Serge's World

I posted a while ago about some new findings in my maternal line ancestry, and had mentioned Aletta Frederica Bender. Since then I have uncovered quite a bit more about her, and how she fits into my family history.

What we already know

To recap briefly, up to this point, the earliest maternal line ancestors I had known were Frederick Bender and Annie Truter. They had the following children.

• Sarah Elizabeth Bender (c1860 - 1919) = James Reid
• Johanna Jacoba Bender (1864 - 1935) = Abraham Michael Reid (1864 - 1932)
• Maria Frederika Bender (1866 - 1940) = Henry Charles Jackson (1865 - 1914)
• Abraham Andreas Bender (c1870 - 1922) = Maria Magdalena Thomas
• Charlotte Maria Bender (1874 - 1953) = ?? Herbert (1879 - 1940)
• Frederika Maria Bender (1879 - 1940) = Frederick John Gietzman
• Aletta Frederika Bender (? - 1952) = Edward William Steele (1860 - 1923)
• John D

Since I had published that article, I found more documents providing more clues to this part of the family. Frederick and Annie were married at the Wesleyan Methodist chapel in Somerset West on the 1st June 1859. The marriage certificate also lists their full names as Frederick Johannes Bender and Johanna Jemima Truter.

Previously, I had also mentioned the baptism of Johan Frederik Bender, born on the 8th of August 1836 in Stellenbosch, to Aletta Frederica Bender and a foreigner named Charles, but could find no plausible link to the Benders in my family tree.

But now, the trail would seem to run cold. There are no further direct references to either of these two individuals. However, I have a new theory…

Revisiting Aletta Frederica Bender

I have huge hunch that Johan Frederik Bender born in 1836, is one and same as my ancestor, Frederick Johannes Bender, and here is why I think this is the case.

Aletta Frederica Bender was born around 1813, and was a former slave of Jacob Freidrich Bender and his wife Anna Maria Struwig. This couple were witnesses at her baptism, along with a few of her fellow slaves, in Malmesburg on the 3rd of November 1817. Aletta (known in the slave records as Letje) took on the surname of her master at her baptism.

Aletta then reappears in the records in 1829, when she, and her friend Sara Catharina Bedelstond became members of the Dutch Reformed Church in Stellenbosch.

Sara would have a daughter, Aletta Frederica Theunisse, born on 24 December 1832, with Frederik, who was a former slave of Frederik Bender. It is possible that this Frederik Bender is the same person as Jacob Freidrich Bender, but that is unconfirmed, with the only evidence being that he was the only Bender owning slaves appearing in the available records matching the correct time and name.

A burgeoning family

At some point after the birth of Johan Frederik, Aletta married Abraham Andreas Walbrugh in Somerset West, and together they had several more children.

• Abraham Andreas Walbrugh (c1837 - 1915) = Dinah Romana Johanna Steyn (c1843 - 1920)
  
  • Abraham Andreas Walbrugh (1863-11-29 - 1943) = Sarah Sophia Rhoda (1863 - 1903)
  • Aletta Frederika Walbrugh (c1865 - 1953) = Johannes Jacobus van Niekerk
  • Sarah Carolina Walbrugh = Robijn Gorden
  • Peter William Walbrugh (1869 - 1949) = Eva Anna Isabella Katts (1871 - 1948)
  • Charles Andersson Walbrugh (1871 - 1939) = Dorothea Johanna Gordon
  • Elizabeth Annie Walbrugh = George Robert Saunders
  • Dinah Johanna Walbrugh = James Gordon
  • Maria Dorothea Walbrugh (1883 - ?) = John Robert Thorn (1877 - 1928)
• Gerhardus Cornelis Walbrugh (c1849 - 1931) - Alida Frederika Storm (c1842 - 1918)
  
  • Anna Maria Walbrugh = Jacob willem Pool
  • Alida Helena Walbrugh = John Sullivan
  • Abraham Andreas Walbrugh = Margareth Isabella Gray (c1887 - 1929)
  • Frederika Aletta Walbrugh = Harold Fletcher Ivory (1892 - 1934)
• Anna Maria Walbrugh (c1838 - 1894) = Carl Andersson

This family extends down right to the modern day.

The connection

So, why do I think these families are connected, and that Aletta’s son, Johann Frederik and my ancestor, Frederik Johannes Bender are the same then?

Well, the most important point to consider is that there were not all that many Benders in the Somerset West/Stellenbosch area around the mid 1800’s, which makes it less likely for multiple individuals with similar names being confused for each other.

Secondly, Frederik Bender and Johanna Jemima Truter had a son named Abraham Andreas Bender. Nowhere else in my family tree does this name appear, however, it is common in the Walbrugh family tree. If the two Frederik Benders were the same person, then Abrahan Andreas Walbrugh would have been Frederik Bender’s step-father, and most likely the only father he had ever known, being the illegitimate son of Aletta Frederica Bender. Thus naming one of his sons after his step-father would make a lot of sense.

Hopefully, one day, I can find more records to confirm this, but I fear that these remain locked up in the Methodist records for Somerset West, which I don’t have access to for now.

Based on this admittedly flimsy evidence, I do think the chance is very high that the Walbrughs form a cousin line to my own tree, with Aletta Frederica Bender, the former slave, being our common ancestor.