1719 Jonas van Manado
Jonas made an appeal to his recently widowed owner to be set free. Manumission of slaves at the Cape was rare, but did sometimes take place by the wishes of an owner at the time of his or her death.1 Jonas presented his mistress with a letter requesting his freedom, which is reproduced here.2 He clearly believed that some form of written documentation would aid his request for manumission and probably requested his Sunday afternoon off3 in order to have it prepared for him by a letter-writer.4 However, his mistress refused him, a refusal which ultimately led to Jonas’s attempt to stab her in her bed several months later.
The case is also intriguing for the details of domestic life in an artisan household in the Cape.5 The presence of the many knechtenknechtenLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ doubtless led Jonas to make the intriguing assertion that he would be a faithful knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ to his owner if freed. Clearly he aspired to the status of the hired labourers in his owner’s home. Status, and the ways in which it was expressed, was crucially important in the VOC Cape.6
Footnotes
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This was particularly the case when widows freed slaves after their husbands’ death, Elphick & Shell 1989: 208-9. On slave manumission during the eighteenth century in general, see Worden 1985: 143-45; Elphick & Shell 1989; and Shell 1994: 371-94. ↩
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The documentation also includes the eijscheijschLiterally ‘claim’ or ‘demand.’ This is strictly speaking the eijsch ende conclusie without the final part about sentencing, but the term is often used as a shorthand for the whole document. and the interrogation of Jonas, the substance of which was incorporated into the sententie, CJ 323, ff. 507-43. ↩
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Slaves were supposed to have a rest day on Sundays, but it seems as if in practice only Company slaves could be sure of this, while privately owned slaves were dependent on the whims of their owners. See 1705 Cinna, n. 2. ↩
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There is no evidence of who this might have been, but the style suggests that it was not somebody used to writing formal documents. For another case of slaves getting letters written for them by a burgher schoolchild, see 1786 Augustus van de Caab et al. ↩
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For another case concerning Cape Town artisans, see 1757 Baatjoe van Mandhaar. ↩
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See Ross 1999 on issues of status and respectability in the Cape. ↩
CJ 323 Criminele Process Stukken, 1719, ff. 535-39 [modern pagination].
Today, 16 October 1719, there appears before me, Daniel Thibault, secretary of the honourable Council of Justice of this government, in the presence of the witnesses named below, Hermina Herwig of Amsterdam, widow of the late burgher here, Jan Basilius Creitsmar, who, on the requisition of the honourable independent fiscal, Cornelis van Beaumont, declares it to be true:
That on 20 August of this year, which was a Sunday, there came to the deponent in her bedroom her slave named Jonas van Balij,1 who requested her, seeing that it was a Sunday (and since this was always permitted him by his late baasbaasIn seventeenth-century Dutch this was used both in the sense of ‘head’ (e.g. ‘head carpenter’) and ‘master’. In South Africa the second meaning developed further, and thus baas came to be a synonym for meester (‘master’). It was the form that slaves (and Khoikhoi) would use to address male Europeans.), to be allowed to go out as per usual.
Which was allowed him by the deponent, it being then about three o’clock in the afternoon. That on the Monday, or the 21st of the said month, three hours after noon, when she was in the attic of her residence, this slave Jonas came to her, handed over a certain document, and said: “There, Juffrouw”, without saying anything further.
That the deponent read the aforesaid document and understood the contents of it, from which she realised that this Jonas was requesting his freedom from her. Whereupon she asked him if his late baasbaasIn seventeenth-century Dutch this was used both in the sense of ‘head’ (e.g. ‘head carpenter’) and ‘master’. In South Africa the second meaning developed further, and thus baas came to be a synonym for meester (‘master’). It was the form that slaves (and Khoikhoi) would use to address male Europeans. had promised him this, who to this answered her in the negative, but [said] that the late Basilius had always told him: “I will do good to you”; to which the deponent replied that she would not give Jonas his freedom, since his baasbaasIn seventeenth-century Dutch this was used both in the sense of ‘head’ (e.g. ‘head carpenter’) and ‘master’. In South Africa the second meaning developed further, and thus baas came to be a synonym for meester (‘master’). It was the form that slaves (and Khoikhoi) would use to address male Europeans. had not promised it to him, to which this Jonas then answered: “Then I will not do good any longer”.
