Ward 2 Development Forum

Anna Maria Mauritz

Properties3
descriptionHanna, a daughter of Kupido (Jonas), one of Georg Schmidt's first converts. She stayed at Baviaanskloof after 1744, and in 1793 was the first person baptised at the reopened mission. The mission's registers trace the old Genadendal families to her.
tagstheme/heritage, theme/women, lang/en
aliasesHanna, Anna Maria, Anna Mauritz

4 min read

Hanna was a Khoekhoe woman, a daughter of Kupido, whom Georg Schmidt baptised as Jonas in 1742 [MS]. After Schmidt left in 1744, she stayed at Baviaanskloof [MS]. When the missionaries returned in 1792 she cooked for them, and on 19 July 1793 she became the first person baptised at the reopened mission, with the name Anna Maria [MS]. She later married a man named Mauritz [MS]. Through the mission’s registers, the old families of Genadendal trace their roots to her [MS].

What the letters in square brackets mean

Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.

  • [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by at least two sources that do not depend on each other, or by an official record.
  • [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from Moravian records, above all the missionaries’ diaries and registers, and from Genadendal: A Long Walk by Isaac Balie, which was written from them. Everything known about her was written down by missionaries.
  • [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it yet.

At a glance

BornNot known. She appears on Schmidt’s list of his congregation in 1740 [MS].
DiedNot known
Known forKeeping faith with the mission through the 48 years without a missionary, and being the first person baptised when it reopened [MS]
Link to the valleyDaughter of Kupido, and the ancestor to whom the old Genadendal families trace their line [MS]

Her life

Hanna appears, with her father Kibido (Kupido), on a list of Schmidt’s congregation made in 1740 [MS]. Balie’s history says that after Schmidt left in 1744 she stayed at Baviaanskloof, because she believed that if everyone left, no new teachers would be sent [MS]. It says she asked Magdalena, who had settled at the Sergeants River, to read to the people regularly from the New Testament Schmidt had given her [MS].

When the missionaries of 1792 arrived, Hanna became their cook [MS]. The missionaries’ diaries record the first baptism at the reopened mission, on 19 July 1793: Anna Maria, one of the daughters of Kupido [MS]. Balie’s history names four daughters of Jonas among the first residents of the reopened mission: Anna Mauritz, Eva Witbooi, Magdalena Fredericks, and Rachel Pitt [MS].

Her descendants

From 1744 the missionaries kept registers of baptisms, marriages, schooling, and deaths [MS]. Using them, the Mission Museum linked the old Genadendal families to one another for the century from 1744 to 1844 [MS]. Balie’s history says every early Genadendal family can trace its roots to Anna Maria Mauritz, and through her to Kupido [MS]. In 2005 the museum began a genealogy project on this, called “The Children of Jonas” [MS]. Families at Elim, Mamre, and Enon also find their ancestors in the Genadendal registers, because people from Genadendal helped to found those stations [MS].

What is still open

  • When she was born and died, and whom she married.
  • Whether Hanna of the 1740 list and Anna Maria of 1793 are the same woman, as Balie’s history says, or sisters.
  • How the families who trace their line to her tell her story themselves.

References

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