Gauteng, CULLINAN district, De Wagensdrift, farm cemetery

20 October 2008 2 images Share: Facebook , Twitter , Google+

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Cemetery information:- This little cemetery is situated on the farm Wagendrift, a subdivision of the original family farm established by Pieter Johannes Erasmus (d3) around 1840. The farm has been passed down the Erasmus family from one generation to the next for almost 150 years. It was inherited by Michal Koenraad (i3) in 1947 after the death of his father, Michiel Coenraad (h2). Michael willed the farm to his widow Frances, and she in turn, willed it to their adopted son, Marius. The spelling of Michal Koenraad is correct. The names are spelt differently to distinguish him from the other Michiel Coenraad’s in the family. Michal chose the site of the cemetery some years before his death. He even prepared his own grave and had the cemetery fenced-off with barbed wire. His reason for wanting to be buried at this spot is simply that he wanted to be buried on his own farm and not on a neighbouring farm. He also maintained that it is a nice quiet spot amongst the birds and bees, and away from the rush of modern life, where his soul would be at peace. The size of the cemetery is roughly 4 x 5 metres. It has only two very simple graves, namely that of Michal (i3) himself, and that of his wife Francis (born Van Vuuren). There are no inscribed headstones on either of the graves. Michal was born in 1909 and died around 1991 at the age of 82 years. I was present at his funeral. His wife Francis died a few years later and is buried beside him. Michal changed the name of his farm from ‘Rooiplaats 314’ to ‘Wagendrift’ many years ago to distinguish it from the many other ‘Rooiplaats’ farms at Boekenhoutskloof. 1840. During my visit to Wagendrift in April 2003 I found the cemetery sadly neglected and overgrown with weeds. This little cemetery lies approximately 400 metres north-east of the old mud-brick home where he was born. eGGSA captions by: Alta Griffiths. The GGSA Cemetery DVD only has information on the location of the cemetery Cemetery ID: 3434 Information submitted by: Mike Erasmus Google Earth Project Information:- GPSID: 4103 GPS: Not available