That after this, when they separated, this slave went the bark house.2 The deponent instantly followed him there, and after she searched his heart over his suggestion and utterances, while advising him to perform his duty as it ought to be done, this Jonas replied to this that he would not serve her as a slave, but as a faithful knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’, in which he had acquitted himself properly until the 13th of this current month.
That at eight or nine o’clock in the evening of the aforesaid 13th, which was a Friday, when the deponent was sitting and eating at the table with her knechtenknechtenLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’, who are named Jan van Ees, Willem Mijn and Jan Smuts, she asked this Jonas, since the same did not want to eat, what was wrong with him, who answered to it: “Nothing at all”.
That after she had had her meal, the deponent, having no other thought than that the same slave Jonas had already, as was customary, gone to the attic to sleep, also betook herself, along with her four children, to bed.
That during the night, at about one o’clock, while a candle was burning in the room, one of her children, by the name of Catrijn, who was lying with two of her other children with her in bed, roused her and said: “Mother, Jonas is there”, whereupon she stuck her head through the curtains [of the bed], saw this Jonas, and asked the same: “Jonas, what are you doing here?”, at the same time rising up from the bed, when Jonas said to her: “Shh, Juffrouw”, whereupon he pulled an unsheathed knife from his pocket and stabbed against her chest, but since this did not have any effect, he tried to wound her with the knife on her neck or throat: upon which she grabbed the slave Jonas with the knife in his hand through which her hand became entangled with his in such a way, that he gave the deponent a wound with this knife on her right hand and also, during the struggle, a wound on her left hand.
That, on as many as two different occasions, the deponent tried to draw back the bolt of her bedroom door (with which it usually gets locked and also was, as per usual, locked at this time) but that this Jonas, during the struggle, shut it again every time until she finally managed to open the door while struggling and got to the voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms. with him where they fell over a planing bench, which was standing there; whereupon she roused her knechtenknechtenLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ with the calls: “Murder, murder” and: “Knechten, come and help me”, during which this slave pulled open the door, jumped over the lower [half of the] door and escaped in this way, without anybody yet having got to her at that moment.
That on Saturday evening, the fourteenth of this month, the deponent was warned by one of her slaves, named Claas, that the aforementioned Jonas was on the farm and that he had a knife in his hand, upon which she ordered her knechtenknechtenLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ to go and have a look, but when they arrived at the farm to look for him, they saw that he had jumped over the wall, whereupon the deponent had the geweldigergeweldigerAn old Dutch term for ‘provost.’ At the Cape this was the title of the person at the head of the caffers, the people who in effect acted as the local ‘police force.’ and the cafferscaffersTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia.3 called to see that this Jonas was apprehended, who did come, and that same evening, at about half past eight o’clock, they caught this slave Jonas – who had hid himself amongst the peas in the little garden behind her house – in the presence of her knechtenknechtenLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’, the cafferscaffersTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. and slaves, and who then came into the hands of justice thus.
All of the aforesaid the deponent declares to be the whole and full truth, asserting to be convinced of the accuracy of her statement as in the text, while offering to subsequently confirm her deposition with solemn oaths, if so required.
Thus recorded at the Cape of Good Hope, in the presence of Pieter van der Heijden and Martinus Heems, clerks in the office of the Secretary of Justice, requested as witnesses hereto.
[signed] Harmina Herwegh, widow of Ian Basilis Kreijsmar [sic].
As witnesses, [signed] P. van der Heijden, Ms. Heems.
With my cognisance, [signed] Dl. Thibault, secretary.
CJ 323 Criminele Process Stukken, 1719, f. 519 [modern pagination].
