Bart, I have (a long time ago) unearthed the following concerning these people some of whom are distant relatives (something like 2nd cousins 5x removed and therefore I did not even noted the source although I would agree that I should have!- it could have been from Prof Marx's work): ----------------------------------------- Dirk Marx also spelt Marcks came to the Cape from Holzweiler, in the dist., of Erkelenz, Germany. He was a soldier from 1725 to 1731 and later an agriculturist and hunter around Mosselbay, died 1791.After he was discharged from his military duties in 1731 little was known of his activities, and he only appeared in the 1733 and '34 tax returns as being in the possession of a 'snaphaan' and a 'degen', from 1735 to 1738 he acquired in addition, a pistol and a horse, the tools required by a hunter. The returns showed that by 1739 he had accumulated 20 head of cattle and aslave, which was later increased with more slaves, cattle and sheep, indicating that he was turning to cattle farming, but leaving his slaves to tend the cattle whilst he continued his hunting activities. He was known to be a renowned hunter with an extensive knowledge of the interior. In 1758 he bought the farm 'Hagelkraal' and an adjacent grazing farm 'Ruiterskraal' situated North-west of Mossel Bay near Robinson pass, and being one of the very first loan farms in the Mosselbay district strategically situated on the only route through the Attaquaskloof pass to the wild interior, it became the regular outspan place for hunters and travelers. He was frequently visited by famousadventurer botanists like, Thunberg, Sparrman, Swellengrebel and van Plettenberg on their pioneer expeditionary studies of South African Flora and Fauna. The Attaquaskloof Pass over the Oteniqua mountains, the only passage through to the interior, was made by following and clearing an elephant path through the mountains in 1689 by Schrijver, the leader of a government expedition. This path was revealed to him by the local Attaquas (Bushman), he cleared and widened the trail, which enabled easier access for ox drawn wagons through the rugged Outeniqua mountains, becoming the only important road for the next 150 years until 1869. Because of his knowledge of the regions beyond his farm, the Governor Ryk van Tulbagh, requisitioned Dirk Marx to search for a shipwreck reported to have taken place along the coast, his search took him as far as the Groot Visrivier without any signs of a wreck, and it was decided that there was no substance in the report, even though two hunters had been given a pistol and other articles by bushmen, which they maintained they had stolen from two stranded sailors. It was only years later that Andreas Sparrman, the Swedish naturalist, wrote to say he had read a report in an English newspaper, of an English vessel the 'Doddington' shipwrecked in July or August 1755, off Bird Island in Algoa Bay, and of the two sailors that had been robbed by Hottentots but were allowed to row back naked to the wreck where they constructed a larger makeshift boat from remnants of the wreck, enabling them to sail further up the coast where they encountered friendly tribesmen (possibly Xhosa) who were in possession of large quantities of ivory tusks and cattle, the newspaper article made no mention of how they found their way back to England. In tracing Dirk Marx's origins Prof. F.W. Marx found that he was from a village, Holzweiler, in the district of Erkelenz in the Duchy of Jülich. Holtzweiler is situated in the western region of present day Germany. Research revealed that he was baptized Joannes Theodorus Marx on the 8 October 1703 in the Catholic community of Holtzweiler, he was the s.o. Gerhart Marx, and Sybilla Cönen, his paternal grand parents were Joannes Marx and Agnes Dachweiler, his maternal grand parents were Dederich Cönen and Anna Arretz. The name Dirk is a distortion of Theodorich, short forms of the name used in Germany are: Derich, Dietrich, and Dederich. The Dutch forms are Diederi(c)k, Deri(c)k, and Dir(c)k, the latter was obviously used in the early Cape for simplicity. He signed his name on a contract in 1764 as Dirk Marcks, then on the three copies of his will, as Dirk Marcks in 1745; Dirck Marx, 1771; and Dirk Marxin 1791. Although his names, Joannes Theodorus, were never used in South Africa, they were never-the-less carried on in the naming of his children and grandchildren, the Joannes became Johannes, the names of his second and third sons, and his first son was named Theodorus. Marr: abt 1740 (common law) Dorothea Maria Becker, d.o. Peter Becker from Konings- Bergen and wid.o. They had 3 sons and 3 daughters NOTE: No record could be found to prove that Dirk Marx was legally married to Dorothea Becker, but the following list reflects the correct baptism names, dates and places, of their children: The first two children had 'onecht' written next to their entries, possibly indicating that the parents weren't married at that stage. ---------------------------- Hope it helps Regards Johan Prof JC Morgenthal Rozendallaan 10 Uniepark STELLENBOSCH 7600 Tel: 021 887 0888 Sel: 072 379 5906 Vanne/Surnames: Morgenthal/Morgendaal; Kotzè; Schoeman; Badenhorst en verwante familie -----Original Message----- From: Bart Simon via Sent: Monday, March 02, 2015 6:29 PM To: RW RSA Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] Ferreira [!!!] Hello: The [Thomas Ignatius Ferreira 17-11-1743] m. [Maria Dorothea Marx 03-04-1746]: Is her name [Maria Dorothea Marx] or [Dorothea Maria Marx] ?. Also, their dg [Dorothea Maria Ferreira], is she [Dorothea Maria Ferreira] or [Maria Dorothea Ferreira] ?. Thanks - Bart. ================== ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOUTH-AFRICA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message