About us
The Graf lineage has been traced to the late 13th century, of what is now known as present day Switzerland, (Baretswil) and Black Forest, Germany (Baden-Baden). During this time, the overlapping regions were regulated by the German Teutonic Order and Holy Roman Empire. Hans Graf (1590-16??) and Jakob Graf (1616-1683), our Swiss-German ancestors, came from the canton of Zurich in a village east of the city of Zurich called Bettswil.
The name Graf was anglicized to Groff (1700's) in Pennsylvania, and Grove (1800's) in Virginia/Carolinas. The Lion & Anchor crest is original to the lineage, in addition to the Van de Graaf name, however the crest's "charge" may have been marshalled with different field variations.
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