To the virtuous juffrouwjuffrouwStrictly speaking this contraction of jonkvrouw was the form of address for a noble lady (as with jonker, the contraction of jonkheer, ‘lord’), but at the Cape it was more generally used by settlers for women with some social status. Moreover, in the eighteenth century this was also the term slaves used to address their female owners, alongside nonje. Aarmintie Jillis,
Your honourable juffrouwjuffrouwStrictly speaking this contraction of jonkvrouw was the form of address for a noble lady (as with jonker, the contraction of jonkheer, ‘lord’), but at the Cape it was more generally used by settlers for women with some social status. Moreover, in the eighteenth century this was also the term slaves used to address their female owners, alongside nonje.’s4 obedient slave gives notice, with all humility and sadness of heart, with the presentation to your honourable juffrouwjuffrouwStrictly speaking this contraction of jonkvrouw was the form of address for a noble lady (as with jonker, the contraction of jonkheer, ‘lord’), but at the Cape it was more generally used by settlers for women with some social status. Moreover, in the eighteenth century this was also the term slaves used to address their female owners, alongside nonje. of how he, the suppliant, has served your honourable juffrouwjuffrouwStrictly speaking this contraction of jonkvrouw was the form of address for a noble lady (as with jonker, the contraction of jonkheer, ‘lord’), but at the Cape it was more generally used by settlers for women with some social status. Moreover, in the eighteenth century this was also the term slaves used to address their female owners, alongside nonje., since fully ten years ago now, with faithful service, without complaining to anybody, consequently he, the suppliant, is finally seeking your honourable juffrouwjuffrouwStrictly speaking this contraction of jonkvrouw was the form of address for a noble lady (as with jonker, the contraction of jonkheer, ‘lord’), but at the Cape it was more generally used by settlers for women with some social status. Moreover, in the eighteenth century this was also the term slaves used to address their female owners, alongside nonje.’s aid with hands clasped and knees bent, praying humbly that it would please your honourable juffrouwjuffrouwStrictly speaking this contraction of jonkvrouw was the form of address for a noble lady (as with jonker, the contraction of jonkheer, ‘lord’), but at the Cape it was more generally used by settlers for women with some social status. Moreover, in the eighteenth century this was also the term slaves used to address their female owners, alongside nonje. to look upon him, the suppliant, in keeping with her5 innate mercifulness, with the eyes of compassion, and to please permit him, the suppliant, a letter of freedom. He, the suppliant, promises to serve your honourable juffrouwjuffrouwStrictly speaking this contraction of jonkvrouw was the form of address for a noble lady (as with jonker, the contraction of jonkheer, ‘lord’), but at the Cape it was more generally used by settlers for women with some social status. Moreover, in the eighteenth century this was also the term slaves used to address their female owners, alongside nonje. with faithful service.
Which I do, etc.
Footnotes
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Jonas is here described as ‘van Balij’ but in the sententie he is ‘van Manado’ (on the north-east coast of Sulawesi). Inconsistency in the use of slave toponyms in these records was not uncommon. ↩
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At this time most cobblers at the Cape also acted as their own tanners (De Wet 1981: 69), and it is presumably for this reason that there was a small building on Kretschmar’s property where bark was kept. To prepare leather, raw hides were soaked over a long period in a solution of lime and so-called run (tan), which was made from the bark of oak trees (Buys 1769-1778, vol. 6: 510-12 and vol. 9: 250). ↩
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The cafferscaffersTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. were Company-owned slaves or convicts from the East who acted as the fiscal’s and executioner’s assistants and as policemen in the town. They enforced the curfew, both on slaves and on Company employees, Shell 1994: 189-94. They were much despised, not least because of their association with public executions, a role which in early modern Northern Europe conferred considerable dishonour, Stuart 1999. The geweldigergeweldigerAn old Dutch term for ‘provost.’ At the Cape this was the title of the person at the head of the caffers, the people who in effect acted as the local ‘police force.’ was the head of the cafferscaffersTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. and was usually a European. For other cases with the cafferscaffersTerm for the slaves and bandieten used as assistants of the executioner and who also acted as the ‘police force’ of the town under the leadership of the geweldiger. Both the function and word derived from Batavia. in action, see 1744 Barkat van Timor and 1757 Baatjoe van Mandhaar. ↩
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This is a very literal translation. Scholtz (1963: 64-7 and 74-7) has shown that the eighteenth-century UE. (the abbreviation of ‘u Edele’, your honourable) developed into the formal Afrikaans second person pronoun u, and therefore the usage here might simply be an attempt to say: ‘you, juffrouwjuffrouwStrictly speaking this contraction of jonkvrouw was the form of address for a noble lady (as with jonker, the contraction of jonkheer, ‘lord’), but at the Cape it was more generally used by settlers for women with some social status. Moreover, in the eighteenth century this was also the term slaves used to address their female owners, alongside nonje.’, in the same way that Jonas refers to himself as ‘he, the suppliant’. ↩
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The original has the male form of the pronoun, but it clearly has to refer to Jonas’s mistress. It is likely that this may reflect a feature of the sort of Dutch many slaves spoke, as the use of male pronouns for all genders is quite common in certain second-language varieties. For another example, see the sentence uttered by Claas in 1744 Claas van Bengalen and Augustus van Mallebaar. ↩
Huijden, den 16e October 1719, compareerde voor mij, Daniel Thibault, secretaris van den agtbare Raad van Justitie deeses gouvernements, ter presentie van de naargenoemde getuijge, Hermina Herwig van Amsterdam, weduwe wijlen den burger alhier, Jan Basilius Creitsmar, dewelke, ter requisitie van den heer Independent Fiscaal Cornelis van Beaumont, verklaarde hoe waar is:
Dat, op den 20e Augustus jongstleeden, zijnde Sondag, bij haar comparante in haar slaapcamer gekomen is, haare slaaf genaamt Jonas van Balij, dewelke aan haar heeft versogt, terwijl het Sondag was (en overmits hem sulx door zijn overleedene baas telkens gepermitteert was geworden), na ouder gewoonte te mogen uijtgaan. ’Twelke door de comparante hem wierd toegestaan, zijnde het alsdoe omtrent drie uuren naar de middag.
