Johan Smits, SV/PROG

Jan Smit b Maastricht - d 10/11/1696 in Stellenbosch, Cape, South Africa (of injuries sustained after a fight with Jacob Cloete)
Maastricht became a garrison town in the 16th century. Today it is in the southeastern Netherlands bordering Belgium]

left: Adam Frans van der Meulen- The Siege of Maastricht, 1673 - National Trust

Parents
remain unproved
Otto DIEDERICKS: "Daar is ONBEVESTIGDE berigte dat Jan se ouers Hans SMIDT en Anna SCHOUERMANS was.

Soldier in Delft
stationed at the garrison in Delft, in the company of Captain Moor in 1681, and it would seem that he had been there since at least November 1680 and probably a good deal earlier.

Extra Marital Child with Lucretia van Senne
On the 19th November 1680, a child, Christoffel, was baptised in Delft at the Catholic church, Sint Hippolytus op het Bagijnhof. The parents are stated to be Johan Smits and Lucretia van Senne [the widow of Robert van Santen].

Baptism:19/11/1680 Christoffel Smits
Delft, Parish of St. Hippolytus (Bagijnhof; later Old Catholic community)
Date 19/11/1680
Place Delft

• Christoffel Smits (child)
• Johan Smits (father)
• Lucretia van Senne (mother)
• Joannes Roef (witness)

A child of Johannes Smith was buried at the Oude Kerk, Delft on the 2nd March 1683, described as ' een baarkind' (ie. between one and 12 years old). Could this have been Christoffel, the son of Lucretia
van Senne? Richard Ball's Notes

Marriage to Adriana Tol 4 Jan 1682
x 4 Jan 1682, Delft, Adriana Tol (< 16 July 1656, Delft - >1722) d/o Jacob Tol & Lijsbet Dircx

'Their application to marry is recorded in the Delft Ondertrouw register, apparently akin to the Huwelikshof at the Cape, or the Banns book of the English church, on the 25th October 1681. An objection was raised to their marriage and the second reading of the banns was forbidden (see above). Eventually, on the 22nd December, the prohibition was lifted. Since this was, apparently, a Monday, one assumes that the second reading of the banns did not take place until the following Sunday, 28th December and for the third time, again presumably, the next Sunday, the 4th January 1682.
The last note in the Ondertrouw register reads 'Attestatie gegeven op Schipluiden den 4 januarij 1681' [sic - presumably the usual mistake made at the start of a new year!] which a Dutch friend translates for me as 'Given letter of transfer to Schipluiden the 4 january 1681'. I have assumed, until I can establish for certain, that this 'attestatie' or letter of transfer, was specifically to allow the couple to marry at Schipluiden (not far from Delft).
Unfortunately, so far as I have been able to establish, no Schipluiden marriage registers exist for this period. This means that we do not know when they were married - the 4th January 1682 (a Sunday) would have been the earliest date possible, immediately after the third reading of the banns.[June Barnes]

Marriage Banns 5/10/1681 Johannes Smits & Adriana Tol, protested by Lucretia v. Santen
Archives of the city council of Delft, (1222) 1246-1813 (1853)
Banns Date 25/10/1681
Place Delft
Miscellaneous: 2nd commandment ceased.Lucretia v. Santen, wd. v. Robbert v. Santen declares that she has made a child with the br.gom (she withdraws this statement) progress 27-12-1681
Date of betrothal 1681-10-25
Attestation 1 4-1-1682 (state 1681) Schipluiden

• Johannes Smits (groom)
• Adriana Tol (bride)

Marriage Banns: 20/12/1681 Johannes Smits & Adriana Tol
Delft, Dutch Reformed Church, 68-89 Marriage certificates Nieuwe Kerk
Date 20/12/1681
Place Delft

• Johannes Smits (groom) soldier stationed in Delft, in the company of Captain Moor
• & Adriana Tol (bride) of Ouderlangendijk (Delft)

On 22nd December 1685 Adriana Jacobsz. Tol appeared before the Delft Weeskamer and stated that she was the wife of Johannes Smit, soldier. She declared that her mother had raised and provided for her properly; she thanked her for her good care and freed her of any further obligation. [June Barnes]

• Johannis 1683 -c1714
• Christoffel 1688 -1770 >children
• Jacobus 1689 -c1752 >children
• Hilletje 1691 -1760 >children
• Francois c1693 -c1758

Life at the Cape
The earliest certain mention of Jan Smit at the Cape that I have so far found is in the Cape Town church registers when his son Christoffel was baptised on 9 May 1688, and for Adriana Tol the earliest date is 16 October 1689 when their son Jacobus was baptised at Stellenbosch. [June Barnes]

Jan became a Burgher apparently circa 1687, in Dutch Vryburgher or Vrijburgher, a status in which a soldier or other employee of the VOC was released from their contractual obligations to the VOC and permitted to farm, become a tradesman, or work for others. This would fit in with the 1705 declaration which indicated that between 1687 and his demise, he had owned property in the fertile valley near Stellenbosch now known as Jonkershoek.[June Barnes]

