Serge's World

Previously I have spoken about the results of a DNA test I had done earlier this year, however, my oldest known maternal ancestor has been Johanna Jacoba Reid (nee Bender) (1864-1935) for quite a long time now, and I made very little progress. This all changed this week when I got hold of several documents shedding more light.

The first document was the death notice for Johanna Jacoba Reid (nee Bender), which lists her date of death as 28 October 1935. This adds new information on Johanna, but is not the biggest discovery of the week. That honour goes instead to the probate record of one Sarah Elizabeth Reid (nee Bender) who died in Kimberley on the 6th of July 1919.

So, how can someone else’s record help so much? I had had no previous relationship to her in my tree, but genealogical hints sometimes come in surprising places.

Sara Elizabeth Reid, born Bender is listed as the daughter of Frederick Bender and Annie Bender, born Truter, and was the widow of James Reid. She appears to have died childless, and so the probate record lists her siblings as follows: John D. Bender, Abraham Bender, Maria F Jackson born Bender, Charlotte Maria Herbert born Bender, Letty Steele born Bender, Annie Reid born Bender and Fredericka Gietzman born Bender.

There are many clues here indicating that she was the sister of Johanna Jacoba Bender.

Firstly, Bender is a fairly uncommon surname in South Africa, especially around the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Kimberley. Johanna Jacoba Bender was married to Abraham Michael Reid in Kimberley in 1888, and then later moved to Somerset West, and then on to Cape Town, but no documentation linking her to any other Bender’s in Kimberley, except one.

Maria Fredericka Jackson (nee Bender) was also married to Henry Charles Jackson, and had also moved from Kimberley to Somerset West. I have multiple documents showing the Reids and Jacksons acting as witnesses at the baptisms of each other’s children, and therefore had already concluded long ago that they were most likely sisters, but could find no futher documentation.

Sara Elizabeth’s probate record changes that. Maria Fredericka is listed as a sibling, as well as a few which I had not known about previously, such as Letty Steele and John D and Abraham Bender. I had found records for Fredericka Gietzman need Bender before, but could not link them to my tree. The last remaining sibling is listed as Annie Reid born Bender.

Based on all the other evidence, I am convinced that Annie Reid listed on this record and Johanna Jacoba Reid are one and the same. Benders are uncommon already, and here we have two Bender women marrying Reids, with a sibling I already thought was related, so it would be highly unlikely that my ancestor was unrelated to this family. There seems to be no indication that Abraham Michael Reid and James Reid - the two brothers-in-law - were related to each other at all. It is possible but would need more documentation to support this.

This all means that Annie Truter has now become my most distant matrilineal ancestor.

I have been unable to find out much more information on Annie Truter. All I know is that her husband, Frederick James Bender, died in Kimberley in 1898, but can find no supporting documentation to help identify who exactly Annie Truter was. Annie is most certainly a nickname making it hard to find what name is listed officially as in documentation.

Additionally, since my mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is L0D2A1A, which is of Khoisan origin, this means that Annie Truter would have the same haplogroup, being along my maternal line. Annie would therefore at least on her mother’s side have some Khoisan ancestry.