Dat zij comparante, des Maandags, naarmiddags te drie uuren, daaraan, ofte den 21e van gemelde maand, op de solder van haar wooning zijnde, deese slaaf Jonas bij haar is gekomen, haar seeker papier overhandigt en gezegt: Daar Juffrouw, sonder iets meer te spreeken.
Dat zij comparante het voorseijde papier geleesen en den inhoud van dien verstaan hebbende, daaruijt heeft ontwaart dat deese Jonas zijn vrijdom aan haar versogt. Waarop zij aan denselven heeft afgevraagt of zijn overleedene baas hem sulx belooft hadden, die daarop ten antwoord gaf van neen, maar dat den overleedene Basilius hem altijt hadde gezegt: Ik zal jouw goet doen, daar zij comparante op gerepliceert heeft, hem Jonas niet vrij te sullen geeven, terwijl hem zijn baas ’tselve niet belooft had, daar door deese Jonas wederom op geantwoord wierd: Dan sal ik geen goet meer doen.
Dat zij daarop van den anderen zijn geschijden, deese slaaf naar ’t basthuijs gegaan [sic], zij comparante hem subiterlijk derwaarts is gevolgt, en hem eens over zijne voorstelling en geuijten woorden in ’t gemoed tastende, met recommandatie zijn pligt naar behooren te betragten, deese Jonas daarop ten antwoord heeft gegeven dat hij haar niet dienen soude als een slaaf, maar als een getrouwe knegt, in ’t welke hij tot den 13e deesen loopende maand sig naar behooren heeft gequeeten.
Dat zij comparante op den 13e voorseijde, zijnde Vrijdag, des avonds de clokke agt of neegen uuren, aan de tafel met haar knegts sittende te eeten, zijnde genaamt Jan van Ees, Willem Mijn en Jan Smuts, aan deese Jonas, overmits deselve niet wilde eeten, heeft gevraagt, wat hem scheelde, die daarop ten antwoord gaf: Niemendal.
Dat zij comparante, naar gespijsigt te hebben, en van geen andere gedagten weesende of denselven slaaf Jonas was naar oude gewoonte bereets op ’t solder gaan leggen slaapen, haar neevens derselver vier kinderen ook te rust heeft begeeven.
Dat omtrent des nagts ten een uuren, terwijl een kaars in haar camer brande, eene van haar kinderen, Catrijn genaamt, die beneevens nog twee andere bij haar comparante te bedde lagen, haar heeft wakker gemaakt en teegen de comparante gezegt: Moeder, daar is Jonas, waarop haar hoofd buijten de gordijnen steekende, deese Jonas heeft ontwaard en aan dezelve gevraagt: Jonas, wat doe je hier?, tegelijk uijt het bedde oprijsende, hij Jonas teegen haar heeft gezegt : Soet, Juffrouw, vervolgens daarop een bloot mes uijt zijn sak trekkende, haar daarmede op de borst heeft gestooten, ’twelke van geen effect zijnde, hij met het mes haar aan de keel of hals heeft getragt te qusten [sic], op ’twelke zij comparante den slaaf Jonas met het mes in de hand heeft aangegreepen, waardoor haar hand aan de zijne sodanig bestuwen is geraakt, dat hij de comparante met dat mes een quetzuur in de regterhand heeft toegebragt, ook in de worsteling een quetzuur aan haar linkerhant.
