Vries, de, family

Hugo de Vries (1848-1935), Botanist and Geneticist
Source: Wikipedia Commons

De Vries, a common Dutch family name, both Men­nonite and non-Mennonite, found in nearly every Mennonite congregation, and in several unrelated families.

A prominent and widely ramified Mennonite de Vries family is found in Amsterdam. Its ancestor Wouter Takes (ca. 1650-1728) settled as a butter mer­chant at Amsterdam ca. 1689. He came from IJlst in Friesland and for this reason he was called de Vries, i.e., the Frisian. His son Gerrit de Vries (1691-1754) was an important merchant as were his sons and his grandsons. Among his descendants were the Men­nonite pastors Abraham de Vries (1773-1862) and Jeronimo de Vries (1838-1915). Outstand­ing members of this family were Gerrit Abrahamszoon de Vries (1818-1900), a son of Pastor Abraham de Vries, who was a lawyer at Haarlem and in 1872-1874 Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, later Privy Coun­cillor of the Netherlands. He was a deacon of the Haarlem congregation from 1842 until he moved to The Hague in 1882. His son was the famous botan­ist Hugo de Vries (1848-1935). Matthias de Vries (1820-1892), also a son of Pastor Abraham de Vries, was professor of Dutch literature at the universities of Groningen (1849-1853) and Leiden (1853-1890); Je­ronimo de Vries (1776-1853), during his life noted as a literary man, editor of Vondel's works, numismatist and art connoisseur, deacon at Amster­dam and trustee of the  Algemeene Doopsgezinde Sociëteit in 1827-1852, moderator 1842-1843, and curator of its seminary, and his sons Jeronimo de Vries (1808-1880), district judge at Amsterdam, author of juridical works, and Abra­ham de Vries (1817-1879), justice in the court of Amsterdam, both of whom served the Amsterdam con­gregation as deacons, Jeronimo also as a trustee of the  Algemeene Doopsgezinde Sociëteit  Also a number of other members of this family were deacons; until recent times a total of 14 at Amsterdam.

Another Mennonite family by this name was found at Amsterdam in the 17th century. Its mem­bers were, however, usually more interested in the Collegiant movement than in the Lamist  church, of which they were members. They are known for their interest in Spinoza, whom they supported financially. They were well-to-do mer­chants. Among them were Joost Fransen de Vries, d. before 1654, married to Maria de Wolf, and their sons Isaack Joosten (b. 1632), Simon Joosten (1633/4-1667), and Frans Joosten (1635-1664).

Mennonite ministers by the name of de Vries (mostly not related) have been:

• Abraham de Vries;
• Anthoni de Vries Mz (b. 1870), of Grijpskerk, pastor at Zwartsluis 1898, Zijldijk 1903, Ytens 1906, Terhorne 1914-1935;
• Anthony de Vries (Amster­dam, ca. 1745-Emmerich, 26 August 1817), preacher of De Rijp 1770-1771, Zaandam Oude Huys 1771-1791 and after seven years of retirement, served at Emmerich, Germany, 1798-1817;
• Bouwe Pieter de Vries (b. 1893), pastor of Terschelling 1917, Hindeloopen-Koudum 1920, Balk-Woudsend 1923, Hoorn-Enkhuizen 1933, retired in 1948;
• Cornelis de Vries ; Derk de Vries (d. ca. 1778), who was an un­trained preacher at Langedijk-Koedijk 1727-ca. 1768;
• Hendrik Wiebes de Vries, of Heerenveen, d. there 1807 at an advanced age, lay preacher at Heeren­veen 1760-1765 and Blokzijl 1765-1782;
• Jacob de Vries, until at least 1719 an untrained preacher of the Waterlander congregation at Alkmaar, author of De Jeugd ondervraagd Tot Doop en Avondmaal (Alkmaar, 1714);
• Jan Simons de Vries (b. 1742, d. 31 July 1822), an untrained preacher at Veendam 1771 and Den Ilp-Landsmeer 1781-1820;
• Jeronimo de Vries;
• Klaas de Vries;
• Paulus Simons de Vries (d.1808), lay preacher at Sloten 1765-1769, and of the Ameland Waterlander congregation 1769-1804;
• Reitze de Vries (d.1860), pastor of Monnikendam 1809, Makkum 1814, and again Monnikendam 1818-1859;
• Remmert Jacobsz de Vries (1643-1721), an untrained preacher and elder of the Zaan­dam Nieuwe Huys congregation 1673-ca. 1721;
• Uilke Wytzes de Vries (d. 1781), an untrained preacher at Leeuwarden 1726-1762;
• Wytze de Vries (d. 1727), father of the former Uilke, an untrained preacher at Leeuwarden and Emden; he delivered a funeral ser­mon for his colleague N. J. Ley of Emden, which was published: Lykreeden (Amsterdam, 1728).

Bibliography

Doopsgezinde Bijdragen (1889): 17, 25 f.; (1890): 14; (1891): 7, 9; (1896): 64, 69 f.

Meinsma,  K. O. Spinoza en zijn Kring. The Hague, 1896: 103 et passim.

Molhuysen, P. C. and  P. J. Blok. Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek, 10 vols. Leiden, 1911-1937: v. I, 1525-27; v. III, 1358-61; v. IV, 1428 f.; v. IX, 1255-58.

Naamlijst der tegenwoordig in dienst zijnde predikanten der Mennoniten in de vereenigde Nederlanden. Amsterdam: (1792): 58; (1808): 76; (1829): 26, 70.

Nederland's Patriciaat V (1914): 439-49; XXVII (1941): 370-92.

Vries, J. H. de De Amsterdamsche Doopsgezinde Familie de Fries. Zutphen, 1911.

Author(s)	Nanne van der Zijpp
Date Published	1959

Cite This Article

MLA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. "Vries, de, family." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Web. 24 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Vries,_de,_family&oldid=119526.

APA style

Zijpp, Nanne van der. (1959). Vries, de, family. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 24 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Vries,_de,_family&oldid=119526.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 862-863. All rights reserved.

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