Jonkershoek Twin Peaks

• 1. Joannis Smit, baptised 10 January 1683, Nieuwe Kerk, Delft. He is probably the Jan Smit who married Eva Zaaijman in 1711 and who died circa July 1714, without leaving any children.
• 2. Christoffel Smit, baptised 9 May 1688, Cape Town farmer of Sútrij or Lútrij, Stellenbosch married Catrijn la Fêbre 9 February 1721, Stellenbosch
• 3. Jacobus Smit, baptised 16 October 1689, Stellenbosch (baptism recorded in the Cape Town registers) farmer of Uylekraal, Swartland, he died circa 1752. married Elisabeth Slabbert, 3 March 1709, Cape Town
• 4. Hulsie Smit, baptised 1 April 1691, Cape Town (this name is probably a phonetic rendering by the minister of the name 'Hilletje' under which name she appears in all later records). She died circa January 1761. married Matthias de Beer and later Jan Georg Zorn
• 5. Francois Smit, born Cape of Good Hope farmer in the Vierentwintigrivieren area, he died circa 1758. married Maria van Staden, 19 November 1719, Drakenstein
• 6. Alewijn Smit, baptised 28 September 1695, Cape Town farmer of Zo Voorbij, Vierentwintigrivieren. He died circa 1774. married Hester Bekker, 25th December 1718, Drakenstein. She died the 11th January 1778.

In a declarion signed before the Secretary of Stellenbosch on the 11th October 1705 and witnessed by Augustus Meijhuijsen and Jacobus Smit, Johannes Mulder and Dirk Coetsee, both Old Heemraden, stated that it was known to them that a certain farm in Jan de Jonkers Hoek, to the east above the farm of the late Jan de Jonker, had been in the possesion of Jan Smit from 1687 until his death and was still in the possesion of Andries Cuijper as the husband of Jan Smit's widow. Richard Ball's Notes

Cape Muster Rolls 1690-98:
A Jan Smit is listed in the Cape muster rolls from 1690 on, (there are no muster rolls between 1686 and 1690) but Jan Smit and Adriana Tol as a couple are first mentioned in the1692 rolls, resident at Stellenbosch with four children. Richard Ball's Notes

• In the 1692 Opgaafrol (tax return) they are listed as having three sons and one daughter, one pistol, one rifle (?- seijd geweer), one flintlock, two horses and six oxen.Richard Ball's Notes In the Dutch East India Company's muster roll of free burgers for 1692 he is listed as Jan Smit from Maastricht [June Barnes]
• In 1693 and 1695 they are listed again, on both occasions with five children, Johannes Smit being described as 'from Maastricht' in the 1693 roll.
• In 1696 we have just 'the widow of Jan Smith' (this muster roll made no note of children)
• and in 1698 'the widow of Jan Smith with 6 children'. Richard Ball's Notes

Death between the 1st and 6th October 1696
On 1st October 1696 Jan Smit was insulted by Jacob Cloete. Enraged, Smit drew his rapier, but Cloete evaded the blows and clouted Smit with a piece of wood, beat him with his fists and kicked his chest, shouting: 'Lie there, you dog!'. Within a very few days, during which he suffered continual pain in his chest, Jan Smit died.On the 6th Ocober it was reported that Matthijs Greef had been to inspect the corpse. (source: Cape Archives, 1/STB 18/153, Notarial Declarations)Richard Ball's Notes

Adriana's life after Jan Smit

• In 1696 she is listed in the muster rolls as the widow of Jan Smit,
• in 1698 as 'Adriana Talks, wed: Jan Smith 6 k[inderen].'
• On 20th June 1700 she had a daughter, Johanna, baptised in the church at Stellenbosch. The baptismal entry reads: Johanna dochter van (left blank), de moeder Addrijana Tol de getuijgen Joggum Sachs en Marta Lafeber gedoop 20 Junij 1700
• On the 29th June 1700, the Stellenbosch Church Meeting suspended Adriana from church services for a year. The reason is not stated other than that she is admonished to live a better life. Unfortunately none of the earlier Stellenbosch Church Meeting minutes, which might have contained a previous warning, appear to have survived.
• A year later, on the 28th March 1701, her suspension was continued.
• Adriana married a second time at Stellenbosch on the 11 January 1705, to Andries Cuyper, a ship's carpenter who came originally from Stettin, who died before 1722
• In June 1705 they were living in Stellenbosch in the area known as Jan de Jonkers Hoek.
• Adriana Tol presumably died some time after 30 June 1722 on which date she is mentioned as 'the widow of Andries Cuyper' in the will of her son, Francois Smit.

[All images except for the the two modern maps, for which I'm looking for replacements, are free of copyright - Sharon Doubell Mar 2024]

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