Dat zij comparante de grendel van haar camerdeur, waarmede deselve ordinair geslooten wierd, en nu ook naar gewoonte bezorgt was, tot twee differente reijsen heeft los gemaakt, en deese Jonas dezelve telkens onder ’t worstelen weder heeft toegedaan, totdat zij eindelijk de deur al worstelende heeft opengekreegen, en in ’t voorhuijs met denselven gekomen zijnde, over een schaafbank, aldaar staande, is gevallen, en voorts haar knegts, met het roepen van: Moord, moord, en: Knegts, komt mij te hulp, heeft wakker gemaakt; onder ’twelke deese slaaf de voordeur heeft opgerukt [sic], en onder de onderdeur gesprongen, mitsgaders alsoo g’eschapeert is, sonder datter alsdoe nog iemand bij haar was.
Dat zij comparante des Saturdag avonds, zijnde den 14e deeser, door een van haar slaven, Claas genaamt, gewaarschouwt is geworden dat meergemelde Jonas op de plaats was en een mes in de hand hadde, waarop zij haar knegts heeft geordonneert om daarna uijt te sien, dog wanneer deselve op de plaats quamen om naar hem te soeken, zij gesien hebben dat hij over de muur is gesprongen, waarop zij comparante de geweldiger en caffers heeft laaten roepen om deesen Jonas in apprehentie sien te krijgen dewelke, gekomen zijnde, dienselven avond, omtrent de clokke half neegenen, deese slaaf Jonas, in de erweten agter haar huijs, in ’t thuijntie staande, sig verborgen hebbende, aldaar door de geweldiger, in presentie van haar knegts, caffers en slaven, is geattrappeert, en vervolgens alsoo in handen van justitie geraakt.
Alle ’tgeene voorseijde staat, verklaard de deposante te zijn, de suijvere en opregte waarheid, geevende voor reedenen van weetenschap als in den text, met presentatie, des gerequireert werdende, haar gedeposeerde met solemneele eede nader te willen gestaden.
’Tgunt [sic] dus passeerde aan Cabo de Goede Hoop, te overstaan van Pieter van der Heijden en Martinus Heems, clercquen ter justitieele secretarije, als getuijgen van geloove hiertoe versogt.
[get.] Harmina Herwegh, weeduwe van Ian Basilis Kreijsmar [sic].
Als getuijgen, [get.] P. van der Heijden, Ms. Heems.
In kennisse van mij, [get.] Dl. Thibault, secretaris.
CJ 323 Criminele Process Stukken, 1719, f. 519 [modern pagination].
Aan den eebare [sic] juffw. Aarmintie Jillis1
Geeft met alle nedrigheijt en droefheijt des herten te kennen UE. juffw. onderdanige slaaf Jonas van Manado hoe dat hij suppt. met vertoonig [sic] tot UE. juffw. nu ruijm 10 jaaren geleden heeft getrou dienst van UE. juffw. heeft gedient sonder niemant te klagen dierhalven zoo neemt hij suppt. uijtterste toevlugt tot UE. juffw. met gevouden handen en neergebogen knien ootmoedelijk biddende dat UE. juffw. gelieve naar zijn [sic] aangeboren goedertierentheijt met de ogen van medogentheijt [sic] hem suppt. aan te sien 1 vrij brief dat UE. juffw. gelieve toe te staan hem suppt. belooft sal getrou dienst voor UE. juffw. dien.
’Twelk doende &a.
Footnotes
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Because of the special nature of this document, the text has not been edited, except for standardising the capitalisation. ↩
CJ 784 Sententiën, 1717-1725, ff. 131-38.
As Jonas van Manado, 30 years old at a guess, bondsman of Hermina Herwigh, widow of Jan Basilius Creitsmar,1 currently their honours’ prisoner, has voluntarily confessed and admitted, without any torture or coercion of bonds, of irons, or any threat of suchlike; and since it has appeared most evident to the honourable Council of Justice:
That, in order to bring about his freedom, the prisoner, shortly after the passing away of his patron, the aforementioned Jan Basilius Kreitsmar, presented a petition to his said mistress in the attic of her home at 3 o’clock on the afternoon of August the 21st of this year, by means of which he requested his freedom from her. That his mistress, having read this document, asked the prisoner if his baasbaasIn seventeenth-century Dutch this was used both in the sense of ‘head’ (e.g. ‘head carpenter’) and ‘master’. In South Africa the second meaning developed further, and thus baas came to be a synonym for meester (‘master’). It was the form that slaves (and Khoikhoi) would use to address male Europeans. had promised him such; to which the prisoner answered: “No”, but that his late master had always said to him: “I will do good to you”.
