"OUT OF AFRICA" (1)
An Africa to New Mexico Connection:
Another Look at the Boers
 
(This is an excerpt taken from Part I of this series.  From the New Mexico Genealogist, v. 43:1, March 2004.)

It has long been known by historians and genealogists that New Mexico is one of the great melting pots of ethnic diversity and culture, and this has been the case from its very beginnings of recorded history. Unlike many areas of the United States, which saw ethnic diversity materialize slowly over time and at later times, New Mexico's early rich blending of cultures has provided our state with a uniqueness all its own.

Whether as groups of immigrants or individuals who came to New Mexico and the Southwest, perhaps none provide so unusual a set of circumstances and history as that of the group known as the Boers, refugees from the second Anglo-Boer War which took place in South Africa between 1899-1902.(2)  It is not the intent of this writer or the scope of this article to provide a history of this conflict, but only to give a few details of introduction to assist the reader in understanding why this wave of immigration took place, the reason for choosing New Mexico and the Southwest, and as an introduction to the genealogy of these Boer families and individuals, whose descendants still can be found in the area today.

This writer will focus on the first and second generation arrivals into the United States; those that were actually born in the area we now know as South Africa. More recent generations will not generally be addressed in this study, except in those few cases where the third generation was also born in South Africa.

In all probability, it may never be known how many Boer settlers arrived over the course of the migration to live in the Boer settlements of the Southwest and beyond. Complete records were not maintained for the migrants, and South Africa was in turmoil when they left. In addition to a discussion of the primary families of Snyman and Viljoen, about whom the most has been researched and written, this writer will attempt in a later installment to identify other Boer settlers who came to the Southwestern United States, settling in New Mexico and Texas, as well as Chihuahua in Mexico, during the period beginning just after the conflict ended in 1902. Maluy's sources indicate that by 1908, approximately twenty to thirty Boer families were living "on both sides of the Rio Grande." Perhaps another six families followed Gerhardus Adolphus Snyman, migrating to the Fabens, Texas area, while General Willem Didrick Snyman remained for the most part in the Chihuahua area of Mexico.(3)

At least two other studies have been published on the Boer immigration into the Southwestern United States, both from the view of either historian or anthropologist.(4)

It is the intent of this writer to expand upon these studies from a genealogist's point of view, correcting and filling out the family picture, and providing documentation of the vital events of their lives.

The Boers did not arrive in mass into the American Southwest. Rather, beginning in 1902, they arrived over time, individually and in family groupings. With an original intent upon settlement in Chihuahua, in northern Mexico, family groups and individuals eventually spread out in a corridor ranging from northern Mexico below El Paso, to El Paso County, Texas itself, and into several New Mexico counties. Additionally, they moved back and forth within this corridor, as one will note from the record sources. Some eventually moved farther afield, settling in California and other areas. Some also returned to South Africa, either permanently or temporarily.

An excellent study of the actual conflict of the Boer War, written by Thomas Pakenham and entitled The Boer War, published in 1979, is an exhaustive work of the actual conflict and its immediate aftermath between the United Kingdom and the South African Boers, and this writer would suggest that readers wanting a more thorough grounding in the history of this conflict in South Africa, take the time to read this work. It additionally provides a thorough bibliography and footnotes for follow-up. (5)

The Coetzee Woordeboek Dictionary defines "Boer" as an "Afrikaans speaking South African of European descent," and "boer" as a "farmer or peasant."(6)  Further, the Hippocrene Practical Dictionary, Afrikaans-English, English-Afrikaans, describes "Boer" as a "member of that group or race."(7)  The first settlers into the area of South Africa were a "mixture of various European servants of the Dutch East India Company," who arrived in an expedition at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Their mission was to establish a place of stopover for the Company's ships traveling to and from the East Indies. Eventually, these original settlers were joined by others, including in 1689, a group of Huguenot Protestant refugees from France. Over time, and with the process of developing a separate identity, the terms "Afrikaander, Afrikaaner, and Afrikaner" were used. These terms often were used interchangeably with the term "Boer," literally, a farmer.(8)  Nathan described the Boers as a "nation of farmers," signifying not only their main calling, but their attachment to the soil.(9)  According to Pama, the descendants of the Hollanders and Huguenots tended over time to lose all their ties with Europe, to consider themselves "of Africa," thus, calling themselves "Afrikaners." (10)

