Johann Wichard Brümmer (bef. 1764 - 1823)

Born before 5 Apr 1764 in Menslage, Fürstbistum Osnabrück, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Ancestors

Husband of Zacharia Margarietha (Putter) Brummer — married 27 Mar 1791 (to 24 Mar 1811) in Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Husband of Anna Cornelia (Schoombee) Brummer — married 24 Mar 1811 in Graaff Reinet, Cape Colony, South Africa

Descendants

Died 1 Aug 1823 after age 59 in Graaff Reinet, Cape Colony

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Biography

Name

It is ever more clear that the correct 'Last Name after Birth' should be "Brümmer", with Umlaut. Some later family branches in South Africa kept the Umlaut, while others dropped it. In both marriages of Johan Wichard it looks like the scribes didn't bother about the Umlaut. In the second, there is something that may be an umlaut, but is more likely the little accent many writers added onto every 'u', to clearly separate it from the 'n'.

The earliest known origin of the surname Brümmer comes from Petronella Brümmer, who gave it to her husband Arend Korman^[1]. However, already in Menslage records, variations can be found. Albert, son of Petronella, often had his surname written as 'Brunner'. Spelling was often fluid, and varied with the person writing down the records, and also sometimes stuck to a person.

Baptism

5 April 1764, as recorded at Menslage church, the 25th birth of 1764:

"25) 5 April a parent: Arndt Brümmer et Helena Teckers, Filius Joh: Wichard, Comp. Tölke Taggenbrook, Joh: Bernd Lürding jetzo Tecker, Helena Wenges"

The parents are (Jürgen) Arndt Brümmer and Helena Teckers. The boy was called Joh(ann) Wichard, and the witnesses were Tölke Taggenbrook, Johann Bernd Lürding jetzo Tecker, and Helena Wenges. Johann Bernd Lürding was married to a Tecker, who inherited the farm they worked on, so as was custom, he took her surname.

VOC Matroos, Soldaat

On 29 June 1784 "Jan Wiggert Brümmer" from "Osnabruck" left from Amsterdam as Matroos on the ship "Eensgezindheid", then became VOC soldier at the Cape. It is mentioned that at arrival, he was in the 'hospitaal', which may mean he was sick and could not remain on board(?). The image is uploaded, and it is an interesting puzzle to figure out who kept this record, when. There are various signatures, and it is mostly about pay, credit, the wages, and debt. Can it be that this was a loose page handed over from the ship to the administration at the Cape, to be continued there? The site of the Nationaal Archief does not explain this^[2]

At the bottom of left- and right-hand sides of this VOC record, it says something about a 'transport' to 63, which is 5 pages further. Looking up that page at the dutch national archives, one finds that the record for Johan Wighard is continued. He received the status of 'Vrijburger' at the Cape on 18 Sept 1792. Also, on 31st Jan 1794, some final reckoning seems to be added with a rather large sum of money on the left, and the right. Could this represent the value of a farm?

Marriage

Marriage 1 at Cape Town

Date: 27 March 1791 ^[3]

Place: [Cape Town], de Caep de Goede Hoop [South Africa]^[3]

Groom: Johann Wiegehard Brummer, van Osnabrug, canonier in dienst der Ed. Compagnie alhier, Jongmens^[3]

Bride: Zagaria Margaretha Putter, van Cabo de Goede Hoop^[3]

So at the time of this marriage, Johann Wichard remained a gunner at the Cape Town Castle, and he was an unmarried 'Jongmens'.

Marriage 2 at Graaff-Reinet

After Zagaria Margaretha Putter passed away, Johann Wighard married with Anna Cornelia Schoombee, who was a daughter of one of his neighbours, on 24th March 1811, 26 years younger than him.

The Graaff-Reinet marriage registre for 1811^[4]:

Date: "1811, Den 24 Maart"

Groom: "Johan Wighard Brümmer, Weduwenaar"

Bride: "Anna Cornelia Schoombee"

Slave Ownership

On the index of the 1826 inventory of slave owners, one the Brümmers can be found on page 23:^[5]. The list points to Folio 6 and 110 of Ledger B for Graaff Reinet.

Folio 6 of Graaff Reinet^[6] lists the names of 9 slaves that were registered in 1816-1822, (passing to his widow after his death). In the remarks one can see when they were sold and/or transferred to another owner, or when they died.

• 1816, Saul, of the Cape, Male, est. birth jun 1786, Labourer
• 1816, Cezar, of Batavia, Male, est. birth jun 1776, Labourer
• 1816, Manuel, of the Cape, Male, est. birth jun 1776, Mason
• 1816, Philida, of Mosambique, Female, est. birth jun 1776, Housemaid
• 1817, Regina, of the Cape, Female, est. birth feb 1799, Housemaid
• 1817, Claas, son of Regina, born 9 Nov 1817, died in 1819 (reported 1835)
• 1819, Rachel, daughter of Regina, born 18 aug 1819
• 1821, Louisa Maria, of Mauritius, Female, est. birth jul 1771, Housemaid
• 1822, Apollos, son of Regina, born 22 Feb 1822

The record gives his date of death, as at that moment his widow was responsible.

Graaff Reinet Folio B110 is for his son Dirk Arnoldus Brümmer^[7], listing a single female slave.

Sources

1. ↑ Space:Brümmer_family_from_Menslage_Church_books
2. ↑ Link to VOC record at Nationaal Archief in the Hague
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Source :
   • Marriage Register - Parish registers, Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk, Cape Town (Cape Province), 1695-1976, Marriages 1757-1803, 1737-1818, Image 109
   Seen & added 1 Oct 2022 by André Laubscher.
4. ↑ Graaff-Reinet marriage register, from 1811, and a copy, with images at familysearch: register duplicate?
5. ↑ Slave inventory of 1826, indexpage 23
6. ↑ Folio 6: Slaves of Johan Wigard Brummer, 1816-1822
7. ↑ Folio 110: Slaves of Dirk Arnoldus Gerhardus Brummer, 1825

• Menslage church books listing baptism, marriage, and burials always existed, but these are now accessible online for much of Niedersachsen, including the Lutheran church in Menslage (search on the page). These books cover 1694-1900, also helping clarify the changing spellings of the surname: Brunnert, Brümmer, Brummer, Brummert or shortened to Brmmr. It is also interesting to see that sometimes men take the name of the women after marriage, if she inherits the farm. This gives access to about 3-4 generations before Johan Wiegert left. The Menslage Kirchspiel seems to have been a stable and close community, with a lot of intermarriage between the same families. Available at Ahnen-Forscher.com. Transcription was done by people of vortmes.nl.
• VOC ship records at 'Nationaal Archief' den Haag, the Netherlands.
• Pama & de Villiers "Geslags registers van ou Kaapse Families", page 110 lists this Johann Wichard Brümmer in detail, and also the children of his son Johan Wichard.
• Familysearch images of Register of Slaves 1762-1838
• SOUTH AFRICAN GENEALOGIES Pretoria Human Science Research Council 1986 [Reprinted by Genealogical Institute of South Africa Stellenbosch 2007
• Prof. Nicolaas Johannes Brümmer collected pictures of his family members, and continued previous correspondence with the later relatives in Menslage. The paintings of Johan Wichard and his first wife were passed on via him. Parts of this collection are now in a wikitree free space.
• At familysearch, Johan Wichard is found at ID LTLV-WCT