Early Afrikaners in the USA – the Boer generals

This article was originally written in 1999. Following the Anglo-Boer War, large numbers of Boers left South Africa. They emigrated to Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina, Mexico, German East Africa (Tanganyika) and the USA.

Pieter (Piet) Arnoldus CRONJE was born on October 4, 1836, at Rietkuil, Colesberg. He was the second son of Andries Petrus CRONJE and Johanna Christina GELDENHUIS. His brother was Andries Petrus Johannes, born in 1849. The CRONJE brothers are direct descendants of Pierre CRONIER, the French Huguenot settler. In 1844, the family moved from Rietkuil to Groenvlei in the Trans Oranje and then to the Winburg area. The family moved again, after the Battle of Boomplaats in 1848, to the farm Goedgevonden near Potchefstroom.

Piet CRONJE married Hester Susanna VISSER (08 May 1840-16 November 1903) in Potchefstroom on 24 December 1857. They had five sons and four daughters. Piet farmed a portion of Goedgevonden. On 10 December 1879, he was chosen, at a protest meeting, to be the Boer leader of the Schoonspruit area, which was soon followed by leadership of the Potchefstroom district. In September 1881, he was elected a member of the Volksraad for Potchefstroom, a seat that he resigned from when he was appointed Acting Commandant-General in October 1884, but he gained a seat on the Executive Council.

His military fame rests on his capture of Leander Starr JAMESON and his band of supporters on January 1, 1896, in Doornkop. For this, he received the Cup of Fraternity from Russia, a sword from the French and homage from Germany and his people. In September 1896, Piet was appointed to the senior office of Superintendent of Natives. He took this position seriously, regularising tax collections, encouraging self-reliance among the natives, and conducting a native census. He held the post until the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in October 1899. He was appointed assistant commandant-general and commander-in-chief of the republican forces on the western border. His orders were to take Mafeking and other towns along the western border and then proceed to Kimberley. Piet was a stubborn man, and instead, he besieged Mafeking. On 22 November 1899, CRONJE went, by orders, on a train from Klerksdorp via Edenburg to Modder River, where General DE LA REY had set up positions to halt the British advance. Then it was on to Magersfontein, which was the climax of his military career. The British cornered Piet at Paardeberg on 17 February 1900. He surrendered his commando of 4,000 men to British forces at Paardeberg on 27 February 1900. Piet was taken prisoner of war and, accompanied by his wife, a grandson (P.A. CRONJE), his secretary (G.R. KEIZER), his adjutant (Frans LABUSCHAGNE) and a black employee who had been with him since childhood, was sent to St. Helena, where they remained until the end of the war.

On the island, the CRONJE family lived in a small double-storey house, Kent Cottage. In August 1902, Piet and his retinue returned to Cape Town and headed for his farm, Palmietfontein, in the Klerksdorp district. Piet built a replica of Kent Cottage on his farm. He lived a lonely life, as his compatriots would not forget the surrender at Paardeberg. His wife died on 16 November 1903, and in 1904, he joined the company of A. LEWIS and went to the USA with General Ben VILJOEN. The two Boer generals recreated Anglo-Boer War battles at the St Louis World Fair in Missouri. The two generals travelled to the USA on the Doune Castle, and it was on this trip that he met his second wife, Johanna WALTER (widow of STERZEL). They were married on 28 June 1904 in St Louis. When the fair ended in November 1904, the generals stayed, putting on more re-enactments for Messrs BRADY and C.W. HALL. In 1905, the CRONJE family returned to Palmietfontein via Europe. Piet CRONJE was an unhappy, lonely man who spent the last few months of his life bedridden. He died of a stroke on February 4, 1911, and was buried in his first wife’s grave on the farm.

Benjamin (Ben) Johannes VILJOEN was born in 1868 in the Cape. His family moved to the Transvaal when he was a youngster. Ben became a member of the police, first in Krugersdorp and later in Johannesburg. In 1896, he helped capture the Jameson Raiders. He was a founder member of the Volksvereeniging der Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, a political party. When the Anglo-Boer War broke out, he was appointed commander of the Johannesburg Commando. He distinguished himself in the war but was eventually captured in 1902 in Lydenburg and sent to St Helena. He was kept at the Broad Bottom Camp, where he met with Gen. Piet CRONJE. While a POW, Ben wrote “My reminiscences of the Anglo-Boer War” in English. It was published in London and later reprinted in Cape Town. After the war, he travelled to the Netherlands, where his wife and children had spent the war years. Ben wanted to immigrate to the USA, but his wife didn’t want to. He went ahead, and his wife returned to South Africa. In 1903, Ben joined other Boer officers in re-enacting Anglo-Boer War scenes in the Fillis Circus in Philadelphia, USA.