Upon which his aforementioned mistress replied that as long as she lived, she would not sell him, nor emancipate him. That the prisoner hereupon did not scruple to address her thus: “Then I will not do good any longer”, for which impudent words he was reprimanded by his mistress. On this occasion he also told her that he would not serve her as a slave, but as a faithful knechtknechtLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’.
That the prisoner, on the 13th of the past month October, between 8 and 9 o’clock in the evening, was asked by his mistress, while she was sitting at the table eating with her knechtenknechtenLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’, if something was wrong with him that he would not eat, to which he answered (so he asserts) that he was a bit drunk. Whereupon the prisoner, after his mistress had eaten, instead of going to his usual sleeping place, dared to be so audacious as to hide himself in her bedroom under the bed, with the intention to steal.
That the prisoner kept himself hidden under that bed until midnight, which is when he got up from there and went to a table, upon which was a bottle of wine, and drank from this bottle. That while the prisoner was busy doing this, the little daughter of his mistress, by the name of Catrijn, woke up and, when she noticed the prisoner, roused her mother who, upon seeing the prisoner, asked him: “Jonas, what are you doing here?”, while at the same time rising from her bed. The prisoner went to her and said: “Hush, hush, Juffrouw, you must not call out”, whereupon, pulling out a knife from his pocket (to instil fear into her, as he asserts), he stabbed his mistress with it in the chest. Yet, since the stab was unsuccessful, his mistress grabbed him by the hand to prevent the prisoner from further evil, thereby wounding both her hands.
That while the prisoner was wrestling with his mistress, she drew back the bolt of the door and tried to escape, but the prisoner pushed the door shut again every time, until at last his mistress, after a lengthy struggle, got the door open, and came falling over the planing bench into the voorhuijsvoorhuijsLiterally the ‘front house’, this referred to the first area entered from the main door or stoep (porch). In most houses this was a room, although in the later design of some Cape houses it referred to a narrower passage (like a hall or vestibule) flanked by one or more front rooms. with the prisoner, at which she called out: “Murder, murder” and “Knechten, come and help me!”, while the prisoner pulled the front door open and fled, with the knife in his hand (which was shown to him in court), from the house towards Table Mountain.
However, that the prisoner, after having committed this gross crime, did not fear nor scruple to return to the farm of his mistress the following evening – this time (as he asserts) having the knife in his pocket – in order to sleep there, with the intention to once again flee to the mountain the following morning, and thus he fell into the hands of justice.
All of which is public and murderous violence, committed during night-time by an armed slave against his defenceless mistress in her locked bedroom, and therefore matters of very serious and pernicious consequences and in all countries punishable to the utmost; accordingly, in a country where justice is administered properly, it may not be tolerated, but should be restrained and punished most severely, as an example and deterrent to all such inclined villains.
Thus it is, that the honourable Council of Justice of this government, serving today, having seen and read the written crimineelen eijsch ende conclusiecrimineelen eijsch ende conclusieLiterally ‘criminal demand and conclusion.’ The document drawn up by the prosecutor based on the evidence he collected and delivered in court against an accused. The conclusie is the final part of the document in which the prosecutor suggested an appropriate punishment for the crime., deliberated by the honourable independent fiscal, Cornelis van Beaumont, in his official capacity, against the prisoner, with the further papers and documents serving as evidence of his audacity; and moreover, having pondered everything which in any way served the case and which could have moved their honours, practising justice in the name and on behalf of the high and mighty Lords States General of the free United Netherlands, and having judged the prisoner, is sentencing him with this: to be taken to the place where criminal justice is usually executed here, and there to be handed over to the executioner, first that his right hand be chopped off and then, with the same [severed hand] and a knife above his head,2 to be punished with the rope on the gallows so that death will follow; afterwards that the dead body be taken from there, dragged through their honours’ streets and roads to the outer place of execution, there to be hanged again with the severed hand and the knife above the head, and to remain like that until being consumed by the air and birds of heaven; with the costs and expenditure of justice.3
Thus done and sentenced in the Castle of Good Hope on 23 November 1719.