By 1806, the year which saw permanent British occupation of the region, the white population was estimated to be 18,000 and included Netherlanders (the majority), Germans, French, Scandinavians, and a scattering of Scottish Presbyterian teachers and preachers. While High Dutch was the official language of the region, a patois developed including “words from French, German, English, and Portuguese-Creole,” as well as those of the indigenous inhabitants. Le May contends that Afrikaner merely means African, “with a strong presumption of uniqueness,” and would not include the original indigenous inhabitants of the area. (11)

By 1657, a few of the Dutch East India Company's servants “were released from their indentures and allowed to farm as free burghers,” thus becoming the first colonists and ancestors of the Afrikaner people. Those colonists who continued to farm began to move inland, searching for new areas where the Company's hold on their lives would be less. This was the beginning of what became known as the “trek boer” or itinerant farmer, whose usual method of transportation was an ox-wagon, which served as a carrier of his belongings and a “mobile home.”(12)  By the 1830s, a mass migration of approximately 10,000 Boers from the Cape Colony ensued as a "deliberate and premeditated exodus from British rule." They took with them household goods, livestock, and servants. This mass migration would be termed the “Great Trek,” and those taking part were known as “Voortrekkers,” or pioneers. (13)

While there are multiple reasons for the Anglo-Boer War, perhaps the major one centered around the Boer dislike of British rule. The Boers, in many cases, came to believe that the British set out in a “deliberate attempt to exterminate them as a people.” This was aggravated, as nothing else, by the British use of concentration camps in South Africa during the war, and nothing else produced “so much bitter and helpless anger” from the Boers. Boers estimated 26,000 men, women and children died in these camps,(14)  and the vast majority, more than 20,000, were children under the age of 16.(15)  General Benjamin Viljoen, one of the subjects of this study, wrote extensively on the Anglo-Boer war from the perspective of the Boer side, and was also a prisoner of war for approximately five months on the island of St. Helena.(16)

Understandably, the end of the war in May 1902 left the Boers “defeated, disgruntled, and bitter.” Their fields were ruined, their livestock gone, and severe droughts also added to the hardship. Many were “unable or unwilling” to start over, and the requirement of taking an oath of allegiance to the British was too much for some. They began, instead, to emigrate from South Africa in three main treks, including
    1. a large group to the Chubut Province of Argentina;
    2. a smaller group following Boer generals to the American Southwest, the Chihuahua area of Mexico, and a corridor extending between Texas and New Mexico; and
    3. a northern trek settling in East Africa.

Du Toit defines five basic categories of persons who migrated:
1) impoverished, dependent white settlers, known as servants;
2) dependent black settlers;
3) wives accompanying their husbands;
4) children and other dependents; and
5) husbands/fathers, the "individualist-frontiersman-Calvinist-family head" who made all major decisions for and regarding the family.(17)

Benjamin Viljoen vividly expressed the sentiment of those who emigrated, including himself:

". . . if my country was lost to me I wished to choose a flag to live under for myself . . . I did not only feel, but I was a perfect stranger in my own country. My home destroyed; my money confiscated; no hope held out that any restitution would ever be made. Where I used to be somebody, I was now not only nobody, but I was an intruder, an unwelcome guest. . . .”(18)

Note: The published article contains two maps: 1. South Africa, ca. 1900-1902, and 2. (shown at right in miniature), a map showing the corridor of settlement of the South African Boers into the American Southwest and Mexico. Click here, or on the map to view an enlarged version in a new page. You can then enlarge it further on your own computer. Corridor of settlement of the South African Boers into the American Southwest and Mexico. The United States and adjoining portions of Canada and Mexico, 1933. From the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. From the collection of the Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC), Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

The United States and adjoining portions of Canada and Mexico, 1933. From the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. From the collection of the Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC), University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

In the study of these Boer families, it is valuable to note the Afrikaner naming system in use, particularly in the earlier generations:
     . eldest son named for paternal grandfather
     . second son named for maternal grandfather
     . third son named for father
     . eldest daughter named for maternal grandmother
     . second daughter named for paternal grandmother
     . third daughter named for mother (20)

While there are distinct advantages to this system, one can readily see a major disadvantage for genealogists. If one is dealing with several brothers in a family, the likelihood is great that one will encounter several children with the same name with close enough ages to invite complications when trying to connect them to their proper family unit. This has been the case in this study. Additionally, the Boer families intermarried frequently, particularly in the earlier generations, causing additional challenges with naming and identification.

In this study, please note that this writer has applied the following standard:
      . In all cases, when discussing or referencing any record source, the spellings that were used in that record source for names will be used here. You may, therefore, see several spellings referring to the same individual, as spellings fluctuated between English, Dutch, and Afrikaans usage.

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