It was here that Ben met the Mexican dictator, Porfirio DIAZ who invited Ben to settle Boer families in Mexico to grow alfalfa. About 34 Boer families (including JOUBERT, SNYMAN, FOUCHE, NIEMANN, MALAN and KRITZINGER) joined Ben, and they settled in Chihuahua in northern Mexico. By this time, a revolution was brewing in Mexico, and Ben became an adviser to Francisco MADERO, who toppled Porfirio DIAZ in 1911. During his time as an advisor, Ben met Emiliano ZAPATA, Pancho VILLA, and Giuseppi GARIBALDI. Ben suffered from asthma, and to help his advisor, MADERO appointed Ben Mexico’s roving consul in Breslau, Germany. However, the assignment did not help his asthma. He was Mexico’s representative to pacify the Yaqui Indians in Sonora, who had refused to negotiate with the government.

Back in Chihuahua, a flood in 1910 and the civil war did not help matters, and soon the Boer community split up. Many of them moved to New Mexico and Texas in the USA, including Ben. The Boer community established farms, excelled at grain and vegetable farming, and contributed to the production and marketing of local produce in emerging towns such as El Paso.

Ben settled down on a farm in New Mexico and became an American citizen. He introduced farming innovations and modernised irrigation, preparing for water from the Elephant Butte Dam. He was a delegate in negotiations for New Mexico statehood. He wrote another book, “Under the Vierkleur,” again in English. He died in 1917 of pneumonia and was buried on his farm. His son Wynand lived in Hawaii and later in California.

Some VILJOEN and SNYMAN people listed in the US Social Security Death index:

VILJOEN
Albertus, born 04 Oct 1958, died 08 June 1995, lived in Missouri.
Charlotte, born 10 June 1909, died June 1995, lived in Long Beach, L.A California.
Devota, born 06 Sept 1910, died Oct 1972, lived in California.
Helen, born 26 Jul 1899, died Mar 1974, lived in Flushing, New York State.
Henry, born 30 Jul 1905, died 17 Sept 1990, lived in California.
Jan, born 21 May 1898, died Mar 1978, lived in Melbourne, Brevard, Florida.
Jan, born 15 Mar 1935, died Sept 1978, lived in Long Beach, L.A, California.
John, born 02 Jan 1879, died May 1969, lived in Cerritos, L.A, California.
John, born 30 May 1909, died Mar 1978, lived in Paramount, L.A, California.
Lillian, born 24 May 1901, died Nov 1990, lived in California.
Nellie, born 10 Sept 1907, died Jul 1971, lived in Pico Rivera, L.A, California.
Rose, born 05 Jul 1892, died Mar 1985, lived in Washington, D.C. and previously in Florida.
Sue, born 12 Jul 1901, died Dec 1989, lived in California.
William, born 16 Feb 1907, died Jul 1974, lived in Long Beach, L.A, California.
Wynand, born 29 Feb 1876, died Oct 1970, lived in Altadena, L.A, California.
Wynand, born 26 June 1891, died Dec 1978, lived in Santa Cruz, California and previously in Nevada.
Wynand, born 16 Feb 1912, died 02 Feb 1990, lived in California.

SNYMAN
Caroline, born 18 June 1909, died 01 Sept 1992, lived in Glen Cove, Nassau, New York State and previously in Florida.
Edith, born 03 Jul 1906, died Mar 1969, lived in New York City.
Emma, born 03 Nov 1888, died Feb 1972, lived in Worland, Washakie, Wyoming.
Erm, born 19 Mar 1909, died Apr 1984, lived in Manhasset, Nassau, New York State and previously in Pennsylvania.
Gerrard, born 01 Oct 1901, died Dec 1985, lived in Manomet, Plymouth, Massachusetts and previously in New Jersey.
Hazel, born 14 Jan 1910, died Mar 1986, lived in Sugar Land, Fort Bend, Texas.
Irma, born 05 Feb 1901, died June 1982, lived in Bellflower, California.
John, born 07 Sept 1881, died Apr 1965, lived in Texas. John, born 03 Aug 1920, died May 1977, lived in American Fork, Utah, Utah State and previously in California.
John, born 14 Sept 1912, died Mar 1993, lived in Sugar Land, Fort Bend, Texas and previously New Mexico.
Maxine, born 09 Mar 1923, died Feb 1983, lived in American Fork, Utah, Utah State and previously California.
Nico, born 12 Jul 1926, died Apr 1971, lived in Ohio (1952–1954).
Philip, born 19 Dec 1919, died 15 Nov 1987, lived in Apopka, Florida and previously in Indiana.
Vern, born 14 Jan 1945, died Aug 1979, lived in Utah (1960).

There are also 601 JOUBERT people, 298 FOUCHE and 202 MALAN listed in the SSDI.