Published and executed on the 25th thereupon.
[signed] M.P. Chavonnes, A. Cranendronk, K.J. Slotsboo, Jan de la Fontaine, A. v. Kervel, J. Aldersz, Clis. Barents, C. Valk, G. v. Baarsenburg, M. Bergstedt.
In my presence, [signed] Dl. Thibault, secretary.
Footnotes
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Johann Basilius Kretschmar, who died shortly before this incident, operated as a cobbler, which explains why there were so many knechtenknechtenLiterally ‘male servant,’ but because most European knechten at the Cape were used as slave overseers, this original meaning gradually eroded and the word ended up meaning primarily (as in modern Afrikaans), ‘farm foreman.’ in the household. His widow, Hermina Herwigh, married one of them, Anton Martens, the year after this case (Hoge 1944: 220 and 259). ↩
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A gruesomely appropriate punishment for a slave who had threatened his owner with a knife. ↩
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This sentence (which was recorded in the regtsrollenregtsrollenLiterally ‘rolls of justice’, the minutes of the proceedings of the Council of Justice., CJ 7, ff. 69-70) was somewhat reduced from the recommendation of the eijscheijschLiterally ‘claim’ or ‘demand.’ This is strictly speaking the eijsch ende conclusie without the final part about sentencing, but the term is often used as a shorthand for the whole document., that Jonas be broken alive on the cross, CJ 323, f. 515-16. ↩
Alsoo Jonas van Manado, oud naar gissing omtrent de dertigh jaaren, lijfeijgen van Hermina Herwigh, weduwe van Jan Basilius Creitsmar, althans ’s heeren gevange, buijten pijn of dwang van banden, van eijser, ofte eenige bedreijgingh van dien, vrijwillig heeft geconfesseert ende beleeden, overzulx den agtbaare Raad van Justitie ten vollen gebleeken is:
Hoe dat hij gevangen, kort na het overleijden van zijn patroon, Jan Basilius Kreitsmar, voornoemt, ten eijnde zijn vrijdom te bewerken, aan gemelde zijn lijfvrouw op den 21e den jongstleeden maand Augustus, ’s naamiddags de clocke drie uuren, op de solder van haar wooningh een request heeft gepresenteert, waarbij hij aan deselve zijn vrijdom quam te versoeken. Dat zijn lijfvrouwe dit geschrift geleesen hebbende, aan den gevangen heeft gevraagt of zijn baas hem deselve belooft hadde, daar den gevangen op ten antwoord heeft gegeven van neen, maar dat zijn overleeden meester teegens hem altijd hadde gesegt: Ik zal jouw goed doen.
Waarop de voormelde zijn meestresse gerepliceert heeft, zoo lange zij leefde, hem niet zoude verkoopen, en ook niet vrij geeven. Dat hij gevangen zig daarop niet ontsien heeft gehad deselve te gemoed te voeren: Dan zal ik ook geen goed meer doen, over welke assurante woorden hij gevangen door voorseijde zijne meestresse bestraft is geworden, op ’t welke hij gevangen teegen haar nog heeft gezegt, haar niet als een slaaff, maar als een getrouw knegt te sullen dienen.
Dat hij gevangen, op den 13e der jongst gepasseerde maand October, des avonds de clocke tusschen agt en neegen uuren, door zijn meesteres, terwijl zij met haare knegts aan d’ tafel zat te eeten, gevraagt zijnde wat hem scheelde, dat niet wilde eeten, haar (soo voorgeeft) ten antwoord heeft gegeeven, een weijnig beschonken te weesen, en waarop hij gevangen nadat zijn meesteres gegeeten had, in plaatse van zig naar zijn ordinaire slaapplaats te begeeven, die vermetelhijd heeft derven gebruijken van hem in haare slaapkamer en onder haar kooij te verbergen, met dat voorneemens om te steelen.
