Abraham Jacobs Fries (years of birth and death unknown), a son of Jacob Fries (de Vries) and Maria van Heyningen, was a member of the Lamist Mennonite congregation of Amsterdam and belonged to a family of which many members served the Amsterdam church as deacons. Fries was four times a deacon (1677-1682, 1687-1692, 1697-1702, 1707-1712). He is of special interest as a member of the Dutch Committee of Foreign Needs, serving from 1680 to 1714 as its secretary. He wrote and received a number of letters which are found in the Amsterdam Mennonite archives and which not only bear witness of his activity, but are of great importance to the history of Mennonites in the Palatinate, Switzerland, Poland, and Prussia.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 402. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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