anaptist Graf (1590-1633)
            1. Hans Jakob Graff (1616-1683)
               1. Marx Spoerri Graff (1640-1716)
                  1. Hans Graff/Groff (1661/1675-1746)

Other family members:

• Jacob Groff (1751–1824), was a prominent Pennsylvania American Revolutionary War soldier of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
  • Ulysses Grant Groff (1865–1950), was a noted philanthropist who donated tracts of land to Amherst College and the City of Amherst, Massachusetts
    • • Charles Wister Groff (1898–1987), a renowned real estate developer and philanthropist

Connections to other prominent families

de Beauvoir / Beaver family connections

Susan Beaver (1826–1908) married John Groff (1819–1885) on October 11, 1848 and had eleven children, among them Ulysses Grant Groff.

Eisenhower family connections

Hans Peter Isenhower (1716–1795) married Elizabeth Graf (granddaughter of Michael Groff) in 1770.