Dat hij gevangen zig onder die kooij tot de middernagt heeft schuijl gehouden, als wanneer hij vandaar gekomen, sig naar een tafel, daar een bottel wijn op stond, begeeven en uijt dier bottel gedronken heeft. Dat onderwijl den gevangen daarmeede beesig was, het dogtertje van zijn meestresse, Catrijn genaamt, wakker is geworden en den gevangen gewaar werdende, haar moeder heeft wacker gemaakt, dewelke den gevangen siende, aan hem heeft gevraagt: Jonas, wat doe je hier?, en tegelijk uijt het bedde oprijsende, den gevangen naar haar is toegegaan en teegen haar gesegt: Stil, stil, Juffrouw, jij moet niet roepen; vervolgens een mes uijt zijn zak treckende (om, zoo hij voorgeeft, haar bang te maaken) daarmeede zijn meesteres op de borst heeft gestooken, dog de stoot van geen effect weesende, en zijn meesteres hem bij de hand gegreepen hebbende, om den gevangen in zijn verdere booshijd te stuijten, aan beijde haar handen is gequetst geraakt.
Dat hij gevangen met zijn meesteres worstelende, deselve de grendel van de deur heeft los gemaakt, en getragt te ontkomen, dog dat den gevangen telkens die weeder heeft toegeschooven totdat, eijndelijk, zijn meesteresse, naar lang worstelens, de deur heeft opengekreegen en met den gevangen over een schaafbank in ’t voorhuijs is komen te vallen, als wanneer zij: Moord, moord, en: Knegts, komt mij te hulp, heeft geroepen; onder ’twelke den gevangen de voordeur heeft open gerukt en met het mes in de hand (hem in judicio vertoond) de vlugt uijt het huijs en naar de Tafelberg genomen heeft.
Dat hij gevangen zig egter na deese begaane grove misdaad niet ontsien, nogte geschroomt heeft, des anderen daags avonds hem weederom op de plaats van zijn lijfvrouw te begeeven, hebbende het mes (zoo voorgeeft) alsdoe in zijn zak, en aldaar om te slaapen gekomen te zijn, met die intentie omme des anderendaags ’s morgens zijn vlugt weeder na ’t gebergte te neemen, dog dat hij alsdoen is verrast en alzoo vervolgens in handen van de justitie overgeleevert.
Alle ’twelke zijnde publicq en moorddadig geweld, door een gewapende slaaff aan zijn weerloose lijfvrouwe in haar geslooten slaapkamer bij den nagt gepleegt, oversulx saaken van zeer swaare en pernitieuse gevolgen, en in allen lande ten uijtterste strafbaar, dierhalven in een land, daar de justitie zuijver werde geoeffent, niet mogen gedult, maar tot een spiegel en afschrik van alsulke overgeeven booswigten ten seveerste moet geweerd en gepunieert werden.
Soo is ’t, dat den agtbare Raad van Justitie deeses gouvernements, ten dage dienende, gesien en geresumeert hebbende, den schriftelijken crimineelen eijsch en conclusie bij den heer Independent Fiscaal Cornelis van Beaumont nomine officii teegens den gevangen overgelegt, met de verdere stucken en documenten tot bewijs van zijn vermeeten specteerende, weijders gepondereert alle ’tgeene ter materie eenigsints dienende was, van haar Agtbaarens deede moveeren, doende regt in den naam ende van weegen de hoogmogende Heeren Staaten Generaal der vrije vereenigde Neederlanden, den gevangen hebben gecondemneert, gelijk hem condemneeren bij deesen: gebragt te werden ter plaatse daar men alhier gewoon is crimineele justitie te doen, en aldaar den scherpregter overgeleevert zijnde, eerst de regterhand afgekapt, vervolgens, met deselve en een mes boven ’t hoofd, met de coorde aan de galge gestraft te werden datter de dood na volgt, voorts het doode lighaam door ’s heeren weegen en straaten naar ’t buijten geregt gesleept en aldaar met de afgekapte hant en ’t mes boven ’t hooft weeder opgehange zijnde, soo lange te verblijven totdat door de lugt en vogelen des heemels zal zijn verteert, met costen en mise van justitie.
Aldus gedaan en gesententieert in ’t Casteel de Goede Hoop, den 23e November 1719.
Gepubliceert en g’executeert den 25e daaraanvolgende.
[get.] M.P. Chavonnes, A. Cranendronk, K.J. Slotsboo, Jan de la Fontaine, A. v. Kervel, J. Aldersz, Clis. Barents, C. Valk, G. v. Baarsenburg, M. Bergstedt.
Mij present, [get.] Dl. Thibault, secretaris.